Lesson 2: Food System Basics

Lesson 2:
Food System Basics
Summary

Although we participate in the food system each day by eating, most of
us are likely not to be aware of how food gets from the field to table.
Even young people from rural areas are increasingly becoming removed
from their local food system.

Food System Basics will help us develop an understanding of the food
system by building on what we already know and experience. Several
models have been created to help us conceptualize the many complex
interconnections that exist in the food system. In the first activity of this
lesson, we will follow the path of a simple food item, such as fruit juice,
from farm to table. We will create informal illustrations of the path of the
food item. If you are working as a large group, have the instructor help
you create a master class list of the activities in the food’s path. We can
compare the steps that we were able to think of to the list provided at the
end of this lesson. We will also make a list of activities or processes that
occur within each step in the food system. This activity will help us think
more critically about all of the steps involved in creating the food supply
available in our grocery stores, cafeterias, and restaurants. Finally, we
will discover what “local” means in terms of our food system. This lesson
will create the basic framework for exploring more in-depth issues and
concepts related to the food system in the coming lessons.

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this lesson, we should be able to:
     • Identify, define and describe steps in the food system.
     • List several activities that occur at various steps in the food
        system.
     • Explore the meaning of the term “local” in reference to the food
        we eat.
     • Describe our individual participation in the food system.

Key Concepts
     • Systems
     • Interdependence
     • Inputs
     • Outputs
     • Food System
     • Models

“Getting to the Core”
If we look at how apples work themselves through the food system, we
can find them at every stage of the system. Apples are grown (they grow
on trees), they are harvested, etc.

Growing – Apples grow on trees in orchards. Sometimes trees are
attached to wire frames so that they are spread out horizontally and the
fruit is easy to reach for picking.

Harvesting – Apples are harvested by hand. In the United States, apples
are picked by migrant or resident farm laborers from Mexico and Latin
America. Ladders are used in the case of freestanding trees in order to
reach all of the apples. The pickers will fill bags that are attached to their
ladders and lower them into boxes being towed with a tractor.

Washing, grading and waxing – Apples are washed, graded, and waxed.

Storing – Apples are sorted by size and then packed into 40-pound
cartons.

Transporting – If not sold locally, a buyer arranges for shipment and a
trucking company is contracted for shipment (4-5 days from Washington
State to the East coast, for example). Temperature-controlled trucks
travel 2,800 miles from Spokane, WA to Maryland.

Changing (also called Transforming or Processing) – Not all apples are
sold as fresh fruit. Apples can be canned, made into pie filling or
applesauce, or added to many different products. How many food
products can you think of that contain apples?

Packaging – The packaging of apples is different, depending on how the
fruit is sold: fresh and whole, or as part of a food product.

Marketing/Retailing – Apples can be marketed a number of different
ways and through different sales channels.

Cooking – Apples of course can be eaten without any cooking – right
from the tree! But they also can be baked whole or in pies and other
pastries, made into sauce, or made into a fruit salad – such as Waldorf
salad.

Consuming – Yum!

Disposing, composting and Recycling. Apple cores can be composted!

If apples are made into a food product, the package needs to be disposed
of or recycled.

Activities
      1. From Field to Table
      2. Steps in the Food System
      3. Food Thread
      4. Food for Thought Journal

Going Further
Background

Activity 1: From Field to Table

Summary
       Since a good way to introduce a new concept (such as the food
system) is to put the idea in the context of something familiar, the first
activity consists of discussing a commonly consumed food product.

Materials
      • Simple processed food products or the labels of such products
      • Writing board and markers
      • Paper and pens/pencils

Before Class
      Collect labels of commonly consumed food products.

Class itself

      1. Write down on paper a common whole and a processed food
         product. For example, whole fruits and vegetables are “whole”
         foods, and food products such as bread, ready-to-eat cereal,
         grape juice, applesauce, tomato soup, or strawberry jam are
         processed foods.
      2. Think about the path of those products from the field to your
         table. First think about the “whole” foods and then the
         processed foods. Think about the fresh fruit or vegetable the
         processed product was made from - grapes, applesauce,
         tomatoes, or strawberries. You might think about the kind of
         plant the food came from. Have you ever seen the plant or
         grown it in a garden or on a farm?
      3. What are the steps involved in changing a raw food into the
         final product being considered? Considerations about the
         packaging, the label, and other ingredients are all part of this
         picture. If you are leading a discussion for a large group, you
         may want to refrain from “answering” the students’ questions at
         this point. The goal of this activity is to generate thinking about
         what a food system is and how a food product ends up in the
         grocery store.
      4. Think about how the food item got to your grocery store. You
         may want to use the guiding questions below to help focus your
         thinking to particular parts of the food path. Draw informal
         illustrations of the path that the food item followed from the
         farm to your table. This activity is a way to bring out the your
         understanding of the food system. When you are done, put
         your name on the drawing and put it aside. You will use it for
         later activities, and at the end of the unit, you may want to

