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2025 14:58 Geography of food - Wikipedia
Geography of food
The geography of food is a field of human geography. It focuses on patterns of food production
and consumption on the local to global scale. Tracing these complex patterns helps geographers
understand the unequal relationships between developed and developing countries in relation to
the innovation, production, transportation, retail and consumption of food. It is also a topic that is
becoming increasingly charged in the public eye. The movement to reconnect the 'space' and 'place'
in the food system is growing, spearheaded by the research of geographers.
History
Spatial variations in food production and consumption practices have been noted for thousands of
years. In fact, Plato commented on the destructive nature of agriculture when he referred to the
soil erosion from the mountainsides surrounding Athens, stating "[In previous years] Athens
yielded far more abundant produce. In comparison of what then was, there are remaining only the
bones of the wasted body; all the richer and softer parts of the soil having fallen away, and the
mere skeleton of the land being left". Societies beyond those of ancient Greece have struggled
under the pressure to feed expanding populations. The people of Easter Island, the Maya of Central
America and most recently the inhabitants of Montana have been experiencing similar difficulties
in production due to several interconnecting factors related to land and resource management.
These events have been extensively studied by geographers and other interested parties (the study
of food has not been confined to a single discipline, and has received attention from a huge range
of diverse sources).
Modern geographers initially focused on food as an economic activity, especially in terms of
agricultural geography. It was not until recently that geographers have turned their attention to
food in a wider sense: "The emergence of an agro-food geography that seeks to examine issues
along the food chain or within systems of food provision derives, in part, from the strengthening of
political economy approaches in the 1980s".[1]
Overlapping areas of study
Food has received attention from both the physical sciences and the social sciences because it is a
bridge between the natural and social worlds. Some of the earliest numerical data about food
production come from bureaucratic sources linked to the ancient civilizations of Ancient Egypt and
the Roman Empire. Traders have also been influential in documenting food networks. Early Indian
merchants and traders mapped the location of trading posts associated with food production
nodes.
Food production
Food production was the first element of food to receive extensive attention from geographers in
the field of cultural geography, particularly in agricultural geography.
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Globally, the production of food is unequal. This is because there are two main components
involved in sustenance production that are also distributed irregularly. These components are the
environmental capacity of the area, and the human capacity. Environmental capacity is its ability
‘to accommodate a particular activity or rate of an activity without unacceptable impact’.[2] The
climate, soil types, and availability of water affect it. Human capacity, in relation to food
production, is the size of the population and the amount of agricultural skill within that
population. When these two are at ideal levels and partnered with financial capital, the creation of
intense agricultural infrastructure is possible, as the Green Revolution clearly portrays.
Simultaneously, the ability of a country to produce food is being severely impacted by a plethora of
other factors:
Pests are becoming resistant to pesticides, or pesticides may be killing off the useful and necessary
insects.[3] Examples of this happening occur around the globe. Tanzania experienced a particularly
horrible infection of armyworms in 2005. At the infections peak, there were over 1000 larva per
square meter. In 2009, Liberia experienced a state of emergency when invading African armyworm
caterpillars began what became a regional food crisis. The caterpillars traveled through 65 towns
and 20 000 people were forced to leave their homes, markets, and farms.[4] Losses like this can
cost millions to billions, depending on size and duration, and have severe effects on food security.
The FAO has created an international team, the Plant Production and Protection Division, which is
attempting to ‘reduce reliance on pesticides’ and ‘demonstrate that pesticide use often can be
reduced considerably without affecting yields or farmer profits'[5] in these, and other hard-struck
areas.
Water stress, desertification, and erosion are leading to
loss of arable land.[6] Agricultural practices use the bulk of
the Earth’s fresh water – up to 70 percent – and those
numbers are predicted to rise by 50-100 percent by
2025’.[7] Countries are being forced to divert more water
than ever before to irrigate their land. Hydroelectric dams
and mega-canal projects are becoming the new standard
for countries like Egypt that can no longer depend on
rainfall or natural flood cycles. These water shortages are
Aeolian wind erosion in Phoenix, Arizona,
also causing a source of conflict between neighboring USA on 22 August 2003.
nations as they live with increasingly high levels of water
scarcity. Policy responses to these events could be
implemented in order to strengthen the socio-economic growth, human health statuses, and
environmental sustainability of these areas. Combining current limitations with water and
transitions from practices such as agroforestry and shifting cultivation makes land susceptible to
aeolian erosion by weakening soil composition and exposing larger areas of land to destructive
wind.[8] Aeolian erosion largely effects deserted areas, reducing air quality, polluting water
sources, and limiting fertility of nearby land.
Climate change is creating more extreme weather patterns, and agricultural practices are estimated
to cause from 10 to 12 percent of greenhouses gas emissions.[9] Warming will increase the
previously mentioned rates of desertification and insect activity and agricultural zones near the
equator may be lost. However, due to the uneven warming that will probably occur, higher
latitudes are expected to warm up at faster rates than other areas of the globe.[10] Scientists are
now presenting the idea that areas in Canada and Siberia may become suitable for farming at the
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industrial scale, and that those areas will be able to account for any farmland that is lost at the
equator. Conservative estimates place the shift of traditional crops (maize, grain, potatoes)
northward at 50 to 70 kilometers a decade. It is also believed that non-traditional crops (berries,
sunflowers, melons) could be established on the southern sides of these countries.[11] Changes in
climate may force humans to adapt, adopt new practices, and alter old habits to promote success in
the uncertain age of climate change ahead.
