There is a continuous increase in consumption and, accordingly, production in our world. But planet Earth is not capable of infinite production. This is not just about limited areas used in agriculture and limited raw materials. Every time we touch agricultural land or every increase in livestock on the farm, we are leaving a lot of carbon on our planet. We may not see the radical consequences of this in the near future, but we can think about the future now. We need to put an end to such an uncontrolled increase in food demand and for this to such an uncontrolled production in agriculture. Neither our resources nor our ecosystem will allow the production and consumption frenzy in agriculture. For this reason, I think that there is a need for a new agricultural policy that will evaluate yield, production cost and carbon footprint values together in agriculture.
What are you thinking? Do we agree that there is such a problem? If we agree on the problem, what can be done about it or how can this issue be turned into concrete outputs?
I believe that inclusion of the C footprint is extremely important, and may become essential in the not too distant future, but that may not convey the full picture of the impacts of production systems. Some cropping and grasslands practices may actually add (sequester) soil C, whereas others may give rise to net soil C emisisons, such that the estimated C balance may be even more useful if and when available. Threre is a number of papers that have followed that approach.
Yes, agree with you, we should consider all production costs. Agricultural produce travels through quite wasteful food processing industrial systems with added packaging leading to plastic pollution on earth, rivers and seas. More crop production needs more water causing water table problems. Need for more agricultural land leads to deforestation and loss of wild life areas and facilities. What is driving all this cycle, it is ever increasing global population. With modern medical advances life expectancy has is good and should lead to smaller family size. Humans are harming their own good life essentials. Let us not forget factory fishing ships endangering marine life as a whole.
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