make another illustration so you can compare what you initially
thought about the food system to what you learned during the
activities.

                      Guiding Questions
•   Where do the ingredients in this food product come from?
•   How were they grown?
•   What do you have to do to the ingredients to make it look
    this way?
•   What was added to make this product?
•   What did we do to it to make it look the way is does?
•   Where does the container come from?
•   What do we do with the container when it is empty? Ex.
    throw it away (where does it go?)- landfill?, re-use, recycle,
    burn it,

Activity 2: Steps in the Food System

Summary
      Beyond identifying the steps in the food system, it is important to
have an idea of what activities go on in each step.
Materials
      • Labels used in Activity 1
      • Writing board and markers
      • Paper and pens/pencils
      • Photocopies of Inquiring Minds list

Before Class
      Prepare photocopies as needed.

Class itself
1. Look at your list from the last lesson. What steps did you include and
   why? If you have a large group, use the writing board to create a
   master list. Ideally, several of the steps in the food system from the
   Inquiring Minds list (provided with this activity) will be identified
   during this exercise. What are the similarities and differences
   between your list and the Inquiring Minds list?

2. To help you think more deeply about the steps of the system, pick a
   step in the food system. Make a list of several activities that take
   place in each step of the system. For example, if you choose the step
   of Growing, you might write down: cultivating the soil, planting,
   watering, buying seed, testing soil, spraying, etc. Design your own job
   title for something that a person might do in that part of the food
   system. If you have a large group, divide into smaller groups so that
   each step of the food system is covered.

Growing
                  |
             Harvesting
                  |
               Storing
                  |
            Transporting
                  |
Changing (Transforming or Processing)
                  |
             Packaging
                  |
             Marketing
                  |
              Retailing
                  |
              Preparing
                  |
             Consuming

Activity 3: Food Thread

Summary
       Now that you have identified not only the steps in the food system
but various activities within each of those steps, you should cement your
understanding by creating a “Food Thread” for one item. This activity
will also introduce you to the concept of “local” in the food system.

Materials
      • Photocopies of “Getting to the Core” from this lesson
      • Writing board and markers
      • Paper and pens/pencils

Before Class
   Make photocopies as needed.

Class itself
1. Creating your own “Food Thread.” Read the “Getting to the Core” for
   this lesson, which applies the food system concepts to apples. Choose
   other food items to trace through the food system. Draw the path this
   food item would take, or how it would “thread” its way through the
   food system. This food might be a potato, tomato, strawberry or
   orange depending on what interests you, or a product native to your
   location. Or, if you are quite ambitious, choose a food product that
   contains more than one food from more than one food group – yogurt
   for example. The important thing is that the food that is chosen
   should have some meaning and relevance to the food system you are
   discovering.

2. What does “local“ mean? This term can have many meanings
   depending on how it is approached. Refer to the Background section
   for information about local food systems.

Activity 4: Food for Thought Journal

Summary
     As an independent assignment, complete the Food for Thought
Journal for Lesson 2.

Materials
      • Photocopies of “Food for Thought Journal”
      • Pens/pencils

Before Class
      Prepare photocopies as needed.

Class itself
      In the journal you will be able to study one of your own meals to
think about where your food comes from in the context of the steps of the
food system.

Questions of the Day:
¾ Describe a meal that you ate today or yesterday.

¾ Did you help prepare the meal?

¾ Was there anything in your meal that you think may have been grown
  or produced locally before it was in the grocery store or your cabinet?

¾ How would you find out if it were grown or produced locally?

¾ What steps in the food system are represented in what you ate today?
  Which foods were represented by which step?

¾ If you could ask someone anything about the foods you ate today,
  what would you ask and why?