Food consumption
Criticisms of the industrialized food system regarding its inability to provide nutritious,
ecologically sound, equitable food for the world's population has increased in recent history.
Systems that are currently in place focus on providing relatively cheap food to millions, but often
cost the Earth in terms of water and soil degradation, local food insecurity, animal welfare, rising
obesity and health-related problems, and declining rural communities. Variations in diet and
consumption practices on global and regional scales became the focus of geographers and
economists with the vastly expanding population and widely publicized famines of the 1960s, and
the food riots of 2007-2008 in 60 different countries. Due in part to these events, differences in the
caloric intake of food and the composition of an average diet have been estimated and mapped for
many countries since the 1960s.
Canada, USA, and Europe consume the highest amount of calories with an average per capita
consumption of around 3400 calories daily.[12] The recommended daily caloric intake for men and
women living in these areas is 2500 and 2000 respectively. Studies focused on consumption
patterns in these areas lay the blame for increased caloric intake on soft drink and fast food
consumption, and decreased physical activity.[13] Many developing countries are beginning to
follow the leaders in rising caloric intake as they develop further due to increased availability of
these high-impact items. Ballooning weight and associated health problems such as high blood
pressure, high cholesterol, heart problems, and diabetes are being recorded in skyrocketing
numbers.[14]
Globally, consumption is still extremely uneven, with areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa still having
some of the lowest rates of caloric intake per capita, often falling below the recommended levels.
Much of this is due to lack of access of particular foods, which is a leading factor as to why much of
the undernourished population is located in this region. In the world today, there are over 800
million people that are undernourished.[15] The Democratic Republic of Congo holds the lowest
average, at 1800 calories daily; however, averages do not represent the range of inequality between
the best and worst fed people within a region.[16] Currently, steps are being made to reduce caloric
inequality. In parts of South Africa, the government has implemented a widespread electrification
system featuring a free electricity allowance due to a study was conducted from 1991 to 2002 that
found a positive increase in consumption habits within villages if given access to electricity. Access
to electricity allowed for less time to be spent on menial tasks such as gathering firewood, and
more time working on higher-level tasks that could increase income. In fact, villages often
exceeded their electrical allowances.[17]
See also
Local food
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Food security
Right to food
Food rescue
Food speculation
References
1. Atkins, P. and Bowler, I. 2001 Food in Society: Economy, Culture, Geography ISBN 978-0-340-
72004-2.
2. Environmental Protection 1986. Environmental Capacity. An approach to marine pollution
prevention. Rep.Stud.GESAMP, (30):49p.
3. Scholes, J. Food Security and Sustainability – Can we avert a food crisis? University of
Sheffield. 29 June 2009. Keynote Address.
4. Scholes, J. Food Security and Sustainabliity – Can we avert a food crisis? University of
Sheffield. 29 June 2009. Keynote Address.
5. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2013. Pest and Pesticide
Management. http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/core-themes/theme/pests/en/
6. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2005. Irrigation in Africa in
Figures: AQUASAT Survey – 2005. FAO Water Report No. 29. Rome, FAO
ftp://ftp.fao.org/agl/aglw/docs/wr29_eng.pdf
7. WHO (World Health Organization)/UN-Water. 2010. UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of
Sanitation and Drinking Water: Targeting Resources for Better Results. Geneva, WHO/UN-
Water.
8. Moseley, William (2014). An Introduction Human-Environment Geography. United Kingdom:
Wiley Blackwell. p. 260. ISBN 9781405189316.
9. The Strategy Unit. Food Matters: Towards a Strategy for the 21st Century. July 2008. Web.
10. Chamberlin, 1897, "A group of hypothesis bearing on climatic change" J. Geology 5:563–568.
11. Tchebakova, N. (2012). Insight: Siberian agriculture could benefit from climate change.
Krasnoyarsk: Sukachev Institute.
12. Fine, B., Heasman, M., & Wright, J. Consumption in the Age of Affluence: The World of Food.
Canada: Routledge.
13. St-Onge, M.P., Keller, K. L. & Heymsfield, S. B. 2003. “Changes in childhood food consumption
patterns: a cause for concern in light of increasing body weights” American Society for Clinical
Nutrition. 78(6): 1068-1073.
14. Fine, B., Heasman, M., & Wright, J. Consumption in the Age of Affluence: The World of Food.
Canada: Routledge.
15. "Understanding hunger and malnutrition" (http://www.fao.org/resources/infographics/infographi
cs-details/en/c/238873/). www.fao.org. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
16. Coons, K. A. & Rogers, B. L. 2001. “Relationships Between Use of Television During Meals
and Children’s Food Consumption Patterns.” Pediatrics. 107(1): 7-12.
17. Madubanski, M. & Shackleton, C. M. 2006. “Changing energy profiles and consumption
patterns following electrification in five rural villages, South Africa.” Energy Policy. 34(18):
4081-4092.
External links
History of Thought Wiki: Geography of Food (https://web.archive.org/web/20141008141753/htt
p://historyofthought.as.uky.edu/index.php/Geography_of_Food)
Geography all the Way: Food Miles (https://archive.today/20130411002226/http://www.geograp
hyalltheway.com/ib_geography/ib-food-health/food-miles.htm)
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Food Tank: The Food Think Tank (http://foodtank.org)
Food Manufacturing: The Leading Source for Food Manufacturing News (http://www.foodmanuf
acturing.com)
Zurich University of Applied Sciences - Research Group Geography of Food (http://www.zhaw.
ch/iunr/gof)
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