May 15, 2019

You know what drives Jason really crazy about auto traffic? No, it’s not the 42 hours per year that the average commuter wastes stuck in it or even the global warming pollution spewed, it’s the 3 BILLION (with a B people!) gallons of fuel that are wasted instead of helping with the transition of our food system. In this episode, Rob, Asher, and Jason talk about why fossil fuels are so embedded in our food system and how changes in the way we grow food might change where all of us live. This episode is designed especially for people who like to eat food and hope to continue doing so.

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Show Notes

• Read Jason Bradford’s The Future Is Rural for a comprehensive report on the food system and needed changes.
• Source of statistic that US farmers represent 1% of population: USDA (2014) 2012 Census of Agriculture. United States Summary and State Data. Volume 1, Geographic Area Series, Part 51.; U.S. Census Bureau (2012) “Population Estimates, Detailed Tables.
• Food, Energy and Society, revised edition. Pimentel and Pimentel, eds, 1996, quote:
  “During the age of the Pharaohs and pyramid projects, ancient Egypt had a population of 3 million. About 95 percent of society was involved in agriculture. The surplus energy of about 5 percent was utilized for the Pharaohs and the construction of the great pyramids.” pg 5
• New York to Egypt energy reference: Pierre Chomat, Oil Addiction: the World in Peril (Universal Publishers, 2004). The reference is on pages 14-15.
• Food System energy return on investment, University of Michigan, Center for Sustainable Systems
• Reference on food waste, and a second reference
• David Holmgren’s quote from Retrosuburbia
• On-farm energy use statistics from USDA researchers