If time allows, try one of these games:

1. Continue Activity 2 by playing a top ten game. Designate point
   keepers for the game. Have groups take turns guessing what
   activities other groups have listed for their step in the food system by
   acting out (without words) the particular step or activities. This could
   lead to a discussion about which steps you think are most expensive,
   which steps might use a lot of resources, which steps take place
   within your community. This is a time to have the group brainstorm
   together now that they are better versed in what the food system is.
   Also, you can use the telephone book to find out if there are any food
   producers or processors in your town.

2. Are you in the food system game?
   Before the game: Make a copy of the “Inquiring Minds” list.
   Game: At the start of the game give each group a copy of the 10 steps.
   Give them about 4 minutes to list people who are members of each
   step. Have them use specific names, for example: Mr. Williams in the
   produce department at Greene’s store. Have them list as many names
   as they can think of next to the step within which the person works.
   You might be surprised to find that even you are involved in working
   within a food system, as a bus-person at a local restaurant or a
   cashier at a fast food establishment. At the end of the designated time
   ask the groups to count all persons listed in each step of the food
   system. Ask a spokesperson from each group to share their total
   points and the step with the most and least names recorded in their
   group. Record the results. This could be an indication as to which
   steps you are most and least familiar with. Creating a list of family
   and/or friends who work within the food system would not only be
   interesting, but also introduce different career possibilities that you
   have not yet considered. Post the results.

COMMENCEMENT LEVEL CHALLENGE
Food for Thought Journal 2

Things to think about:
List the 10 steps within a food system.
1.                                   6.
2.                                   7.
3.                                   8.
4.                                   9
5.                                   10.

Which of the steps would occur in a local market?

Which of the steps would occur in a regional market?

Which of the steps would occur in a global market?

Does the number of steps through which a food goes affect the cost of the
food?
___yes ___no___maybe

Give some examples of foods grown and marketed locally, regionally and
globally.
List the advantages and disadvantages for the consumer choosing foods
grown in different areas.

Examples of a locally grown food
                  advantages               disadvantages

Examples of a regionally grown food
                  advantages               disadvantages

Examples of a globally grown food
                  advantages               disadvantages

What is the basis for peoples’ choices when selecting foods?

Background
       You probably know more about the food system than you can
readily express. If we ask ourselves where a food might come from we
will often respond, “the grocery store.” However, most of us do
understand that apples grow on trees somewhere and that farms grow
most of our food. It may take time and discussion to define many of the
steps in the food system that we are less familiar with or have not
experienced. The primary goal of the lesson is to identify the major steps
of the food system and explore some of the activities that take place in
each step. Each step is defined and discussed below to help gain a clear
idea of how food-producing activities are arranged in the food system.

What is a System?
      A system is a group of interacting, interrelated, and oftentimes
interdependent elements that function together as a complex, unified
whole. One core concept of a system is that a change in one element of a
system has an impact, either directly or indirectly, on one or more
additional elements in that system. Another core concept is that systems
generally require inputs to function and produce outputs that need to be
dealt with one way or another. Inputs and outputs in the food system are
too numerous to list here, but every component of the food system uses
inputs and results in outputs. For example, the “Growing” segment of the
food system requires seeds, soil, water, sunshine, fertilizer/compost,
human work, machinery and energy to run the machinery as inputs.
“Growing” generates crops that serve as human foods, and waste that
may be incorporated back into the soil or disposed of in another way.
Inputs and outputs vary a great deal depending on the type of food
system being considered.

      In a true system the components of that system are treated or
considered as a whole and cannot be considered in isolation from other
related components or elements of the system. Relationships and
interdependencies between the components are key elements of a
system.

       Systems vary in the degree to which they are "open" or "closed" --
that is, the degree to which system components interact with, or are
insulated from, the larger external environment. Given the nature of food
systems, which have biological, physical, and socio-economic aspects,
there is a high degree of interchange both among the subsystems and
with the larger environment. Dynamic adjustments in the food system to
external and internal forces, including our research and education
programs, are on going and must be given greater consideration as we
conduct our work.

Steps in the Food System:

Food Production involves many of the activities that take place on a farm,
at an orchard, in bodies of water, or in greenhouses and fish-farm tanks
to produce our food. Food production depends on the "input" of several
resources, both natural (soil, water, climate, seeds, and human labor)
and human-made (machinery, fuel, fertilizers, pesticides). A farmer owns
or rents land to plant crops, or tend animals. The inputs required vary
depending on what is being grown or raised and the type of agricultural
system that is in place. For example, many of the pesticides and
fertilizers common in most of our agriculture are not allowed in organic
agriculture.

