Salad with a side of fuel?

Despite what people may think about the soaring gas prices and rising taxes in this country, Americans enjoy a prosperity completely unknown to most of the world. We are a nation of consumers, which drives business, which drives . . . consumers.

Most of us take our good fortune for granted, particularly the food we eat. In a nation where breakfast can be at Dunkin’ Donuts and supper can be at the McDonald’s drive-through, where TV tempts our palates with how-to programs on the Food Channel and supermarkets offer delights from all over the world, we don’t often – if ever – stop to think about how our love affair with food affects the price of oil. This is only one issue among many raised by the concept of “peak oil,” discussed in the film “End of Suburbia,” shown June 2 at the Harvard Public Library by members of Harvard Local to an audience of about 30 people.

“The End of Suburbia” explores the “American Dream” and its prospects as the planet approaches a time when global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. Some scientists believe the world will reach its peak oil production point as soon as 2010. Bill and Sydney Blackwell, founders of Harvard Local, said they think “The End of Suburbia” is a frightening film, but is a “wake-up” call to action. Their focus, they said, is on the food issues raised by the film, such as the “3,000-mile Caesar salad.” Harvard Local seeks to educate people about food that doesn’t have to travel that far to reach your table – food produced locally.

The cost of food – in oil

Transportation costs are only a fraction of the oil-related costs that go into the mass-production of America’s food. In an article he wrote in 2004 for From the Wilderness publications, geologist Dale Allen Pfeiffer said that, in the U.S., it takes 400 gallons of oil (equivalents) to feed each person in the country for a year (as of data available in 1994). He said that 31 percent of agricultural energy consumption in this country is used for the manufacture of inorganic fertilizer, 19 percent for the operation of field machinery, 16 percent for transportation, 13 percent for irrigation, 8 percent for raising livestock (not including feed), 5 percent for crop drying, 5 percent for pesticide production and 8 percent for miscellaneous operations.

The Harvard Post