VIEWPOINT Peter Baker

Reforming the economics of food production and supply would be beneficial for a number of environmental and social problems, argues Peter Baker. A key issue, he says, is understanding the energy involved in putting food on your plate.

Tomato production in the US consumes four times as many calories as the calorific value of the tomatoes created

Global development, global debt, global warming, food miles, food security, food riots, peak oil, peak water…

What’s this got to do with small farmers and global food chains?

The answer is that all the issues mentioned above intersect over small farmers.

If we can’t quite get a grip on what is happening to the world, we won’t be able to do a good job for them, and we’ll waste a lot of resources in the process.

It’s perfectly reasonable to want to assist farmers to build a better life by adding value.

It’s also perfectly reasonable to expect their produce to be fresh and non-toxic. And it’s only natural to want to facilitate this process through aid, technical assistance, capacity building and the like.

But the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Source http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7553958.stm