Intro to Food Systems

Food Systems

• Web of production, distribution and consumption that delivers food from farmers to eaters

• Commodity, value and supply chains

– Long vs short

Agricultural Subsidies

• Subsidy-money paid to farmers to manage supply of agricultural commodities, reduce costs of commodities, manage risks of agricultural production – Feed grains (35%), cotton, wheat, rice, soybeans,

dairy, peanuts, sugar, tobacco (!) and oilseeds (canola)

– $16 billion in federal money spent annually, either by supply (bushel) or by acre

– Export crops, food aid and foreign policy

– Distorts market “forces” = overproduction and underproduction

Food Miles

Assignment #1

• Make a “map” of the global food system • Pick a food or a commodity that you frequently

consume • Pick something moderately difficult to trace, but

not impossible – At least two ingredients – At least one processed ingredient

• Investigate its origins • Produce:

– 1 schematic diagram – 2-3 page narrative on the geography of your food