The cold, hard facts

I'm knee-deep in The End of Food and, while from what I can tell the very end is going to offer some hope, it is a difficult read because of the subject matter. Every aspect of our food system is so, so broken. None of it is sustainable. We are severely depleting natural resources and there are no viable solutions to keep things running the way they are. When we run out of water to produce grain, what is the alternative to that?

I was looking at these agricultural statistics for Tennessee and can see how our state is being affected by our food system. All these statistics cover changes over a 10 year period, between 1997 and 2007.

The world's meat consumption is steadily rising, a trend that is far from sustainable. Meat, particularly beef, is a highly inefficient use of calories: it takes 20 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of beef. In Tennessee, between 1997 and 2007, the number of acres used to grow crops decreased by 1.4 million, while the number of acres used for pasture (i.e. to grow meat) increased by 1.4 million. No surprise, the #1 agricultural commodity is cattle. Meat is becoming a priority.

Globally we are chipping into our non-farming acres, as all immediately arable land is already in use. In Brazil, 8,000 square miles of rainforest are depleted for the sake of farming (typically for poultry or beef production). In America, soil-fragile acres are being put to use, acres that the gov't has paid farmers NOT to use because of the risk of destroying the soil completely. In Tennessee, the number of acres conserved dropped by over 100,000 acres, a 25% decrease.

The good news in all this? Most Tennessee farms are NOT mega farms, which are known for their high costs on the environment due to higher use of pesticides and fertilizers. Tennessee's average farm size is 138 acres. A farm that size can be ecologically sustainable with a "small farm" vibe - our local Delvin Farms is almost 100 acres and is a family enterprise that remains in touch with its customers and the environment, growing quality organic produce.

Is there hope for change? Yes. The average age of a Tennessee farmer is 54, something that will change as folks from our generation (ages 20-30ish) develop a passion for the land. We need to glean knowledge from these farmers who have been working the land since the 50s or 60s. There is a huge gender discrepancy: there are almost 83,000 male farmers, but only 8,500 females. Let's rise up, ladies and young folks of Tennessee!

http://www.ers.usda.gov/stateFacts/TN.HTM