The Oil Drum

Last summer they launched a major peak oil initiative going by the name of Food and Farming – Post Peak Oil. This theme was the focus of their 26-27th Jan 2007 annual conference, subtitled “Preparing for a post-peak oil food and farming future”.

With over 800 delegates and the peak oil educator stalwarts of Campbell, Heinberg and Leggett amongst the speakers this was the largest and potentially most significant peak oil communication event yet.

[editor's note, by Chris Vernon] This is a guest post by Louise and Nick Rouse.
Additionally I feel I should apologise for the lack of activity on here recently, I have recently moved house but the disruption will be worth it since I've swapped my 50 mile a day round trip commute for a 20 minute walk there and back. Should cut my personal mileage some 70%! Anyway, on to the article:

Among the recurrent issues surrounding peak-oil is food production. With the Organic Food Festival visiting my home city of Bristol recently I've been finding out that in the UK there are particular peak-oil related problems that farmers and consumers will need to address if they are to adapt to a change in energy supply.

The two key problems I've found are transportation of the food we eat and the fertilisers used in non-organic food production.

The first question that David Roberts asks is "What's the most worrisome aspect of the current U.S. food system?", and Pollan answers:

That's a tough one. But the thing that really struck me is just how much energy goes into the process. The most recent study I've seen, from the University of Michigan, says that 20 percent of our fossil-fuel consumption is going to feeding ourselves.

Today, the San Francisco Chronicle has a human interest piece called "The oil in your oatmeal: A lot of fossil fuel goes into producing, packaging and shipping our breakfast" that essentially distills the end of the Harper's article into a concise recounting of the amount of fossil fuel energy that goes into making "a bowl of imported McCann's Irish oatmeal topped with Cascadian Farms organic frozen raspberries, and a cup of Peet's Fair Trade Blend coffee."

Here are the two sites under consideration by the Community Board:

P.S. 6 - Schoolyard on the 82nd Street side, b Mad/Park, Every Saturday, July 1, 2006- November 18, 2006

St. Stephen of Hungary Parish - 82nd Street, b 1/York, Every Sunday, July 2, 2006-November 19, 2006

Jessica Lappin, the local Councilmember deserves a lot of credit for helping make this happen, including getting the priest at St. Stephen's to sign a letter endorsing the idea.

BUT, this is not yet in the bag. Despite the fact that almost every other NYC neighborhood has a greenmarket, there is one person who might try to thwart this. Who's against a greenmarket? Eli Zabar, who was not only responsible for removing the one at All Souls Church, but also thwarted past attempts to install one at Carl Schurz Park, 86th and Fifth Ave. If he succeeds in stopping either of these, it will be a loss to the community and he and his stores should be shunned for it.

Philpott writes:

To an extent, the problem is one of semantics, centering on the definition of "sustainable." To many green types, places like Whole Foods and Wild Oats teem with "sustainably produced" stuff -- everything from T-shirts to apples, chicken and eggs, even versions of Twizzlers and TV dinners. But the great bulk of it falls under the rubric of industrial-organic -- like the wares on offer at Wal-Mart, only a little less so, these goods depend on a culture of cheap and plentiful crude oil and labor.

The cheap-oil problem has certainly gained traction among greens. Blogs devoted to "peak oil" abound; this very blog seems like one at times. Most of these discussions, though, devolve into sniping about biofuels and hybrids. It's important to wonder how we'd get around in an era of super-high oil prices.

But I don't understand why more people aren't worried about what we'd eat.