World Food Policy Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2015 | Page 108

Advancing Health Promoting Food Systems

intensive methods applied in industrial
agriculture which requires large quantities
of non-renewable fossil fuel, fuel-based
inputs, such as fertilisers and pesticides, as
well as antibiotic overuse in industrial food
animal production” (Kickbusch 2010,
22). Some food groups have a greater
environmental impact than others,
especially industrial-scale ruminant
meat production and fish aquaculture
schemes established in sensitive marine
environments (McMichael et al. 2007;
Friel et al. 2009; Jackson et al. 2001). The
negative environmental influences on
ecosystems and biodiversity include the
unsustainable use of water and fossil fuels
in food production, methane production
as a result of enteric fermentation in beef
cattle and sheep, the use of antibiotics
and parasiticides, waste discharge, and
the destruction of natural habitats (e.g.,
mangroves).

Environmental resource constraints are already exacerbating healthy
food availability issues and health
inequalities (Ziervogel and Erickson
2010). A decrease in the availability of
whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables,
results in an increased cost of these
foods, creating a barrier for people on a
low income to maintain a healthy diet.
Corporate supply chains buy out local
firms often shifting food production sites
and production methods and inputs (e.g.,
shifting agriculture to areas of relative
water security) (Hattersley, Isaacs, and
Burch 2013). Current food production
practices, reliant on the natural resources,
may not be sustainable over the long
term: for example, when countries export
food they are also exporting the water,
nutrients, and other fossil fuel inputs used
to produce the food (Whitmee et al. 2015,

25).

Another issue relating to industrial
agriculture is when local food producers are
unable to adapt to the new environmental
conditions and unable to operate within
the corporate supply chains (Altieri,
Funes-Monzote, and Peterson 2011;
Craviotti 2015). These circumstances can
result in food producers either adopting
new organizational models and farming
practices or becoming impoverished to
the point of leaving their land (Dorward
2013). This second pathway can lead
to a spiral of environmental and social
impoverishment, which can threaten
food availability, accessibility, and cost.
This situation is an unfortunate reality in
both lower- and higher-income countries
(Cribb 2010; Breuer and Kreuer 2011).
2.4 - The climate change challenge

Climate changes pose a major
direct threat to the establishment and
future spread of healthy and sustainable
food systems (McMichael et al. 2007;
Nelson et al. 2010; Meridian Institute
2011). Sustained heat waves, droughts,
and flooding negatively impact food
yields, safety, and quality. Climate change
is expected to lead to price increases in
four of the world’s most important crops—
rice, wheat, maize, and soybeans. Irrigated
crops will experience large declines
in yield (IFPRI 2009). Rice continues
to be a crucial food staple in low- and
middle-income countries and provides
60 percent of the carbohydrate and
plant-based protein consumed by Asian
people. There are 200 million rice farms
in Asia, according to the International
Rice Research Institute (IRRI); and this
major livelihood generator and key

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