A food system is everything involved in getting food from where it's grown to your plate β and what happens after. It includes farming, processing, transport, shopping, cooking, eating, and waste. Every choice in the chain affects people and planet.
Farming, fishing
Factories
Transport
Shops, markets
Eating
Compost?
Food travels thousands of kilometers, creating emissions. An apple from overseas uses more energy than a local one.
NZ throws away ~157,000 tonnes of food per year. That's money and resources wasted.
Agriculture uses huge amounts of water. Irrigation can deplete rivers and aquifers.
Food production creates ~1/3 of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Traditional MΔori food gathering was inherently more sustainable:
Choose an item from your lunch and investigate:
My food investigation: