Learning about the Global Environment by Eating Hamburgers! Seminar in Policy Studies - Introduction...

Learning about the Global Environmentby Eating Hamburgers!

Seminar in Policy Studies- Introduction -

Living in Japan, we eat various kinds of food every day – fruits, vegetables, shushi, soba, meat, fish – and it helps us to become strong and provide fuel for our daily life.

Food and the Environment

But our link to food has usually been only what we see on our plate, and very rarely do we consider that a mere bite is deeply connected with the global environmental issues.

Food and the Environment

Let us take a hamburger as an example, to explore the relationship between our everyday food and global environmental issues.

The Hamburger

• 61% of the beef consumed in Japan is imported. • Major exporters to Japan are the U.S. and

Australia, accounting for more than 95%.

Did you know? To prepare one hamburger, we need a total of almost 5,000 liters of water!

More about Hamburgers

• According to the Rainforest Action Network, an environment protection organization based in San Francisco, vast rainforests in the Latin American Region have been lost since they have extended beef stock farms by destroying forests.

• The U.S. hamburger industry has sought cheaper beef produced in the Lain America Region. The Rainforest Action Network also says that approximately 5 square meter forest is lost for every one hamburger is eaten.

More about Hamburgers

Fried Potato (in Japan)

• Potatoes sold at the fast food restaurants are mostly imported as frozen potatoes.

• 85% of all frozen potatoes used in Japan is imported, with approximately 90% coming from the U.S.

• Genetically modified frozen potatoes are permitted to be imported to Japan as well.

Side orders!

• How much water is really used to produce food? For growing, for preparing, for transporting, and for consuming food … ?

• How is food transported? By air, by sea, and by land … ?

• To produce meat (say beef) we need more food, more water, and more preparation!

• To maintain the 'freshness' of food, many chemicals are used – both directly and indirectly!

• If food is transported for longer distances, then we need more energy to preserve food.

• A lot of food is wasted in its preparation and consumption.

• A hamburger costs less than Yen 200, but what is the real cost, if we include all the preparation process??

Hamburger Questions … ?

Lettuce 5 23French Fries 5 23

SUGAR (From Beets) 7 32Cola Soft Drink 8 36

Almonds 10 45Wheat bread 12 54

Apples 13 59Oranges 18 82

Rice 30 136Corn 51 232Milk 54 245

Cherries 75 341Margarine 76 345

Watermelon 83 377Eggs (2) 113 513

Pork 339 1539Chicken 339 1539

Hamburger 1082 4912Steak 2164 9825

Typical Breakfast 174 790Typical Lunch 1185 5380Typical Dinner 2405 10919

A Day's Meals (Total For One Person)

3763 17084

How much Water does it take to produce one serving of:

Item Gallons Liters

Another example …

For each kiwi fruit that you import from New Zealand to Japan, you have to emit CO2 equal to its own weight!

• Food self-sufficiency is the ratio of food that is produced domestically (to feed people in the country).

• Food self-sufficiency of Japan was 52% (in 1982) and this reduced to 42% (in 1995). The remaining 52% of food that we eat is imported from overseas!

Food in Japan

• The total amount of food (excluding vegetables and fruits) generated in the world was 2.6 billion tons

• The total amount of food (excluding vegetables and fruits) consumed in Japan in a year is about 120 million tons (in 1994). This means that Japan is consuming 4.6% of food generated all over the world with the population accounting only for 2% in the world population.

Food in Japan

Always think of your impact on the environment!!

Not just local, but also far far away from your home!

Take any of today's environmental problems faced by the inhabitants of Earth, and its causes and pressures can easily be traced to our daily lives.

Rethinking Urban Areas

Effects, impacts, shortages etc.

Problems, causes, lifestyle

issues, consumption

patterns

There is a clear cyclical link between cities and urban areas on one hand, and global environmental problems on the other …

Cause and Effect Cycles

Understanding the Scale of Environmental Problems

National/Global

City/Urban AreaCommunityHousehold

Global Environmental Problems

• Global in Scale

• Long-term in Scope

• Significant Scientific Uncertainty

• Large Economic Stakes

• Complex Institutional Management

Characteristics:

• Climate Change

• Ozone Depletion

• Biodiversity Loss

• Sea Level rise

Effects:

We like to live in a nice community.

An incomplete Vision

But we fail to see the link to the ‘global’ community

An incomplete Vision

Governments

Business andIndustry

NPOs andCommunities

Module 1: Global

Environmental Policy

Module 2: National

Environmental Policy

Module 3: Local

Environmental Policy

Class Structure

Class Structure

(a) write three one-page reports on environmental policy and sustainability Evaluation = 30%(b) research on environmental problems in developing countries using the internet Evaluation = 30%(c) participation in role playing game (for local governments, business and industry, and NGOs and communities) Evaluation = 40%

Class Communication …

Resources, websites, ideas, notes,

Including info on reports to be written, will be available online:

gdrc.info/gep/

Send me an email anytime!

Hari Srinivas

hari.srinivas@kwansei.ac.jp

Class Communication …

IMPORTANT: When you send an email, please always put [GEP] in the subject line!