How we produce and consume food has a bigger impact on Americans'
well-being than any other human activity. The food industry is the
largest sector of our economy; food touches everything from our
health to the environment, climate change, economic inequality, and
the federal budget. From the earliest developments of agriculture,
a major goal has been to attain sufficient foods that provide the
energy and the nutrients needed for a healthy, active life. Over
time, food production, processing, marketing, and consumption have
evolved and become highly complex. The challenges of improving the
food system in the 21st century will require systemic approaches
that take full account of social, economic, ecological, and
evolutionary factors. Policy or business interventions involving a
segment of the food system often have consequences beyond the
original issue the intervention was meant to address. A Framework
for Assessing Effects of the Food System develops an analytical
framework for assessing effects associated with the ways in which
food is grown, processed, distributed, marketed, retailed, and
consumed in the United States. The framework will allow users to
recognize effects across the full food system, consider all domains
and dimensions of effects, account for systems dynamics and
complexities, and choose appropriate methods for analysis. This
report provides example applications of the framework based on
complex questions that are currently under debate: consumption of a
healthy and safe diet, food security, animal welfare, and
preserving the environment and its resources. A Framework for
Assessing Effects of the Food System describes the U.S. food system
and provides a brief history of its evolution into the current
system. This report identifies some of the real and potential
implications of the current system in terms of its health,
environmental, and socioeconomic effects along with a sense for the
complexities of the system, potential metrics, and some of the data
needs that are required to assess the effects. The overview of the
food system and the framework described in this report will be an
essential resource for decision makers, researchers, and others to
examine the possible impacts of alternative policies or
agricultural or food processing practices. Table of Contents Front
Matter Summary PART I: The U.S. Food System 1 Introduction 2
Overview of the U.S. Food System PART II: Effects of the U.S. Food
System Part II: Effects of the U.S. Food System 3 Health Effects of
the U.S. Food System 4 Environmental Effects of the U.S. Food
System 5 Social and Economic Effects of the U.S. Food System PART
III: The Framework 6 The U.S. Food and Agriculture System as a
Complex Adaptive System 7 A Framework for Assessing the Food System
and Its Effects 7-A Annexes: Examples to Illustrate the Framework
ANNEX 1: Dietary Recommendations for Fish Consumption ANNEX 2: U.S.
Biofuels Policy ANNEX 3: Attaining Recommended Amounts of Fruits
and Vegetables in the American Diet ANNEX 4: Nitrogen in
Agroecosystems ANNEX 5: Comparing Hen Housing Practices and Their
Effects on Various Domains 8 Epilogue Appendix A: Open Session
Agendas Appendix B: Selected Metrics, Methodologies, Data, and
Models Appendix C: Acronyms Appendix D: Committee Member
Biographical Sketches
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!