1. Working from the Ground Up Sustainable Agriculture Brianna Laderbush The Dietetic Internship Program at Vanderbilt May 3, 2010
2. Roadmap Agriculture and the Food System Defining Sustainable Exploring Sustainable Agriculture Dietetics and Sustainability
3. Objectives What is sustainable agriculture? What are the 3 legs of the sustainability stool? Identify one way a dietetic professional can impact sustainable agriculture through practice. Identify one way you can make a personal difference in the sustainability of our food system.
31. Learning from History The decline of ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia, the Mediterranean region, Pre-Columbian southwest United States, and Central America is believed to have been strongly influenced by natural resource degradation from non-sustainable farming and forestry practices.” 1
38. Characteristics of Sustainability Economics Subsidies Income Access Environment Conservation Preservation Animal Welfare Community Social justice Cooperative relationships 3,5
65. American Dietetic Association POSITION STATEMENT “It is the position of the American Dietetic Association to encourage environmentally responsible practices that conserve natural resources, minimize the quantity of waste generated, and support the ecological sustainability of the food system – the process of food production, transformation, distribution, access and consumption.” 9
77. Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms Food assistance and hunger prevention School and child nutrition programs Local and healthy food initiatives Pesticides General legislation 14
78. Summary Current agricultural practices are unsustainable Sustainable agriculture supports local economies, communities and the environment RD’s can promote healthier diets for both the person and the planet Get involved!
79. Objectives What is sustainable agriculture? What are the 3 legs of the sustainability stool? Identify one way a dietetic professional can impact sustainable agriculture through practice. Identify one way you can make a personal difference in the sustainability of our food system.
The Earth’s ecosystems – 60% of the Earth’s ecosystem services have been degraded in the past 50 years• The supply of energy and material resources needed for industrial growth – Natural resource consumption is expected to rise to 170% of the Earth’s bio-capacity by 2040
In recent decades, sustainable farmers and researchers around the world have responded to the extractive industrial model with ecology-based approaches, variously called natural, organic, low-input, alternative, regenerative, holistic, Biodynamic, biointensive, and biological farming systems. All of them, representing thousands of farms, have contributed to our understanding of what sustainable systems are, and each of them shares a vision of "farming with nature," an agro-ecology that promotes biodiversity, recycles plant nutrients, protects soil from erosion, conserves and protects water, uses minimum tillage, and integrates crop and livestock enterprises on the farm.
We need to connect sustainable production with sustainable consumption