Abstract
The production of food is highly tied to our modern transportation networks, energy, and the health or decline of ecosystems. Modern agriculture has transformed farming into a big business, and farms now are larger than they ever have been before. They require a complex transportation network consisting of truck, rail, boat, and plane to move food around to provide rapid transport of food for the global market. Grocery stores in wealthy parts of the world can find food from all over the planet that was freshly harvested or butchered, while markets in poorer areas tend to have cheaper processed food that can be shipped and stored over long periods of time. Many activists have critiqued this new form of agribusiness and promote initiatives like small local farms, farmers’ markets, and slow food. Three case studies are presented to demonstrate the linkages among food, energy, transportation, and ecosystems by looking at corn, citrus, and shrimp production.
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Brinkmann, R. (2020). Interconnections in Environmental Sustainability: Food, Transportation, Energy, and Ecosystems. In: Environmental Sustainability in a Time of Change. Palgrave Studies in Environmental Sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28203-5_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28203-5_12
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