Local Food System:
The local food system begins with the farming stage. The farming is small scale one local farms that usually use organic methods because it is easier to maintain. They plant, grow, and tend a variety of crops which they eventually harvest by hand. Next, workers package the products in boxes or reusable bags that they transport to the farmer's market or restaurant using trucks. The people at the farmer's markets or restaurants sell the products to costumers. The consumers eat the food and dispose of the vegetable matter through compost.Local Food Systems are more beneficial to the environment because the it is usually organic so there are less chemical emitted into the environment. The packaging is reusable or recyclable to limit the amount of waste and farmers transport the food to a local area with reduces carbon emissions. Local food has a direct relationship with the consumer because there are less people involved than industrial food systems. The farmers, transporters, and retailers deliver the local food to your plate.
Industrial Food Systems:
The industrial food system begins with farming. Heavy machinery is used to plant, grow, and maintain the plants on a large "monocrop" farm. To effectively harvest all of the produce at once, growers use heavy machinery. Then comes transportation: ships, planes, trucks, or barges haul the goods across the country or internationally. This can take weeks and multiple steps. After the food is transported, the food is processed in factories. It is boiled, preserved, canned, or frozen to make it more convenient and insure long shelf life. Processed foods are whole foods that have been drastically altered natural state. Next, food is packaged into boxes, cans, or bags to preserve it. Wholesalers sell the food to retailers such as supermarkets and grocery stores. Consumers buy the food, eat it, and then dispose of the leftover food and packaging. Even though much of the food is recyclable and compostable it ends up in landfills.Industrial food systems are definitely not sustainable for the environment. Farms use high amounts of pesticides to fight insects and genetically alter the crops. The heavy machinery used emits carbon dioxide into the environment. Even worse, the transportation methods emit tons and tons of green house to transport the product internationally. It takes energy for the food to be processed in factories. The preservatives and dyes are detrimental to human health. The packaging from the food ends up in landfills and pollutes our world.