Harvest can be very labor-intensive step in the food system if we are
talking about many of the fruits and vegetables that are too delicate to be
harvested by machine. Other fruits and vegetables are harvested with
machines. Mechanical harvesters that require fuel to run harvest most
grain and cereal crops. Depending on what is harvested, different
resources may be needed. Some of the inputs required for this step in the
system are labor, fuel, raw materials, built equipment, and packing
materials.

Storage refers to keeping a stock or supply of a certain crop to maintain
safety and quality for some future use. Storage is required for all crops
that are not marketed soon after harvest. Different crops can be stored
for different lengths of time. Most fruits and vegetables are highly
perishable unless processed or preserved from their fresh form.
Exceptions to this include apples, root vegetables (potatoes, yams,
carrots, turnips, rutabagas, parsnips), bulbs (onions, shallots, garlic),
and cabbages (red and green), all of which store well for extended periods
of time, if the proper temperature and humidity are maintained. Grains
and cereals store well for years with no energy input. Apples are often
kept in controlled atmospheres to make them available many months
after they are harvested. Of course, we store food on a daily basis in our
refrigerators. The inputs required for storage include energy to maintain
the cool environment, gases, packaging, buildings and land.

Distribution is the process of dividing up, spreading out, and delivering
food to various places. Farm products can be taken from their original
sources and delivered to supermarkets, other food stores, or farmers’
markets for sale as a whole fresh product - like many fruits and
vegetables. Alternatively, farm products can be transported to a site
where they will be transformed in some way, combined with other
ingredients, made into food products, packaged and then distributed

through a number to marketing channels. Most of what we find in
grocery stores today has been transported great distances and has
undergone some degree of processing. We currently transport food by
truck, train, boat, and plane. A few foods (tomatoes and bananas
primarily) that will be transported a significant distance are usually
harvested before full ripeness so that they will withstand the bumps
along the way.

Transformation or Processing changes made to a food's structure,
composition, character, or condition, is another way to make food
available at times or places that it might otherwise not be. Much of the
food we eat on a regular basis is transformed in some way before we eat
it. Think of the bread on your sandwich, the juice you had with
breakfast, tomato sauce and the pasta is covers, or the cheese you had
on a cracker (and the cracker itself!). During processing, food is changed
in some way to enhance flavor, make it last longer than the processed
raw foods it came from, or create new products altogether. There are
many different ways to process a food. Turning fresh strawberries into
jam, making juice from fresh apples, pre-cutting and cooking potatoes for
frozen French fries are all ways to process food. It may include drying,
cooking, freezing and canning, or adding preservatives to lengthen shelf
life. Processing may enhance the nutritional content of a food, and in
many cases may decrease nutritional content. Depending on the type of
food and processing technique, a variety of inputs are necessary for this
step in the food system. Some of them are labor, machinery, water, fuel
for cooking and freezing, sugar, and preservatives.

Packaging is a way to protect food from spoilage on its way to our grocery
stores. Almost everything we purchase at the grocery store is packaged
in some way. Strawberries are put into plastic quart containers, bread is
packaged in plastic or paper bags, pasta is kept in cardboard boxes, etc.
Packaging is also a way to divide up the goods in a standard way so that
people can purchase a known quantity quickly. It can provide a place for
advertisement of the goods contained within. Some of the inputs
necessary to make packaging are paper, plastic, cardboard, aluminum,
glass, ink, and machinery.

Marketing, Sales and Purchasing is the process of determining and
catering to the consumer’s wants or needs, (or it may give the illusion of
need in an effort to get people to buy a product!). A significant portion of
the money we spend on each food item goes to marketing teams who
determine what people want from the food they eat. Marketers determine
how to make food appealing to consumers. The inputs for this step in
the system are people’s labor and time, in addition to advertising and
packaging.

Retailing is how food is brought to the consumer. Food can be sold to
groups of businesses that sell the products in grocery stores or
restaurants. Another way of retailing is bringing goods to a market for
consumers to purchase, such as a farmer’s market. Some of the inputs
needed for retailing may include transportation to the market, packaging
to hold and label goods, and fuel to maintain the food.

