Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

FOOD
Eating Oil
Over the last 100 years, the way we feed ourselves has changed radically. Chiefly from the
use of pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and mechanization, agricultural production over
the last century has more that tripled. However, the modern food system is both highly
centralized and almost entirely dependent on oil. It relies on oil both for production and for
transportation from farm to table. Indeed, little more than 2 percent of the food we eat
comes from local sources. Our food travels thousands of miles on average, most of it is
carried by diesel‐powered trucks. 220 As Bloomington consumers, we complete deliveries to
the kitchen by commuting from our homes to half a dozen shopping hubs at major traffic
junctures to the north, south, east, and west of the city center.
This system of production and
consumption is a very energy
intensive one. Approximately 7.3
calories of fossil energy go into
harvesting and serving up one
calorie of solar‐derived food
energy. 221 Of this total, 1.6 calories
go into farm operations, transport
requires 1.0 calorie, processing
and packaging require 1.7
calories, retail sales and food
Source: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
service 0.8 calories, and household level storage and preparation 2.3 calories. Most
Americans are literally eating oil and gas (and not a little coal).
220 It is fair to assume that Bloomington foodmiles do not differ that much from the national average. Produce
in the U.S. travels, on average, 1300 ‐ 2000 miles from farm to consumer.
221 Richard Heinberg and Michael Bomford, The Food and Farming Transition: Toward a Post­Carbon Food
System, Post Carbon Institute, 2009. http://www.postcarbon.org/food
Report of the Bloomington Peak Oil Task Force 173