Future of Food report urges move away from fossil fuel-driven agriculture

14 Nov 2023 --- The interconnectedness between food and energy systems, particularly fossil fuels, is spotlighted in a new report by the Global Alliance on the Future of Food (Future of Food). It emphasizes the critical need for collaboration and systemic change to address food price volatility, insecurity, health impacts and environmental degradation.

Today (November 14), the Future of Food is holding a webinar with the same name as the report, entitled ‘Power Shift’, during which experts in the field will discuss the content of the paper and explore the critical role of fossil fuels in the industrial food system and advocate for a shift toward sustainable practices.

“The new report and discussion paper reveal how intertwined the fossil fuel industry is with industrialized agriculture. The production and use of fossil fuels and fossil fuel-derived chemical pesticides and fertilizers all contribute to public health crises through contaminating surrounding air, water and soil,” Asha Sharma, organizing co-director of Pesticide Action Network (PAN) North America and one of the speakers at the event, tells Nutrition Insight. 

“Fossil fuels influence the current food systems in a big way, from production to the whole supply chain and wastage,” says Shaikh Tanveer Hossain, event speaker and director of policy and strategy at IFOAM Organics Asia. “It is due to increased mechanization, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and the demand for animal products such as meat, dairy and processed foods.”

“Such a huge amount of agro-chemical-treated foods has a massive impact on human health and nutrition, diseases besides other many environmental impacts.” Fossil fuels contribute to public health crises by contaminating surrounding air, water and soil.  

Industrialized agriculture 
Fossil fuel-driven intensive agriculture is identified in the report and supporting paper as a significant contributor to biodiversity decline, widespread pollution and adverse health impacts.

“The number one goal of industrialized agriculture has become to produce, rather than provide safe, nutritious food, especially to those who lack access to it,” argues Sharma. “The report also demonstrates how producing industrialized, highly processed food is highly energy intensive. Reducing highly processed foods would not only have important energy-saving benefits, but it would also have critical benefits for public health and nutrition.”

“It is vital to highlight that industrial agriculture is built on fossil fuels. From highly energy-dependent artificial fertilizers to endless mechanical disturbing of the soil to the vast array of synthetic pesticides,” Tjerk Dalhuisen, communications officer at PAN Europe, tells us.

Tanveer reveals that small-scale farmers are responsible for up to two-thirds of all Asian agricultural production.

“These small-scale farmers are quite capable of using their local resources and prompting eco-friendly businesses with low-carbon practices such as organic, agroecology, regenerative, sustainable diets and localized value chains,” says Tanveer. “However, in our experience, we observed, in most cases, they are forced to use fossil fuel-related methods in the name of higher productivity.”

The report underscores that food and energy have traditionally operated in separate domains and that this separation has limited understanding and action on critical implications, including food insecurity and health impacts.

It is further reported that acute pesticide poisonings affect 44% of farmers, farmworkers and pesticide applicators annually. The health implications extend beyond immediate poisoning, encompassing long-term exposure to agrochemicals, cooking methods, nutritional issues and microplastics in food.

A sustainable alternative
The upcoming webinar by the Future of Food aims to give speakers a chance to present actionable recommendations that inspire global leaders to prioritize the phase-out of fossil fuels in the food sector.

“Agroecology can provide a sustainable alternative that positively affects health and nutrition outcomes,” Sharma points out. “Agroecology means producing food that is socially, politically and economically sustainable by utilizing a holistic, locally-based approach.”

“Agroecology relies on ecological principles for pest and nutrient management on-farm, which minimizes the use of fossil fuel-derived pesticides and fertilizers. It centers the decision-making power of agricultural workers and local communities to determine the food systems that best meet their health and nutrition needs.”

Sharma asserts that PAN hopes to build on the new Power Shift report by their “partners” at the Future of Food while pointing to their report released earlier this year. 

 “We continue to uncover the links between the fossil fuel industry and industrialized agriculture and the myriad ways they collectively drive public health and nutrition crises. We hope this research will better integrate strategies that support agroecology into local, national, and international climate change policies.” Agroecology and organic farming are key to dealing with the health hazards associated with industrialized agriculture, experts say. 

Not sacrificing productivity

Similar to Sharma, Tanveer says that sustainable food systems, more specifically organic farming, are key to dealing with the health hazards associated with industrialized agriculture.

“From my past experiences in the agricultural and development sector, I found a couple of misleading myths intentionally created regarding the productivity issues associated with reducing fossil fuel use,” Tanveer explains. 

“We have many examples and research results that prove that sustainable and organic farming can compete with conventional farming systems in terms of productivity. But, we must be careful about the proper strategy and the systematic transformation of food systems.”

He further calls for additional investment in research and development in low-cost sustainable agricultural technologies and methods. 

He further adds that advancement and implementation of intelligent climate-resilient agriculture should concentrate on areas like systems for agricultural weather data, technologies for sustainable water utilization, tools for enhancing soil health and sequestering soil carbon, as well as technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in livestock waste treatment procedures. 

“We need a consolidated and localized approach where marginalized and small-scale farmers are the priority,” Tanveer emphasizes. “We should not forget the importance of health, ecology, fairness and care, which are principles of organic farming.”

“It is high time to progress from primitive chemical agriculture to much more advanced, healthy and resilient forms of agroecology. Many farming pioneers show how all public money should go to reward sustainable agriculture, research, knowledge sharing and promotion,” concludes Dalhuisen. 

By Milana Nikolova