chapter 3 inventory of local food systems

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Project CP/59 - “Instruments and institutions to develop local food systems” • for the employer: possibly more flexible employees, who would be prepared to work temporarily more, or less, during peak respectively less busy periods, and who could possibly reach a helping hand at the last moment. In order to measure the impact on employment, the number of full-time equivalents employed by the various systems, related to the added value they create, can be compared. Real price of food The real price of the food we buy implies a correct price for the farmer and deducts the above mentioned energy consumption and the environmental impacts that are caused by transport, packaging and waste treatment. The food we consume at present is artificially cheap because these aspects of the food supply chain are not being considered in the price. (www.mcspotlight.org/media/reports/foodmiles.html) A recharge of the real price of the products could be a possibility to solve, among other things, the problem of growing road transport. At present, many costs are being externalised. That means they are being transferred to public infrastructures and to the environment. The costs are paid by both the present and the future society. However, an adequate use of scarce production resources can only be achieved if we take into account the full costs, and if these are also all recharged in the price. As this is not occurring now, and the prices approach the real costs less and less, the environmental and social impacts increase and the inefficiency of the present system is often hushed up (Böge, 1995). 1.3.2.2. Economic impact at consumer level For the consumer the value of an agricultural product (including landscape and environment) (s)he buys is unclear. The consumer buys packaging, processing, transport and publicity in products like meat, milk, cheese, vegetables,… A report of the ‘agrarian’ value (the part that goes to the farmer on the countryside) of the product, apart from the ‘industrial’ value (processing), ‘transport’ (logistics), ‘commercial’ value (promotion, publicity) and ‘fiscal’ value (VAT, taxes…) and the costs for control in the chain or the different links could offer the producer and the consumer more insight in the life cycle and the price setting of food. 1.3.2.3. Economic impact at producer level Depending on the kind of LFS (direct sales, network sale with contact, network sale with information, anonymous sale), the producer is more or less intensely concerned in the sales of what (s)he produces. A more direct sale can imply extra costs as well as extra income. There are for instance investment costs for the producer, new sales systems (e.g. a market stall, and also the time investment of the persons who man the stall), or in distributing information in the case of network sales. On the other hand the producer can obtain a better share from the income the product generates, through direct sales. The growth of the added value for the producers is depending on the scale and the quality of the production, but also of the inventiveness and the professionalism of the SPSD II - Part I - Sustainable production and consumption patterns - Agro-Food 19
Project CP/59 - “Instruments and institutions to develop local food systems” farmers to build a shorter link with the consumer. Indicators that can be used to measure this economic impact are for instance the multiplier effect and the impact on the employment as described before. 1.3.3. Environmental impact Finally, all environmental impacts within the food chain, caused by the human beings, can be reduced to patterns of human consumption (Carlsson-Kanyama et al., 2003). Food consumption within the household is therefore seen as one of the most polluting or the most resource consuming activities (Carlsson-Kanyama, 1998). 1.3.3.1. Energy consumption for transportation: food kilometres or miles Under ‘food kilometres’ we understand the total distance covered by the food from the field to the consumers’ plate. Or: simply the distance between the producer and the consumer (Jones, 2001). Especially the staggering in space and the intensity with which products are presently traded has increased considerably, rather than the quantity traded (Böge, 1995). The number of food kilometres has increased in the past years mainly because of the increase of the international trade, the increase of distribution by road, and the increase of the number of consumers who go shopping by car (as well as an increase of the distance to the place of purchase) (Jones, 2001). One of the main causes of the increase of international trade has been the relatively cheap fuel price (www.mcspotlight.org/media/reports/ foodmiles.html). The prices of fossil fuels do not reflect the complete costs caused by the consumption of these fuels. The construction of roads and vehicles, the environmental damage caused, the costs of developing alternative energy sources for the future… are not included in the price (see also real food price). Food kilometres give a clear image of the globalization of the mainstream (Western) food system: how far (and how often) is our food transported before it arrives on our dish? Also, an easy conversion of the use of fossil fuels and the corresponding emission of greenhouse gases caused by this transport can be made. When calculating food kilometres, only the energy consumption of the transport of the food is taken into consideration. So, many other things are not included, such as: the “hidden” kilometres that lie behind it, for instance those of the packaging material separately before it is used as packaging; the harvesting and planting by tractor, fertilizing and the use of pesticides, heating of greenhouses, cooling during transport, conservation and storage, etc. For instance, Carlsson-Kanyama et al. (2003) demonstrate that in Sweden, less energy is needed for the import of tomatoes from the Canary Island than for tomatoes grown in Sweden in heated greenhouses. Therefore, it is indicated to also make a complete analysis of the energy consumption throughout the life cycle of a product, in order to be able to make a real environmental comparison between the various chains that bring the producer close to the consumer. This is placed under the denominator “life cycle analysis” (LCA). SPSD II - Part I - Sustainable production and consumption patterns - Agro-Food 20
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