Exploring Health and Environmental Costs of Food

Exploring Health and Environmental Costs of Food PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309265835
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 117

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Book Description
The U.S. food system provides many benefits, not the least of which is a safe, nutritious and consistent food supply. However, the same system also creates significant environmental, public health, and other costs that generally are not recognized and not accounted for in the retail price of food. These include greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, soil erosion, air pollution, and their environmental consequences, the transfer of antibiotic resistance from food animals to human, and other human health outcomes, including foodborne illnesses and chronic disease. Some external costs which are also known as externalities are accounted for in ways that do not involve increasing the price of food. But many are not. They are borne involuntarily by society at large. A better understanding of external costs would help decision makers at all stages of the life cycle to expand the benefits of the U.S. food system even further. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Research Council (NRC) with support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) convened a public workshop on April 23-23, 2012, to explore the external costs of food, methodologies for quantifying those costs, and the limitations of the methodologies. The workshop was intended to be an information-gathering activity only. Given the complexity of the issues and the broad areas of expertise involved, workshop presentations and discussions represent only a small portion of the current knowledge and are by no means comprehensive. The focus was on the environmental and health impacts of food, using externalities as a basis for discussion and animal products as a case study. The intention was not to quantify costs or benefits, but rather to lay the groundwork for doing so. A major goal of the workshop was to identify information sources and methodologies required to recognize and estimate the costs and benefits of environmental and public health consequences associated with the U.S. food system. It was anticipated that the workshop would provide the basis for a follow-up consensus study of the subject and that a central task of the consensus study will be to develop a framework for a full-scale accounting of the environmental and public health effects for all food products of the U.S. food system. Exploring Health and Environmental Costs of Food: Workshop Summary provides the basis for a follow-up planning discussion involving members of the IOM Food and Nutrition Board and the NRC Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources and others to develop the scope and areas of expertise needed for a larger-scale, consensus study of the subject.

Exploring Health and Environmental Costs of Food

Exploring Health and Environmental Costs of Food PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309265835
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 117

Get Book Here

Book Description
The U.S. food system provides many benefits, not the least of which is a safe, nutritious and consistent food supply. However, the same system also creates significant environmental, public health, and other costs that generally are not recognized and not accounted for in the retail price of food. These include greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, soil erosion, air pollution, and their environmental consequences, the transfer of antibiotic resistance from food animals to human, and other human health outcomes, including foodborne illnesses and chronic disease. Some external costs which are also known as externalities are accounted for in ways that do not involve increasing the price of food. But many are not. They are borne involuntarily by society at large. A better understanding of external costs would help decision makers at all stages of the life cycle to expand the benefits of the U.S. food system even further. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Research Council (NRC) with support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) convened a public workshop on April 23-23, 2012, to explore the external costs of food, methodologies for quantifying those costs, and the limitations of the methodologies. The workshop was intended to be an information-gathering activity only. Given the complexity of the issues and the broad areas of expertise involved, workshop presentations and discussions represent only a small portion of the current knowledge and are by no means comprehensive. The focus was on the environmental and health impacts of food, using externalities as a basis for discussion and animal products as a case study. The intention was not to quantify costs or benefits, but rather to lay the groundwork for doing so. A major goal of the workshop was to identify information sources and methodologies required to recognize and estimate the costs and benefits of environmental and public health consequences associated with the U.S. food system. It was anticipated that the workshop would provide the basis for a follow-up consensus study of the subject and that a central task of the consensus study will be to develop a framework for a full-scale accounting of the environmental and public health effects for all food products of the U.S. food system. Exploring Health and Environmental Costs of Food: Workshop Summary provides the basis for a follow-up planning discussion involving members of the IOM Food and Nutrition Board and the NRC Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources and others to develop the scope and areas of expertise needed for a larger-scale, consensus study of the subject.

