The geography of food is a field of

human geography Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography which studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment, examples of which include urban sprawl and urban ...

. 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 A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...

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 Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

commented on the destructive nature of agriculture when he referred to the

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the Topsoil, upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, Atmosphere of Ea ...

from the mountainsides surrounding Athens, stating " n previous yearsAthens 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 Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and most recently the inhabitants of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

have been experiencing similar difficulties in production due to several interconnecting factors related to

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

and

resource management In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective development of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or ...

. 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 A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" ...

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 A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web, often starting with an autotroph (such as grass or algae), also called a producer, and typically ending at an apex predator (such as grizzly bears or killer whales), detritivore (such as ...

or within systems of food provision derives, in part, from the strengthening of

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

approaches in the 1980s".

Overlapping areas of study

Food has received attention from both the

physical sciences Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together is called the "physical sciences". Definition ...

and the

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

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 Cultural geography is a subfield within human geography. Though the first traces of the study of different nations and cultures on Earth can be dated back to ancient geographers such as Ptolemy or Strabo, cultural geography as academic study fir ...

, particularly in agricultural geography. 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’. 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 The Green Revolution, or the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period during which technology transfer initiatives resulted in a significant increase in crop yields. These changes in agriculture initially emerged in Developed country , devel ...

clearly portrays. Simultaneously, the ability of a country to produce food is being severely impacted by a plethora of other factors:

Pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

are becoming resistant to

pesticides Pesticides are substances that are used to pest control, control pest (organism), pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for a ...

, or pesticides may be killing off the useful and necessary insects. 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 A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usuall ...

. The caterpillars traveled through 65 towns and 20 000 people were forced to leave their homes, markets, and farms. Losses like this can cost millions to billions, depending on size and duration, and have severe effects on food security. The

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

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' in these, and other hard-struck areas. Haboob2

Water stress,

desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...

, and erosion are leading to loss of arable land. 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’. 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 Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

that can no longer depend on rainfall or natural flood cycles. These water shortages are also causing a source of conflict between neighboring nations as they live with increasingly high levels of

water scarcity Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity. One is ''physical.'' The other is ''economic water scarcity''. Physic ...

. Policy responses to these events could be implemented in order to strengthen the socio-economic growth, human health statuses, and

environmental sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

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. Aeolian erosion largely effects deserted areas, reducing air quality, polluting water sources, and limiting fertility of nearby land.

Climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

is creating more extreme weather patterns, and agricultural practices are estimated to cause from 10 to 12 percent of greenhouses gas emissions. 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. Scientists are now presenting the idea that areas in Canada and Siberia may become suitable for farming at the 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. 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 Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

and

soil degradation Soil retrogression and degradation are two regressive evolution processes associated with the loss of equilibrium of a soil health, stable soil. Retrogression is primarily due to soil erosion and corresponds to a phenomenon where succession revert ...

, local food insecurity,

animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...

, rising

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

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. 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. 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. 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. The

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

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. 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.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.

References

External links