Consumption patterns and their effects on land required for food

Gerbens-Leenes, P.W.; Nonhebel, Sanderine

doi:10.1016/s0921-8009(02)00049-6

Cited by 237 publications

(140 citation statements)

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“…However, curbing growth in anticipated consumption in developing countries, where the majority of increase in production is projected to occur (5), will also be critical. Although neither of the extreme scenarios we modeled for global protein consumption are realistic (either entirely livestock-or soy-derived), a variety of authors have previously called attention to the environmental gains associated with diets lower in livestock products (38)(39)(40)(41). Given the large differences in impacts associated with plant versus livestock protein-based diets, satisfying nutritional requirements through largely plant-based, regionally appropriate diets must be emphasized, while remaining sensitive to the developmental status and aspirations of the less advantaged, as well as the environmental implications of specific plant protein production strategies-for example, soybean agriculture in Amazonia (34,42,43).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forecasting potential global environmental costs of livestock production 2000–2050

Pelletier

Tyedmers

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

306

189

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Food systems—in particular, livestock production—are key drivers of environmental change. Here, we compare the contributions of the global livestock sector in 2000 with estimated contributions of this sector in 2050 to three important environmental concerns: climate change, reactive nitrogen mobilization, and appropriation of plant biomass at planetary scales. Because environmental sustainability ultimately requires that human activities as a whole respect critical thresholds in each of these domains, we quantify the extent to which current and future livestock production contributes to published estimates of sustainability thresholds at projected production levels and under several alternative endpoint scenarios intended to illustrate the potential range of impacts associated with dietary choice. We suggest that, by 2050, the livestock sector alone may either occupy the majority of, or significantly overshoot, recently published estimates of humanity’s “safe operating space” in each of these domains. In light of the magnitude of estimated impacts relative to these proposed (albeit uncertain) sustainability boundary conditions, we suggest that reining in growth of this sector should be prioritized in environmental governance.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forecasting potential global environmental costs of livestock production 2000–2050

Pelletier

Tyedmers

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

306

189

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“…The size and complexity of food systems in industrialized countries also makes it difficult to see threats to the system as a whole, and leads to a focus on specific issues such as obesity and malnutrition rather than on mechanisms generating food and nutrition insecurity (Hammond and Dubé 2012). Other specific concerns include greenhouse gas emissions from the food chain (Garnett 2011), the environmental health of the movement toward local food sources (Edwards-Jones 2010), the effect of convenience stores on food choices (Sharkey et al 2013), and the effect of consumption patterns on land use requirements (Gerbens-Leenes and Nonhebel 2002). The many stakeholders in the system, including policy-makers, producers, processors, retailers, civil society organizations and consumers, all bring their own views and values to food system issues and have different perceptions of the food system itself (Sadler et al 2014).…”

Section: Modern Industrialized Food Supply Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A system dynamics approach for examining mechanisms and pathways of food supply vulnerability

Stave

Kopainsky

2015

J Environ Stud Sci

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Understanding vulnerabilities in complex and interdependent modern food systems requires a wholesystem perspective. This paper demonstrates how one systems approach, system dynamics, can help conceptualize the mechanisms and pathways by which food systems can be affected by disturbances. We describe the process of creating stock-and-flow maps and causal loop diagrams from the graphical representation of a problem and illustrate their use for making links and feedback among the human health, food, and environmental health sectors visible. These mapping tools help structure thinking about where and how particular systems might be affected by different disturbances and how flows of material and information transmit the effects of disturbances throughout the system. The visual representations as well as the process of creating them can serve different purposes for different stakeholders: developing research questions, identifying policy leverage points, or building collaboration among people in different parts of the system. They can serve as a transition between mental models and formal simulation models, but they also stand on their own to support diagrammatic reasoning: clarifying assumptions, structuring a problem space, or identifying unexpected implications of an unplanned disturbance or an intentional policy intervention. The diagrams included here show that vulnerability of a national food system does not only or automatically result from exogenous shocks that might affect a country. Rather, vulnerability can be either intensified or reduced by the interaction of feedback loops in the food system, and buffered or amplified by the structure of stocks and flows. KeywordsCausal loop diagram; conceptual models; dynamic complexity; modern industrialized food systems; stock-and-flow diagram; systems mapping, structural insights. 2 IntroductionFood supply systems are richly integrated and highly dynamic social-ecological systems in which ecological factors shape the possibilities for food production and social factors govern the goals and operations of actors in the system. In low income countries, food supply systems tend to be relatively simple and closely adapted to local environmental conditions, with a small set of products and few steps between producers and consumers. Consumers are likely to participate in the system and understand how it works. By contrast, the structure and operation of modern industrialized food systems are largely invisible to consumers and policy-makers (Reisch et al. 2013). The chains of production, processing, and distribution activities that generate food supplies are long, highly differentiated, and influenced by an array of environmental, economic, social, cultural and other factors. It is hard to visualize connections in the system and even harder to see how changes in one part of the system affect other parts. Some causal connections in the system are direct and obvious, such as the effect of a drought on crop yield, but some are indirect and opaque, such as the effect of...

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“…In 2001-2003 the production of eggs was more than twice as high in developing countries (about 41 million MT) as in developed countries (about 19 million MT) (FAOSTAT/FBS, 2006). Less land is required to produce poultry and eggs (7.3 m 2 year kg -1 and 3.5 m 2 year kg -1 , respectively) than to produce other animal source foods such as beef (20.9 m 2 year kg -1 ) (Gerbens-Leenes and Nonhebel, 2002).…”

Section: Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fish Oil Supplement Research Remains Murky

Moyer¹

2012

Nature

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Consumption patterns and their effects on land required for food

Cited by 237 publications

References 12 publications

Forecasting potential global environmental costs of livestock production 2000–2050

Forecasting potential global environmental costs of livestock production 2000–2050

A system dynamics approach for examining mechanisms and pathways of food supply vulnerability

Fish Oil Supplement Research Remains Murky

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