A Sitopian World

Ever since the beginning of human civilization we have lived in what could be called a “sitopia,” (from the Greek sitos meaning food, and topos meaning place) a place where food is at the central aspect of society. It must be transported, bought, sold, cooked, and gotten rid of. As we move through the 21st century, food is often something we take for granted. We don’t think of where it comes from, what it took to get it to us, or even where it goes when we are done with it. Farmland that has been in use f0r hundreds of years for making food and animal feed is now being converted to grow energy crops for biofuel, and the amount of food being produced is being significantly reduced. But the reality is food is something we cannot afford to take for granted. Today 1.02 billion people do not have enough food to eat, more than the population of Canada, the United States and the European Union combined.

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As we face the energy crisis and continue to search for methods to replace our dependence of fossil fuels, we need to be aware of the human and environmental impacts these actions make. The rush to switch from petroleum to bioenergy has the potential to lead to serious food shortages and a huge increase in prices. The production of crops for biofuels has been doubling every few years. Last year the United States used more than a third of their maize crops to harvest ethanol for biofuels. This is putting serious strain on world food supplies. World reserves of grain had already fallen from 100 days' supply in 2000 to 40 days in 2006, and can be expected to drop with promises to increase the percentage of biofuel in road fuels.

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The depleting of food supplies results in a two-fold problem. One: there is not enough food being produced to feed the growing population. Two: Due to food shortages prices begin to rise, making food even less accessible. The United Nations World Food Programme has said that rapidly rising food prices are like “a silent tsunami threatening to plunge more than 100 million people on every continent into hunger."

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In order to overcome this society must step back and re-evaluate the way we see our world. Food, one of the most basic and essential things needed in everyday life, is being used frivolously as an inventive, yet destructive attempt to solve our energy crisis. We must return to that “Sitopian” state in which food and urbanism are bound together, where cities are shaped with food being their central social core. Society must find a way to rediscover the value of food, as a means of survival, but also as a way of life. After all what good is having fuel to run a car, if there is no one to drive it.

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Here is Architect Carolyn Steel’s take on food, energy and economy, and how it shapes our cities and lives:

Images Sources:
1:"Food": http://www.motherearthnews.com/Relish/Food-Safety-System.aspx
2:"Biofuels": http://wattsupwiththat.com/2007/10/09/
3:"Hunger": http://www.foodshortageusa.com/
4:"Earth": http://www.all-creatures.org/hope/img/earth-light.jpg

Sources:

• Adams, Mike . "The Biofuels Scam, Food Shortages and the Coming Collapse of the Human Population ." Natural News. http://www.naturalnews.com/023091_food_biofuels_biofuel.html (accessed October 31, 2009).
• Barone, Jennifer, and Amber Fields. " Biofuel Farming Looks to Be an Environmental Disaster Agriculture DISCOVER Magazine ." Science and Technology News, Science Articles Discover Magazine . http://discovermagazine.com/2008/may/03-biofuel-farming-looks-to-be-an-environmental-disaster (accessed October 31, 2009).
• "Biomass Energy." The Canadian Encyclopedia. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0000758 (accessed October 30, 2009).
• Harwood, Matthew. "Biofuel Production Causes Food Shortages, Scientist Says ." Security Management. http://www.securitymanagement.com/news/biofuel-production-causes-food-shortages-scientist-says (accessed November 1, 2009).
• Sullivan, Laurence. "Do Biofuels Cause Food Shortage? ." Suite101.com. http://environmentalism.suite101.com/article.cfm/are_biofuels_causing_food_shortage (accessed October 30, 2009).
• Vidal, John. "Global rush to energy crops threatens to bring food shortages and increase poverty, says UN ." The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/may/09/foodanddrink.renewableenergy (accessed November 1, 2009).
• "TED Blog: How food shapes our cities: Carolyn Steel on TED.com." TED Blog. http://blog.ted.com/2009/10/how_food_shapes.php (accessed November 1, 2009).

-Sam Eby