6c.
Agriculture and food

The production, storage, distribution, eating, and management of food constitute one of the most important human impacts on the environment. At the same time, it is a most essential part of our everyday life and wellbeing. Agriculture covers 40% of the earth's total ice-free land area. It accounts for 70% of the global fresh water use, it emits more greenhouse gases than any other human activity, it employs 3/4 of the world's poorest people, and it feeds all of us. Agriculture is the key foundation of human civilization, and it is also where most of our present day development problems converge, such as poverty, hunger, environmental degradation and climate change.

Arable field near Alresford, England. Photo CC BY 2.0: Mike Cattell

Agriculture has developed dramatically. The production and care taking of harvesting, hunting, and fishing once was the main occupation in society. In a modern industrialized country, however, only some 2-5% of the population provides all food for the rest. Agriculture and fishing has been industrialized. The production from a hectare of land has been multiplied by new methods, new genetic varieties, and input of nutrients. These developments are still ongoing, e.g. using GMOs, genetically modified organisms. The GMO technique is by itself not a threat to sustainability of the environment; it is just a method.

Industrialized agriculture depends on linear material flows of nitrogen and phosphorus, which is unsustainable. Phosphorus, mined from a few deposits in the world, will as a non-renewable resource finally become emptied. Nitrogen produced by the industrial fixation of nitrogen gas requires large input of fossil energy and is thus also in this way non-renewable. The global nitrogen flow has due to this doubled and is unsustainable. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture is today polluting the water in lakes, coasts, and the sea in many parts of the world, and it is causing serious eutrophication.

In contrast, traditional agriculture was carefully managing the circulation of nutrients by returning manure to the fields, composting all organic waste from the preparation of food, and also by returning human excrement to farmland. Among the many efforts made today to re-establish circular flows of nutrients, we see how manure, directly or as a residue after biogas production containing most nutrients, are being returned to fields; food waste in cities is collected; and sludge from wastewater treatment plants is used for fertilization. But it is insufficient and heavy metals and toxic organic chemicals too often pollute organic waste, e.g. sludge from wastewater treatment plants.

Cow

Modern agriculture produces an ever-increasing share of meat rather than grains and vegetables. In an industrial society, 80% of all we see growing on farmland is food for animals, and large parts of land are used as grazing land for animals. Meat in the menu has been increasing worldwide during the last 100 years, and in the western world it is still increasing. This is clearly unsustainable and in the future meat in our diet has to decrease significantly. The carbon footprint of one kg of beef is a hundred times that of a kg of potatoes. The excessive production of cheap meat depends on factory-like conditions, violating animal welfare. This is unethical, and it also leads to low quality food. Today in some countries it is increasingly limited by regulations.

In the western world, wasting food adds to the problem. In the EU, about 30% of all edible food is wasted, and in the US about 50%. In the US food costs are the lowest, wasting of food the highest and animal rights least respected. An important strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of food is to take care of food better and to reduce meat in the human diet.

In the Global South a major problem is that a high percentage of food is destroyed in storage, e.g. by mould and rodents, and that food is not distributed to those who needs it.

Seafood is an important part of the diet. Once, most human societies were located along coasts or rivers to secure seafood, fish, crabs, etc. Today also fishing has been industrialized, with partly terrible consequences. With modern trawls, sonars and refrigeration ships the seas have been vacuum cleaned; global peak fish occurred in the end of 1990s and several, formerly common fishes are today threatened species, e.g. tuna, swordfish, and eel. Regulations using fishing quotas have been introduced in many waters and have today led to the improvement of fishing in some European waters. It is a modern application of management of a common resource to avoid the tragedy of the commons (See Chapter 9). Aquaculture, especially of salmon, has increased dramatically, but as long as they are fed with fish from the sea it is not a sustainable practice.

Some new approaches have been introduced to increase self-sufficiency and food security. Organic farming and food is increasing rapidly in many places in the world. It relies on circulation of nutrients, limited or no-use of biocides, and secured animal welfare. In agroforestry, agriculture is conducted among trees, a system which preserves soil and water and is building new topsoil. Growing food in cities, urban agriculture, uses terraces, roofs and other areas to grow food. Most advanced is permaculture, which builds on ecological design principles, including growing your own organic food, use more rainwater, preservation of landscapes, restoration of ecosystems, and homes built from natural materials.

Food is a global commodity. This is in most cases not a serious concern as such, but it carries a transportation cost. An opposite trend is to increasingly buy food on local markets and from local producers. It leads to a more seasonal diet, often with higher quality and less cost for preservation.

Will there be enough food in the future? How will 9 billion people be able to eat without undermining the very basis for food production? The problem is aggravated by competition between food and energy crops, as well as the continuing degradation of agricultural land. Key changes are needed in this sector to achieve a transition to a sustainable society.

