David Pimentel: Reducing Energy Inputs to the Food System

David Pimentel is professor of ecology and agricultural sciences at Cornell University. From a recent article in Monthly Reivew:

Each person in the country on a per capita consumption basis requires approximately 2,000 liters per year in oil equivalents to supply his/her total food, which accounts for about 19 percent of the total national energy use. Farming—that portion of the agricultural/food system in which food is produced—requires about 7 percent and food processing and packaging consume an additional 7 percent, while transportation and preparation use 5 percent of total energy in the United States. ...

Based on this assessment of agricultural production technologies and possible changes in agricultural technologies, in most cases the adoption of these practices would lead to an approximate 50 percent reduction of energy inputs in agricultural production. At the same time agriculture would become more environmentally sound, as natural resources are conserved, nutrients are cycled better on the farm, less runoff and erosion would occur, and the use of chemical toxins are reduced.

Hat tips to Max Ajl for the SolveClimate article, "Organic Farming Yields Far Better Crop Resistance and Resiliance," and to P+T for the link.