Exploring Health and Environmental Costs of Food Workshop Summary (2012) / Chapter Skim
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4 Examining Social and Ecological Costs and Benefits
4 Examining Social and Ecological Costs and Benefits
Pages 35-52
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From page 35... ...
Scott Swinton, professor and associate chair in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University, discussed the ecological costs and benefits of food production using an "ecosystem services" concept and framework that was developed as part of a United Nations multiyear study on the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. He also explored the challenges of valuing nonmarket ecological costs and benefits.
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From page 36... ...
AGRICULTURAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND THE COSTS OF FOOD PRODUCTION1 Food production systems can be thought of as agricultural ecosystems that are managed to provide food. In other words, according to a framework laid out in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA)
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From page 37... ...
External costs can accrue on either the input or output side. For example, costs occur on the input side when natural capital is depleted (i.e., the natural capital that is necessary for enabling the provisioning ecosystem services provided by animal production)
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Changing one ecosystem service may require changing the entire production process, causing a whole set of intermediate environmental changes (e.g., reducing nitrogen fertilizer use in order to cut GHG emissions from nitrous oxide also reduces nitrate leaching)
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From page 39... ...
In Wing's opinion, many external costs to the food system are strongly related to health inequalities, which he defined as differences in morbidity, mortality, or health and well-being among people within a population or between populations. Wing described the various types of health inequalities that have been associated mostly with animal production, but also animal consumption; he argued that many external health costs associated with animal production are related to independence of the communities where CAFOs are located.
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Many health inequalities related to food production stem from the fact that CAFOs tend to be located in lowincome rural areas with disproportionate numbers of people of color who have experienced discrimination and already have poor health conditions for other reasons, including poverty. Health Inequalities Associated with Animal Production Wing identified three categories of health inequalities related to food production: (1)
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Sociopolitical Inequalities Wing explained his view that sociopolitical inequalities are a consequence of animal production profits not being shared by local communities, which affects the ability of communities to promote their own health and well-being. Wing argued that many of the external costs of animal production are related to independence among the rural communities where CAFOs tend to be located.
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From page 42... ...
level; explored the relationships among food insecurity, poverty, and health outcomes; and made the case that using economic analysis as a framework for addressing the full cost of food does not deal with the fundamental underlying issue of food accessibility.5 Food Insecurity Consider food insecurity on a very macro scale, that is, a global scale, where 12.5 percent (870 million people) of the world population goes hungry.
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poverty and food insecurity maps overlay, but both maps also overlay a map of adult obesity rates in the United States. This is because limited access to food limits the options available and the choices one can make.
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"These are consequences of actual access to food," Salvador said. Implications of Food Insecurity for a Study on the Cost of Food Salvador cautioned that the dominant global industrial food system that serves the wealthy excludes the reality of people who do not have access to that system.
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But with these benefits come some concerns about the living conditions of the animals in the new meat production systems. Jayson Lusk discussed recently implemented animal welfare regulations; the potential costs and benefits of such regulations; and how to measure and value animal welfare.
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Benefits of Animal Welfare Regulation Lusk identified several potential benefits to consumers and animals. For consumers, animal welfare legislation could fix an "information problem," that is, it could provide consumers with more knowledge about production conditions and would probably impact their purchasing choices among meat and egg products.
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. For example, scanner data on average egg prices in the Avg.
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Either it is costly to produce organic eggs, or people prefer organic eggs. Scanner data showing what people actually buy indicate that the market share for organic and other "specialty" eggs (e.g., cage free and organic, natural)
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might decrease animal welfare, but they also improve some environmental outcomes. Beef cattle arguably experience the highest levels of animal welfare of any animal sources, yet beef production generates the largest negative environmental consequences (e.g., with respect to CO2 emissions)
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2008. The animal-human interface and infectious disease in industrial food animal production: Rethinking biosecurity and biocontainment.
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2007. Ecosystem services and agriculture: Cultivating agricultural ecosystems for diverse benefits.
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