Discover What the Food System Is About

 

Image Courtesy: http://www.nourishlife.org

A food system is composed of every factor that is involved in the production of food (this refers to the manner that food is raised or grown; the procedures involved in slaughtering or harvesting food; and the process of preparing, packaging or packaging the food prior to selling it to the consumers) and the distribution of food (this refers to the mode of transferring the food and how or where the food is being sold to the buyers). This procedure can be split into two main forms: the regional (or local)/sustainable systems, and the singular industrial global system. The industrial food system covers a wider area compared to the other distribution channel.

The mainstream international food distributors begin their networking with big industrial farms that make use of factory farming (this process is used for animal food products) and monocropping (this process is used on vegetables and fruits). Products taken from these farms can be brought to a centralized building for further inspection, processing and/or packaging. After this is done, the food products are transferred globally or locally to finally get to where they need to go – normally a retail establishment or grocery store.

For more than half a millennium, the industry of food processing and farms has consolidated. This means that food is being carried over long distances, and the processing and production of the food is being handled by a few corporations. This may raise concerns about the security and safety of the food, and might close down some small processing buildings (canneries or slaughterhouses).

On the other hand, the international food distributors have fierce competition with the many sustainable food systems in the area. These regional or local systems distribute and produce food for a geographical area, instead of the international model. Food is raised or grown and harvested near the homes of the consumers, and then sold or transported in shorter distances. Overall, the regional/local food systems are connected with sustainable agriculture, compared to the industrial agriculture that the global system depends on.