How do agribusinesses present themselves? Biotech Companies? What does this all mean to landscape architects and to the city? What can we do to save the planet?
Thinking about the readings, especially the one from Carolyn Steel, "Hungry Cities, How Food Shapes or Lives" and thinking about food distribution from international ports I was surprised to look at the percentages of food that are shipped into London from foreign countries and how reliant the country is on international distribution. I was also thinking about the difference between England and the US food supply. I find that I am a very concientious consumer of food and I always buy local when possible. I thought about how much easier it is to buy local or local in terms of from the same country when in the US because of the vast size of the country and that we benefit from different climates and can produce vegetables and fruits year round that will meet most supermarket demands. We do rely heavily on South America for cheaper labor coupled with more exotic fruits and fruits that may be harder to grow in the north american climates. We do have more availability but the distance to ship fruits and vegetables from California to New York may equal or surpass the distance from southern Italy to northern UK. So essentially we are impacting the environment the same as far as distribution.
The US has a campaign to "eat your zipcode" where there is a grassroots movement to get communities to invest in local food companies and markets as well as growing your own food. I think this was in response to lessening our impact on the environment and also in part a backlash to agribusiness and big commercial farms that impact the environment and surrounding communities in such a big way, and mostly in negative ways. In fact Farm Aid, an national non profit and a large concert that tours yearly in the US, raises money solely to fight against factory farms and large biotech companies that are promoting food that has been artificially altered without proper testing or knowing what the long term effects of altering the food supply. The group is invested in bringing back family farms and buying local goods as well as educating the masses on the benefits of organically grown food. If you want to learn more about their efforts you can go to their really excellent blog at:
Thinking about the readings, especially the one from Carolyn Steel, "Hungry Cities, How Food Shapes or Lives" and thinking about food distribution from international ports I was surprised to look at the percentages of food that are shipped into London from foreign countries and how reliant the country is on international distribution. I was also thinking about the difference between England and the US food supply. I find that I am a very concientious consumer of food and I always buy local when possible. I thought about how much easier it is to buy local or local in terms of from the same country when in the US because of the vast size of the country and that we benefit from different climates and can produce vegetables and fruits year round that will meet most supermarket demands. We do rely heavily on South America for cheaper labor coupled with more exotic fruits and fruits that may be harder to grow in the north american climates. We do have more availability but the distance to ship fruits and vegetables from California to New York may equal or surpass the distance from southern Italy to northern UK. So essentially we are impacting the environment the same as far as distribution.
The US has a campaign to "eat your zipcode" where there is a grassroots movement to get communities to invest in local food companies and markets as well as growing your own food. I think this was in response to lessening our impact on the environment and also in part a backlash to agribusiness and big commercial farms that impact the environment and surrounding communities in such a big way, and mostly in negative ways. In fact Farm Aid, an national non profit and a large concert that tours yearly in the US, raises money solely to fight against factory farms and large biotech companies that are promoting food that has been artificially altered without proper testing or knowing what the long term effects of altering the food supply. The group is invested in bringing back family farms and buying local goods as well as educating the masses on the benefits of organically grown food. If you want to learn more about their efforts you can go to their really excellent blog at:
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