True Cost Accounting for Food

True Cost Accounting for Food PDF Author: Barbara Gemmill-Herren
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000389987
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
This book explains how True Cost Accounting is an effective tool we can use to address the pervasive imbalance in our food system. Calls are coming from all quarters that the food system is broken and needs a radical transformation. A system that feeds many yet continues to create both extreme hunger and diet-related diseases, and one which has significant environmental impacts, is not serving the world adequately. This volume argues that True Cost Accounting in our food system can create a framework for a systemic shift. What sounds on the surface like a practice relegated to accountants is ultimately a call for a new lens on the valuation of food and a new relationship with the food we eat, starting with the reform of a system out of balance. From the true cost of corn, rice and water, to incentives for soil health, the chapters economically compare conventional and regenerative, more equitable farming practices in and food system structures, including taking an unflinching look at the true cost of cheap labour. Overall, this volume points towards the potential for our food system to be more human-centred than profit-centred and one that has a more respectful relationship to the planet. It sets forth a path forward based on True Cost Accounting for food. This path seeks to fix our current food metrics, in policy and in practice, by applying a holistic lens that evaluates the actual costs and benefits of different food systems, and the impacts and dependencies between natural systems, human systems, agriculture and food systems. This volume is essential reading for professionals and policymakers involved in developing and reforming the food system, as well as students and scholars working on food policy, food systems and sustainability.

The Real Cost of Cheap Food

The Real Cost of Cheap Food PDF Author: Michael Carolan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136529764
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
This challenging but accessible book critically examines the dominant food regime on its own terms, by seriously asking whether we can afford cheap food and exploring what exactly cheap food affords us. Detailing the numerous ways that food has become reduced to a state, such as a price per ounce, combination of nutrients, yield per acre, or calories, the book argues for a more contextual understanding of food when debating its affordability. The author makes a compelling case for why today's global food system produces just the opposite of what it promises. The food produced under this regime is in fact exceedingly expensive. Thus meat production and consumption are inefficient uses of resources and contribute to climate change; the use of pesticides in industrial-scale agriculture may produce cheap food, but there are hidden costs to environmental protection, human health and biodiversity conservation. Many of these costs will be paid for by future generations – cheap food today may mean expensive food tomorrow. By systematically assessing these costs the book delves into issues related, but not limited, to international development, national security, health care, industrial meat production, organic farming, corporate responsibility, government subsidies, food aid and global commodity markets. The book concludes by suggesting ways forward, going beyond the usual solutions such as farmers markets, community supported agriculture, and community gardens. Exploding the myth of cheap food requires we have at our disposal a host of practices and policies. Some of those proposed and explored include microloans, subsidies for consumers, vertical agriculture, and the democratization of subsidies for producers.

The Human Cost of Food

The Human Cost of Food PDF Author: Charles D. Thompson, Jr.
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 9780292781788
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
Finding fresh fruits and vegetables is as easy as going to the grocery store for most Americans—which makes it all too easy to forget that our food is cultivated, harvested, and packaged by farmworkers who labor for less pay, fewer benefits, and under more dangerous conditions than workers in almost any other sector of the U.S. economy. Seeking to end the public's ignorance and improve workers' living and working conditions, this book addresses the major factors that affect farmworkers' lives while offering practical strategies for action on farmworker issues. The contributors to this book are all farmworker advocates—student and community activists and farmworkers themselves. Focusing on workers in the Southeast United States, a previously understudied region, they cover a range of issues, from labor organizing, to the rise of agribusiness, to current health, educational, and legal challenges faced by farmworkers. The authors blend coverage of each issue with practical suggestions for working with farmworkers and other advocates to achieve justice in our food system both regionally and nationally.

