LITERATURE REVIEW

Over the next 50 years, the global food demand is projected to double (Tilman 2002). The realization of this has brought many scholars into the study of agriculture and food systems. Along with many historical accounts of the US food retailing business, much of the scholarly literature has been focused on answering questions regarding the long-term sustainability and environmental concerns associated with a global food system, and by extension, industrialized agriculture. Additionally, many scholars have addressed the socioeconomic impacts that such a system has had on communities, considering both its benefits and detriments. Meanwhile, others have centered their research on local food systems and how their presence may or may not enhance the quality of life of community residents.

The purpose of this section to allow you to become familiarized with previous research done on the topic of food systems and the agricultural practices to which they are associated. Once you have read through this section, you will understand how food production has become globalized and what advantages and disadvantages it has given society. The literature reviewed has been categorized into three sections for ease in finding the material in which you are interested. To navigate through the review of published scholarly works relevant to this research project, you may either scroll down or click the links above.

Food Retail History
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The means by which we acquire our food has seen significant changes over the past 50 years. There has been a vast consolidation of the production, distribution and retailing of food (Hendrickson 2002). The food retail market has shifted fragmented supply chains and concentrated ownership, in what is commonly known as the global food system (Guptill 2002, Hendrickson 2002, Kloppenberg 2002). These fragmented supply chains have created food chain clusters, which are networks of relationships in which the decisions controlling vast amounts of agricultural resources are decided by only a few groups (Hendrickson 2002). Researchers describe this phenomenon as both the centralization and decentralization of the food system (Kloppenberg 2002). More simply stated, our food is no longer grown within a close proximity of us, but rather may come from any part of the United States or the world. The centralization of the system is characterized by the agricultural decision-making power of a select number of corporations. Such high levels of control in the food sector has left many to wonder how their decisions will affect the environment and society, and recent consumer indications show there is a growing interest for sustainably produced foods in Minnesota (Robinson 2002).

Environmental Impacts
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In order to sustain the high productivity demands of the global food system, land management has seen a shift towards more intensive agriculture use (Jarosz 2000, Tilman 2002). Intensive agriculture is characterized as a high yielding large-scale system with a heavy reliance on fossil fuels, fertilizers, monocropping and environmental contamination (Jarosz 2000, Lasley 1993). The industrialization of agriculture through the global food system offers an increased manageability of agricultural field, which is aimed at providing greater yields by increased pest management and fertilizer applications (Lasley 1993).

However, the long-term sustainability of such management techniques is currently under scrutiny for its adverse environmental impacts. An experiment at Michigan State University found that such agricultural systems have as much as double the impact on global warming than do alternative systems (Robertson 2000). This is an outcome of the inability of intensive agriculture systems to sequester carbon into the soil, whereas sequestration is evident in low-input and organic systems. Moreover, intensive agriculture is steadily becoming less efficient due to soil erosion and increasingly chemical-resistant biological pests (Pinstrup 1998, Tilman 2002). The seven-fold increase in nitrogen fertilizer and 3.5-fold increase in phosphorus use between 1960 and 1995 has resulted in an accumulation of agricultural inputs in the environment (Tilman 2002). The maintaining of current productivity on already degraded soils is becoming increasingly difficult. The efficiency of past and current agricultural practices is on such a decline, that the rates of inputs such as nitrogen and phophorous may triple only to achieve another doubling in food production (Tilman 2002). Monocropping of three cereals which account for 60% of human food — corn, wheat and rice — has made them the most abundant plants on Earth (Tilman 2002). Additionally, the monocropping technique utilized in intensive agriculture has led to the reduction in vital ecosystem services such as water retention, flood preventation, nutrient recycling, detoxification of wastes and several others, all of which are dependent on species biodiversity (Ehrlich 1993).

Foods that are produced and distributed locally, on the other hand, are often considered to have fewer negative impacts on the environment (Robertson 2000, Tilman 2002, Stagl 2002). Locally produced foods are considered to produce a safer product of higher quality, with small-scale and organic farms being embedded in a regional community rather than a global food system (Jarosz 2000, Lasley 1993).

Socioeconomic Impacts
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In 1990, the US Congress defined sustainable agriculture not only as being environmental sound, but also needing to be economically viable and socially responsible (Ikerd 1996). Therefore, it is also useful to become familiar with the socioeconomic impacts of globalized and localized food systems.
(Kari's Web Page on Sustainability)

A major benefit of of the global food system of the availability of fresh produce year-round, regardless of the seasonality of the produce (Hendrickson 2002). Also, the centralization of the food chain clusters and high yields of intensive agriculture create a low-cost product for the consumer (Lasley 1993). However, this low-cost product is partly the result of the government subsidies that intensive agriculture relies heavily upon, which cause surpluses that then depress commodity prices (Lasley 1993). This has jeopardized rural communities, where economic vitality is significantly dependent upon agricultural income (Feenstra 1997, Lasley 1993). Also, because of the centralization of the decision-making in the global food system, the farmer has less of a say in the food he produces. The farmer becomes merely a grower in the food supply chain and never owns the product as it moves through the system (Hendrickson 2002).

Local food systems revitalize communities and food security by being centered around a philosophy of local environmental and health priorities (Feenstra 1997, Guptill 2002, Stagl 2002). The social and ecological components of local food systems place a greater emphasis on the responsibility of farmers to their community (Hendrickson 2002). In return, this brings back a sense of seasonality to a local food system, helping to make the consumer more aware of how their food is being produced (Hendrickson 2002, Kloppenberg 2002, Stagl 2002). Local food systems have also been shown to increase the economic vitality of rural communities (Lasley 1993, Stagl 2002). Sustainable agriculture practices most commonly used in local food systems are more labor intensive, creating more jobs in the local economy of rural communities. Previous research has shown this to have an accumulating effect on the local economy, generating more income to be spent on local retailing (Ikerd 1996, Lasley 1993). Moreover, it has been shown that farm systems alternative to the intensive agriculture scenario provide more direct farm income (Ikerd 1996). This is a result of price premiums for products grown in a sustainable model, and greater farmer independence when producing outside of the global food system.

But the local food system is not without its drawbacks. Price premiums for locally produced food has limited the demographic reach of the local food system to those with greater financial security (Robinson 2002, Stagl 2002). Local food systems are also unable to meet all consumer demands (Stagl 2002). Fresh produce is often not available year-round and the seasonality of products are more greatly reflected in a local food system (Kloppenberg 2002, Stagl 2002).