Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
1.1 Aim and research questions
The aim of this study was to investigate how much the environmental impacts could be
reduced by various changes in the governance of food systems. The main questions
investigated were; the importance of food production methods, the importance of transport
and processing systems of food, and the impact of different food consumption profiles. By
examining this we can also answer what effort would give the most environmental benefits
to society. The environmental impacts assessed were potential emissions of nitrogen (risk
for eutrophication), global warming impact and use of primary energy in the agricultural
production, transporting and processing parts of the food system. To define an alternative
food basket and to calculate costs borne by households a consumer survey was carried out.
The aim with the survey was to provide information on what a food basket of
environmentally concerned residents consists of and costs, in one case study site.
The environmental impact of different food choices has gained increased attention in policy
documents. In its “Strategy for sea and coast free from eutrophication” the Swedish
Environmental Advisory Council states that major reductions in nitrogen emissions from
agriculture are possible with changed consumption profiles (MVB, 2005). Similar
recommendations are found in a Government Commission Report on sustainable
consumption where increased shares of vegetables as well as local and organic food as
means to achieve “sustainable consumption” are discussed (SOU, 2005).
Governance of ecosystems or natural resources is often more efficient if several sectors
(horizontal collaboration) and several levels (vertical collaboration) are involved in the
process (Low et al., 2003). When addressing the food system different sectors include the
production and the consumption sides and levels of decision range from farmers and
consumers to municipal and governmental agencies and the EU. Local stakeholder
collaboration ensures that several objectives (ecological, social, and economic) are
addressed. Such horizontal collaboration involves public agencies as well as NGO:s. Vertical
collaboration, or multilevel social networks (Adger et al., 2005) on the other hand, is crucial
for enhancing social and ecological resilience (Folke et al., 2005; Dietz et al., 2003).
Collaboration and different aspects of institutions in the food sector have been studied by
e.g. Carlsson-Kanyama et al. (2004) and Larsson et al. (2007). This paper draws on results
obtained in the two EU financed projects BERAS and GEMCONBIO
1
.
2. Methodology
Environmental effects of different farming, processing and distribution regimes and
different consumption profiles were studied, using primary and secondary data compiled
from own studies, literature and official statistics. First we present an overview of the
methodology used. More details are given in the following sub-chapters.
Two farming systems, Swedish average 2000-2002 and the system of Ecological Recycling
Agriculture (ERA, see Box 1 below) farms 2002-2004 were used for comparison of their
respective environmental impacts. Two food consumption profiles (food baskets) were used
for comparison of the importance of our choices of food. Data on consumption patterns from
a national consumer survey (Swedish Board of Agriculture, 2004) represent the Swedish
average food basket. Data obtained in the consumer survey carried out represent an
1
Baltic Ecological Recycling Ecology and Society, www.jdb.se/beras and Governance and Ecosystem
Management for the Conservation of Biodiversity, www.gemconbio.eu.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search