If you care about a sustainable future and questions like how to feed 6 billion people, then you are likely to discover vast amounts of waste. Our food waste in the industrial countries accounts for up to 50% of the food we produce (1, 2, 3). It is therefore really odd to me why some scientists advertise research to meet the potentially growing food demand when population grows. Especially if the scientists support basic ecology: more food for a species = increased numbers of that species = more demand for food etc. The food for growth is often a key argument for sustainability and gene modified organisms (GMO
).But why do we waste so much, purposefully? Why do products travel several times around the world before we can buy it in the shop, throw it in the garbage within a few days to years, and sometimes never even use it.
Well, money from what I can tell. It is sensible because the driver for sense is economy. If you can sell something cheaper and gain profit - you have to for the sake of competitors and stake holders. Same for buying. People buy what they can afford. Makes sense.
Not really.
It makes sense only as long as you think of currency as a value. If you compare a choice with "what resources do I have to consume to get item A versus getting it locally or making it myself" then it often makes little sense. Examples: growing/making your own food, making your own clothes, using certain transportation's.
As a scientists I have been thinking hard of how to expose this lack of logic - how to measure it. Currency is a common denominator for work time, transport, fuel, materials etc. but how can you compare this with something that is not using money Example: milking by hand rather than by machine is reflected in differences in time used, but do not account for the building and use of the machine.
My best shot so far is: joules. Human labor, extracting and shaping raw materials, transportation, heating, etc. can all be added a joule value and compared.
I think experiments that would examine these traditions and habits using joule consumption we have could have a strong impact on peoples mentality and choices. Your choice would suddenly have number of waste. Imagine you standing in the supermarket and on your banana you have a total number of joules used to make and bring it there for you (and it is not a small number).
Yes - yes I know, the work places. If people do not buy things, other people will be out of a job. And if you do not have to transport things 4-10 times to get it to you, it means even less work and jobs. But is it smart? Could peoples time and money be saved for more useful things than shuffling papers and moving things? Would both mom and dad have to work at the same time if you do not need so much money to spend? More physical work wouldn't hurt most peoples health would it? Would it be better for the family - for life in general?
In a week I attend a course on how to construct models that examine and predict sociological-ecological interactions in farming. The course is aiming at finding solutions within the existing framework of agriculture. Let us see how my colleagues will like my new proposal.
Examples of how joules (in some cases as calories) can be counted:
Physical activity
Social study of connection between food and money
Example of study using calories to estimate agricultural practices in Pakistan
Books on the subject
