Implications of Fossil Fuel Dependence for the Food System

Our current industrialized food system is not sustainable due to it’s overdependence on non-renewable fossil fuel energy and it’s degradation of the natural systems on which it depends for its existence. If action to change these aspects of the food system are not taken, convening resource depletion and degradation will cause the food system to collapse. Our food system is the result of the “green revolution” which created greatly increased crop yields by using large amounts of fossil fuel energy in the form of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, petroleum based agrochemicals, diesel powered machinery, refrigeration, irrigation and an oil dependent distribution system. This system destroys biodiversity, contributes to global climate change and degrades soil and water quality.

The availability of decades of cheap fossil fuel energy has allowed the food system to become dependent on finite resources that are rapidly being depleted. Due to the constraints of the first and second laws of thermodynamics this system can not be maintained in its current form. Essential components of the current system such as synthetic nitrogen fertilizers which require natural gas as a feedstock and oil dependent distribution exemplify the fragile nature of the food system. A wide scale conversion to low energy, ecologically sustainable agriculture must be implemented to avoid food system collapse and future food supply shortages.

Energy Bulletin