Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
11
The Environmental Sustainability
of Food Production
J.L. Capper*
Department of Animal Sciences, Washington State University,
Pullman, Washington, USA
Introduction
consumer, the system is out of balance and can
only be resolved by improving social responsibil-
ity or removing the practice from the system. For
example, the use of gestation crates in swine
production is considered to have economic ben-
efits to the producer (Krieter, 2002) and poten-
tially to reduce environmental impact by
increasing sow productivity. However, a number
of processors and retailers have recently
removed this management practice from their
supply chain in response to public perceptions of
sub-optimal animal welfare under this manage-
ment system.
Following the earlier definition from US EPA
(2010b), environmental sustainability may be
summarized as 'producing more, using fewer
resources'. On a global basis, the seeming
dichotomy between ensuring food security and
reducing resource use for food production is a
significant issue for governments and policy
makers who are conscious not only of the pro-
portion of their national population that is cur-
rently food-insecure, but also of the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO)'s prediction that the global population will
increase to over 9.5 billion people in the year
2050 (FAO, 2009). The extent of population
growth varies amongst regions, with the great-
est increases in both population growth and per
Sustainability is defined by the US Environmental
Protection Agency (US EPA, 2010b) as 'meeting
society's present needs without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs'. This definition is a relatively simple
example of one of the myriad that are present in
the lexicon of food industry stakeholders,
indeed, sustainability is multi-faceted and repre-
sents many differing concepts and practices to
different organizations or individuals. However,
there appears to be a growing consensus that
sustainability, regardless of the precise defini-
tion, may be the most important issue faced by
the food production industry. Until recently, sus-
tainability referred simply to economic viability
and the resilience of an organization or industry
to survive market shifts and volatility. As sus-
tainability becomes increasingly important for a
growing proportion of consumers, the definition
has shifted to a 'triple-bottom-line approach',
which encompasses three factors: economic via-
bility, environmental stewardship and social
responsibility. Short- or long-term sustainability
relies on a balance between these three factors.
If one factor is out of balance, e.g. if a produc-
tion practice is economically viable and reduces
environmental impact yet is unacceptable to the
