The hidden cost of food

The Hidden Cost of FoodThe use of resources and our environment for food production Brandi Hacker The Future of Creation May 6, 2008... Where Our Food Comes From Food Miles= miles trav

The Hidden Cost of Food

The use of resources and our

environment for food production

Brandi Hacker The Future of Creation May 6, 2008

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From Farms…

 Industrial farms are major sources

pollution

– Air

• Methane and other gases emitted

– Water

• Nutrients

• Ammonia and Nitrates

• Antibiotics

• Heavy metals and salts

• Water usage

… to the shelves

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– By planes, trains, trucks, and ships

vegetables in the U.S are shipped from CA,

FL, and WA

spend 7 to 14 days in transit before they

arrive in the store

Where Our Food Comes From

 Food Miles= miles traveled from farm

to tables

 Broccoli

– Grown within 20 miles of most homes in United States

– At supermarket travels 1,800 miles

to get there

QuickTime™ and a TIFF (LZW) decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Agriculture Footprint Brief July 2003 “The Issues Introductio.”

The True Cost of Food

www.truecostoffood.org

– View the movie as an introduction to this complex issue

to begin the conversation

in your congregation and

other local groups

Facts from the Movie

per pound of beef

gallons of water for

each pound of steak

of healthy grain you

put into a cow, you

only get out one

pound of meat

down an acre of rainforest every minute, and lose millions of

grasslands acres a year, to feed and graze cattle

has poisoned the ground water in 17 states and has

polluted 35,000 miles of America's rivers

Facts… Continued

comes from animals

are doused with one

billion pounds of toxic

pesticides a year

make the earth lose 24

billion tons of topsoil a

year

more chemicals all the

time, to get the same

results

10% of farms collected 65% of the subsidies; the bottom half got 2% $256 a year

72% of our food

to 17 times the gas costs of food you buy

in the supermarket

market is growing at

25 percent a year

Individuals Can Help

food

eat and shop local

farm

food directory

drying, canning, or preserving in season fruit for later

politician

Worldwatch Paper #163, 59.

Questions for Thought…

 What surprised you in the information?

 Name one thing you could do to start shopping more locally.

– Or to help others shop locally.

Works Cited

Deumling, Diana, Mathis Wackernagel, and Chad Monfreda “Eating Up the Earth: How Sustainable Food

Systems Shrink Our Ecological Footprint.” Agriculture Footprint Brief July 2003 Available from

http://www.rprogress.org/publications/index.htm Accessed 5 May 2008.

“Guide for Discussion Leaders.” The True Cost of Food 4 May 2008

http://www.truecostoffood.org/truecostoffood/leaders.asp#intro

Halweil, Brian “Worldwatch Paper #163: Home Grown: The Case For Local Food In A Global Market.”

World Watch Institute November 2002.

“See the Movie!” The True Cost of Food 4 May 2008

http://www.truecostoffood.org/truecostoffood/movie.asp

“The Issues: Air Pollution.” Sustainable Table Serving Up Healthy Food Choices 5 May 2008

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/airpollution/

“The Issues Introduction.” Sustainable Table Serving Up Healthy Food Choices 5 May 2008

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/

“The Issues: Water Pollution.” Sustainable Table Serving Up Healthy Food Choices 5 May 2008

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/waterpollution/

“Where does our food come from?” FoodRoutes.org 4 May 2008 http://www.foodroutes.org/whycare.js p