Cooking can happen in the home, at restaurants, or in institutional
kitchens that feed hundreds of people. If we start with fresh ingredients,
cooking “from scratch” can be quite involved and enjoyable. With many
food products available today, “cooking” amount to nothing more than
re-heating and presenting a dish or entire meal on a plate. When we
purchase food from a restaurant, someone else does the cooking. The
inputs needed for cooking depend on what is being done with the food.
Some inputs may be water, heat, and various appliances, as well as our
time.

Consuming is the step of the system when we purchase or eat food.
People studying the food system may consider the purchasing of food to
be consumption because that is when it is taken out of, or “disappears”
from, the retail sector of the food system. A family might consider
consumption to be when they eat food because that is the time when a
meal is enjoyed together. The primary input for this step is financial,
since we pay for the food item and all of the activities required in
bringing the food to our table.

Disposing, composting and recycling -- Some food that is purchased,
cooked and served as part of a meal is not eaten and instead is thrown
out. This food can go into the garbage or can be added to a compost pile
and turned into a valuable, rich fertilizing material to add to a home
garden or a farmer’s field. Food packages may also have different fates
with different environmental impacts. All food packages, of course, can
be thrown away and added to the solid waste accumulated by a
community. However, many food packages can be recycled. Food
packing materials such as paper, cardboard, plastic, aluminum, glass
and tin can be recycled depending on the services provided by the
community.

Models of the Food System
      Since we cannot “see” the whole food system at one time, models
have been developed to help us understand this complex and
interdependent system.

       The food system has been conceptualized [and modeled] in several
different ways (Sobal et al, 1998). Models may be linear in nature --
starting with production and proceeding to transportation, processing,

marketing, and consumption. However, the food system is undoubtedly
more complex than it might appear from a linear model. Each component
or subsystem depends upon inputs both natural and man-made, and
produces by-products that are either recycled or end up as waste that is
absorbed by the larger environment. In addition there are feedback loops
by which one component or subsystem affects another.

      A model developed for the Northeast Network for Food, Farm and
Health Policy Education places this linear model in the biophysical,
socio-cultural, and economic-political spheres, which greatly influence
the food system and are, in turn, influenced by it.

Figure 1:

     Sobal, et al. (1998) have also placed a linear schematic of
production, consumption, and nutrition in a broader context of
biophysical and social realms.

       There are other ways to think about the food system, including
food webs and food circles or cycles, which are departures from the
linear approach. They can more clearly reflect the complexity of the
interaction among the system components and may convey the sense of
a closed system. The model developed as part of an elementary school
curriculum -- The Whole Story of Food -- is an example of a circular
portrayal of the food system. But, as the model shows, the food system is
not closed as depicted by the "disposing" step directed away from the
cycle. In addition, the uni-directional flow clockwise around the cycle,

misses the impacts any step might have on the one preceding it. Further,
in actuality each of the steps in this circular model is dependent on
inputs (most obviously energy) from outside the system. Likewise, each
step results in outputs that are at least in part absorbed beyond the
bounds of the system. It is worth noting that although closed systems
may be an ideal for which to strive, they are rarely seen in the real world
because any defined system could also be redefined as part of a larger
system with which it inherently interacts.

Figure 2:

       For Discovering the Food System we have taken elements of several
food system models and created a new one. This model emphasizes the
interdependencies of each of the components and the inputs necessary
and outputs that result from each step.
       These steps of the food system are presented in a typical order.
Sometimes the steps may occur in a different order depending on what
food product is being produced in the system. Most likely you can bring
up steps that might happen out of this order. For example, often food is
stored at home in a refrigerator after it has been purchased from the
retail store. Also, some people will purchase fruits to process and

package at home by making jam. Adding to this arrangement of steps in
the food system by exploring different foods will help you understand the
parts of the system more deeply.

Figure 3:

About the lesson…
       In activity 2, you can create drawings of all of the steps you think
it takes to get food from farm to table. The goal of this part of the lesson
is to think about the food system, to see what you already understand
about it and to build on that understanding. The length of time for this
activity should be limited to approximately half of an hour.

       The activities in this lesson are adaptable for most learning
environments. A key point to keep in mind during the lesson is to
explore your ideas. This may take time and patience but will help you
identify what you already know. Once you know what you already
understand, you can build upon that understanding. Pre-existing ideas
about food and food sources will vary with the geographic location,
educational setting, experience with gardening and farming, and the type
of food and level of cooking in the household, etc. This provides an
opportunity to gauge your perspective of food systems.