**2. Food security**

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) provides a definition of food security that was formulated at the 1996 World Food Summit (FAO, 2008):

Fossil Fuel and Food Security 281

higher costs for these non-renewable resources. This will impose an additional challenge to

Fossil fuel limitations primarily impact the availability and stability dimensions of food security. The Worldwatch (2011) and *Science* (2011) reviews also address food access as a

Increasing food supplies, together with improved medical care, made possible the explosive

Much of the spectacular improvement in agricultural production is rightly attributed to development of high-yield strains of the major cereal crops, rice, maize, and wheat (Evenson & Gollin, 2003). Dwarf varieties allowed plants to bear more fruit without collapsing, enabling mechanized application of fertilizer (Figure 2), as well as pesticides and herbicides, greatly enhancing the productivity of land while reducing farm labor (Freebairn, 1995). A great increase in irrigation (Figure 3) further improved productivity and brought addidtional, mostly marginal, lands under cultivation (Figure 4). Notably, however, irrigated area per person has been constant within a few percent since 1960 (EPI, 2011b).

The level of fossil fuel dependence differs significantly between developed and developing countries. Although total primary fossil energy input into farm production is comparable between developed countries and developing countries, as illustrated in Figure 5, developed countries use more than four times the energy per capita (8.0 gigajoules/capita/year) than developing countries (1.7 GJ/capita/year). Moreover, Figure 5 further reveals very different distribution of energy use across agricultural inputs. For developing countries, nitrogen fertilizer accounts for more than half the energy inputs, with fuel and irrigation forming the next largest inputs. By contrast, in developed countries, fuel and machinery account for

Primarily as a consequence of this disparity, the farm inputs alone in developed countries average about 2 units of fossil fuel energy inputs for every unit of food energy, whereas in developing countries, the ratio is less than 1 to 2 (Giampietro, 2004, Table 10.7). These

critical dimension of food security, a point revisited in Section 6.

growth of world population from 2.5 billion in 1950 to 7 billion today.

more than half the inputs, with nitrogen accounting for about one quarter.

figures illustrate the heavy fossil fuel dependence of industrial agriculture.

Fig. 2. Global fertilizer use, 2009 (EPI, 20011c).

meeting global food security needs.

**3. The green revolution** 

Food security exists when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.

The FAO document identifies four dimensions of food security: (1) availability—food supply from production, stocks, or trade; (2) access—the ability of individuals to purchase food at local market prices; (3) utilization—household processing and physiological intake of adequate nutrition; and (4) stability—continuity over time of availability, access, and utilization. More recent discussions of food security at the local level have added a fifth dimension: cultural appropriateness (Community Food Security Coalition, 2011).

Since the 1980s, food production has only kept pace with population growth, as shown in Figure 1. Consequently, recent discussions of food security (e.g., Worldwatch, 2011; *Science*, 2011) focus on expanded food production. They identify multiple challenges.


Fig. 1. Grain production per capita, 1950-2011 (Earth Policy Institute [EPI], 2008, 2011a; U.S. Census Bureau, 2011).

Although these reviews include stress on agricultural methods that can be sustained over long time periods, they scarcely mention the dependence of global agriculture on fossil fuels. As detailed in Section 5, a high probability exists that in the coming decades, even apart from policies to mitigate climate change, energy supply limitations will lead to much

Food security exists when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious

The FAO document identifies four dimensions of food security: (1) availability—food supply from production, stocks, or trade; (2) access—the ability of individuals to purchase food at local market prices; (3) utilization—household processing and physiological intake of adequate nutrition; and (4) stability—continuity over time of availability, access, and utilization. More recent discussions of food security at the local level have added a fifth

Since the 1980s, food production has only kept pace with population growth, as shown in Figure 1. Consequently, recent discussions of food security (e.g., Worldwatch, 2011; *Science*,

Low productivity in regions, especially sub-Saharan Africa, largely untouched by the

 Declining soil fertility, particularly owing to population pressure undermining traditional practices of fertilization with manure and regular fallowing of fields

Declining water resources as surface flows become fully appropriated and aquifers are

 Losses of both agricultural and wild biodiversity as intensive production of a limited number of crops and application of agricultural chemicals affect natural ecosystems

Land use competition between food production and other uses, especially biofuel

Climate change, with projected increases in temperature and variations in water

Fig. 1. Grain production per capita, 1950-2011 (Earth Policy Institute [EPI], 2008, 2011a; U.S.

Although these reviews include stress on agricultural methods that can be sustained over long time periods, they scarcely mention the dependence of global agriculture on fossil fuels. As detailed in Section 5, a high probability exists that in the coming decades, even apart from policies to mitigate climate change, energy supply limitations will lead to much

dimension: cultural appropriateness (Community Food Security Coalition, 2011).

2011) focus on expanded food production. They identify multiple challenges.

Substantial losses of crops to pests or spoilage, as well as consumer waste

Limited availability of additional lands for cultivation

Soil erosion under intensive cultivation

food to maintain a healthy and active life.

Green Revolution

mined unsustainably

production

availability

Census Bureau, 2011).

higher costs for these non-renewable resources. This will impose an additional challenge to meeting global food security needs.

Fossil fuel limitations primarily impact the availability and stability dimensions of food security. The Worldwatch (2011) and *Science* (2011) reviews also address food access as a critical dimension of food security, a point revisited in Section 6.