Materials for session 6c

Basic level

Read Land and Productivity – Can the Baltic Region Feed Us All?
A Sustainable Baltic Region, Session 4, Chapter 1: Land and Productivity – Can the Baltic Region Feed Us All
Read Approaches to Sustainable Agriculture – Ecological Farming
A Sustainable Baltic Region, Session 4, Chapter 6: Approaches to Sustainable Agriculture – Ecological Farming
Read Carbon Flows and Sustainable Agriculture
EHSA Book 1, Chapter 33: Carbon Flows and Sustainable Agriculture
Read Urgent Call to Reduce Food Waste in the EU by Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Medium level (widening)

Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program. A program of UC Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of California, Davis, USA.
Read chapter 8, pages 65-81: Leaching Losses of Nitrogen from Agricultural Soils in the Baltic Sea Area
EHSA Book 1, Chapter 8: Leaching Losses of Nitrogen from Agricultural Soils in the Baltic Sea Area
Read chapter 27, pages 259-276: Consumer Demands: Organic Agriculture in Sustainable Agriculture
EHSA Book 1, Chapter 27: Consumer Demands: Organic Agriculture in Sustainable Agriculture

Advanced level (deepening)

Study food losses in Global Food Losses and Food Waste – Extent, Causes and Prevention. Report to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 2011.
Read How to Feed the World in 2050?. Report from a FAO convened three-day Meeting of Experts in Rome, 2009.
Read World Review of Fisheries and Aquaculture. UN Food and Agricultural Organization, 2010.

References

Ebbersten, S. and B. Bodin. 1997. Food and Fibres – Sustainable agriculture and forestry. A Sustainable Baltic Region. Session 4.

Jakobsson, C. (ed.) 2012. Sustainable Agriculture. Ecosystem Health and Sustainable Agriculture, Book 1. Baltic University Press, Uppsala.

BUP Sustainable Development Course

6d.
Forests and fibres

Forest between Oskava, Mostkov and Vaclavov, small villages in North Moravia, Czech Republic

Forests cover a substantial part of the land surface of the earth. In Europe, it is 44%, a figure that in Sweden and Finland increases to about 70%. About half of the forests in the world have been cut down during the development of human societies. Deforestation is still going on, now mostly in the Global South. This is serious since the tropical forests harbour a large part of the world’s biodiversity (See Chapter 6a). The boreal forests in Northern Europe are more monotonous.

Much of the existing forests have changed due to human intervention and are today more like monocultures, in the north of pine trees, and in the south of other economically interesting trees such as oil palm or fast-growing eucalyptus. In Europe, the only residues of the original large forest, which covered the continent, are found in Belarus and Poland. Nevertheless, forests remain an important part of the landscape and provide all kinds of ecosystems services (See Chapter 6a).

Forests are important for sustainable development. They can function both as sinks or sources of CO2 and other GHGs, and are thus an essential part of the climate change and the efforts to mitigate climate change (See Chapter 4b). Forests are growing slowly and for that reason they naturally bring in the issue of long-term management of a renewable resource. Concern for forest and forest survival led to the concept of sustainable development already in the 18^th century (See Chapter 1a). Forests are a key natural resource for human society.

Forests constitute a renewable source of energy, a fuel. Wood was once the only source of energy in most societies. The excess harvesting of trees and bushes for cooking etc in some developing countries is a threat to proper land development. In western countries, wood as a source of energy takes several forms. Most important is traditional wood, but to that is added also wood waste or forest residues, such as branches and roots. The pulping liquor, or black liquor, from the processing of pulp, paper, and paperboard in industry represents about 50% of the material in wood. It contains lignin, which cannot be used for paper manufacturing. Waste paper and wood from constructions as well as residues from saw mills and other industries etc can be used as energy for example in district heating.

Swedish energy consumption 2011

The use of bio energy in the energy mix of the EU and its member states is increasing. (See Chapter 4a). In Sweden, the figure is 32% and increasing. Wood biomass as pellets and wood chips is used in burners in individual homes and in power plants. Black liquor can be used directly, but is increasingly converted into biodiesel. So-called second generation biofuels rely on cellulose from wood being hydrolysed and subsequently fermented into ethanol. Paper and wood waste is burned in household waste incineration plants to produce heat and electricity.

Energy forest

Energy forests, also called short rotation plantations, are plantations of fast-growing species, e.g. Salix. They are harvested after 3–5 years, having reached a height of about 5–6 meters. Energy forest still represents only a small part of the bio energy market.

Wood is foremost a material for all kinds of constructions, from small objects to furniture and buildings. The technology of using sawed timber for building houses has improved dramatically during the last 20 years. Multi-storey and multi flat houses may today be built entirely by wood. This is an improvement compared to the use of concrete and plastics. Concrete production is causing some 5% of the world's CO2 emissions and need to be reduced. The transport of wood to the building site requires fewer efforts and energy, since wood is much lighter. The building time is also shorter for wooden houses, all making wood houses better economy. Finally, the end-of-life of a wooden building does not constitute a problem.

Wood is also the main source of fibres and chemicals used in all kinds of material. Most important is the production of paper, which uses the cellulose fibres in the wood, but also e.g. for insulation materials. The forest will also have to replace fossils for manufacturing. In a future without oil, the chemical industry (the largest industry sector in the EU) will need renewable sources for production of chemicals, including wood, to develop an entirely green chemistry.