food systems, farms, energy

 

Vaclav Smil, Transforming the 20th century, 2006                            [ ]  

p.156

As a result, most food systems will easily claim at least twice as much energy as is used in food production. And in North America the combination of excessive processing and packaging, long distribution trucking to supermarkets, ubiquitous refrigeration, automatic dishwashing, and electricity-powered cooking appliances raises that multiple even higher. Even after excluding the energy cost of food-related car trips, Steinhart and Steinhart (1974) calculated that in 1970 energy use in the U.S. food system added up to almost 13% of the country's primary energy consumption, almost exactly four (4) times the direct and indirect energy use in farm production. The processing industry, refrigeration, and home cooking each consumed more fuels and electricity than did the U.S. farms.

 

   (Smil, Vaclav., Transforming the 20th century: technical innovation and their consequences / Vaclav Smil., 1. technological innovation ── history ── 20th century, 2006, )

   ____________________________________