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

VULNERABILITIES: Daily Bread
The vulnerabilities inherent in our current well‐oiled way of feeding ourselves are
manifold. Some of the more obvious threats to Bloomington's food security due to peak oil
include:
1. Increased food prices due to fuel­related cost hikes affecting production,
processing, and transport.
2. Increased food prices and/or shortages due to falling food production
resulting from energy­related shortages of agricultural inputs (fuel, fertilizer,
irrigation water).
3. Increased prices, or shortages of grain, cereals, and meat and dairy products
due to diversion of grain to ethanol production.
4. Shortages of grain due to increased purchasing by foreign governments
(China, India, others) to cover shortfalls in domestic production as a result of
energy, climate or land problems.
5. Shortages of food due to spoilage in transit or storage because of power
outages due to grid electricity disruptions.
6. Abrupt disruption in fuel supplies due to sudden loss of confidence in the U.S.
dollar and a market or political embargo of oil shipments to this country with
consequent dislocation of the trucking industry.
7. A trucking strike or shutdown related to fuel price rises and a squeeze on
driver incomes.
8. Disruptions to the food supply system due to a lack of credit, bankruptcies, or
other financial failures.
9. Less than 2 percent of the food consumed by city residents is produced within
the city, its surrounding region or the state.
Many of these vulnerabilities are interrelated and are likely to compound each other. In a
world of contracting energy supplies, our present food system is set up to fail. Therefore, it
is imperative to begin creating an alternative system free of fossil fuels by which the city
and area residents may be assured their daily bread.
Report of the Bloomington Peak Oil Task Force 175