The Cost of food

The Cost of food PDF Author: Ellen Henrietta Richards
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description


Food and Beverage Cost Control

Food and Beverage Cost Control PDF Author: Lea R. Dopson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119524997
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 469

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Book Description
Professional foodservice managers are faced with a wide array of challenges on a daily basis. Controlling costs, setting budgets, and pricing goods are essential for success in any hospitality or culinary business. Food and Beverage Cost Control provides the tools required to maintain sales and cost histories, develop systems for monitoring current activities, and forecast future costs. This detailed yet reader-friendly guide helps students and professionals alike understand and apply practical techniques to effectively manage food and beverage costs. Now in its seventh edition, this extensively revised and updated book examines the entire cycle of cost control, including purchasing, production, sales analysis, product costing, food cost formulas, and much more. Each chapter presents complex ideas in a clear, easy-to-understand style. Micro-case studies present students with real-world scenarios and problems, while step-by-step numerical examples highlight the arithmetic necessary to understand cost control-related concepts. Covering everything from food sanitation to service methods, this practical guide helps readers enhance their knowledge of the hospitality management industry and increase their professional self-confidence.

The Economics of Food

The Economics of Food PDF Author: Patrick Westhoff
Publisher: FT Press
ISBN: 0137071469
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Over the past two years, food prices have soared -- and plummeted. As crops are increasingly shifted to biofuel production, will food prices soar again? Will people starve as a result? What are the hidden relationships between the food on your plate and the gas in your car? Will economic recovery lead directly to massive price inflation in both food and energy? In this book, one of the world's leading experts untangles the complex global relationships between food, energy, and economics and helps readers come to their own conclusions about the future of food. Pat Westhoff reveals what really causes large swings in food prices and what is likely to cause them to rise and fall in the future. Westhoff discusses all the factors that drive changes in the cost of food: not just biofuel production, but also weather, income growth, exchange rates, energy prices, government policies, market speculation, and more. Next, he walks through several of the most likely scenarios for the future, offering insights that will be indispensable to consumers, commodity speculators, and policymakers alike.

The Restaurant Manager's Handbook

The Restaurant Manager's Handbook PDF Author: Douglas Robert Brown
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Company
ISBN: 0910627975
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1133

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Book Description
Book & CD. This comprehensive book will show you step-by-step how to set up, operate, and manage a financially successful food service operation. This Restaurant Manager's Handbook covers everything that many consultants charge thousands of dollars to provide. The extensive resource guide details more than 7,000 suppliers to the industry -- virtually a separate book on its own. This reference book is essential for professionals in the hospitality field as well as newcomers who may be looking for answers to cost-containment and training issues. Demonstrated are literally hundreds of innovative ways to streamline your restaurant business. Learn new ways to make the kitchen, bars, dining room, and front office run smoother and increase performance. You will be able to shut down waste, reduce costs, and increase profits. In addition, operators will appreciate this valuable resource and reference in their daily activities and as a source of ready-to-use forms, Web sites, operating and cost cutting ideas, and mathematical formulas that can be easily applied to their operations. Highly recommended!

The Economics of Food Price Volatility

The Economics of Food Price Volatility PDF Author: Jean-Paul Chavas
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022612892X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
"The conference was organized by the three editors of this book and took place on August 15-16, 2012 in Seattle."--Preface.

Good Cheap Eats

Good Cheap Eats PDF Author: Jessica Fisher
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 1558328432
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
In over 200 recipes, Jessica Fisher shows budget-conscious cooks how they can eat remarkably well without breaking the bank. "Good Cheap Eats" serves up 70 three-course dinners main course, side, and dessert all for less than ten dollars for a family of four. Chapters include "Something Meatier," on traditional meat-centered dinners, "Stretching It," which shows how to flavor and accent meat so that you are using less than usual but still getting lots of flavor, and "Company Dinners," which proves that you can entertain well on the cheap. The hard-won wisdom, creative problem-solving techniques, and culinary imagination she brings to the task have been chronicled lovingly in her widely read blog Good Cheap Eats. Now, with the publication of the book "Good Cheap Eats, "she shows budget-challenged, or simply penny-pinching, home cooks how they can save loads of money on food and still eat smashingly well."