FNES 104 Thursday Spring 2015

Elizabeth Joa
Understanding The Food System
1. Define each stage of the food system (Farm to Table):
Inputs- Inputs are items that help to further the process of the food
system. Inputs include water, soil, land, fertilizers, pesticides, seeds,
biodiversity, etc. These inputs help with the production of the food.
Production- The production is the growth of food through agriculture.
Farming/agriculture produce the food from the use of inputs.
Transformation- The process where the products from production go
through washing, chopping, cooking, etc. The food grown are used to
create the food product/item to be sold in stores.
Distribution- the transporting of the food to markets, restaurants, etc.
Also, the marketing, transport and retail of the food take place during
this stage of the food system.
Access- The products we purchase in the markets (supermarkets).
How we access/get hold of the food.
Consumption- The food we eat at home, restaurants, hospitals, etc.
Outputs- The outputs are what are left over in the food system, such
as compost food scraps, waste, bottles, food produced, seeds of the
produce, etc.
2. Prepare a flow chart on the production of salsa in a simple
(subsistence) and a complex (industrialized agriculture) food
system.
Food System Component

Simple (Subsistence)

Inputs

- Seeds (saved or bought)

- Compost fertilizer
- Rain water
- Labor by man/woman

Production

- Growth of tomatoes,
peppers, onions, cilantro, and
corn.
- Gather produce at desired
ripeness

Transformation

- Washing
- Chopping
- Cooking

Complex (Industrialized
agriculture)
- Seeds (genetically
engineered)
- Synthetic fertilizers
- Labor by farm workers
Machinery
- Transport by Fossil Fuel
- Mass production of
tomatoes, peppers, onions,
cilantro, and corn through
monocultures.
- Harvest vegetables
(tomatoes, peppers, onions,
cilantro, and corn) through
machinery
- Ripening with the use of gas
- Transportation of vegetables
(tomatoes, peppers, onions,
cilantro, and corn) to process

- Adding all the ingredients

together with seasonings
(tomatoes, peppers, onions,
cilantro, and corn)
Distribution

N/A

Access

N/A

Consumption

- Eating salsa with chips

Outputs

- Compost food scraps

(tomatoes, peppers, onions,
cilantro, and corn)

- Production of salsa with

ingredients, and preservatives
- Canning/Bottling/Packaging
the salsa
-Boxing the cans/bottles
- Boxes with salsa bottles are
sent to warehouses. Orders are
taken and sent to retail
locations
- Supermarkets sell individual
salsa cans/bottles to
consumers
- Customers purchase salsa,
bring home, and eat the salsa
with the chips
- Compost food scraps (of
tomatoes, peppers, onions,
cilantro, and corn) or throw
away as waste
- Use the bottle that stored the
salsa or throw it away
- Garbage/Recycle items are
picked up and taken to landfill
- Pollution from the pesticides,
fertilizers, and burning of
fossil fuels

3. Explain how this product would be prepared using the food

system stages described in the hand out.
-

In a simple food system, the owners of the farm would grow the
produce for the salsa. They would harvest the produce that is
ripe to them. Then they would prepare all the ingredients to cook
the salsa and consume. Food scraps are used for compost.
In a complex system, working farmers produces the produce for
the salsa. The vegetables are grown in monoculture farms and
harvested through the labor of the farmers and machinery. The
vegetables are then transported and prepared for the salsa.
Bottling of the salsa occurs and packaging. Shipping of the salsa
occurs and orders are taken from supermarkets. The consumers
purchase the individual salsa bottles and bring it home to
consume. Food scraps can either be thrown away or used as
compost. And bottles are either saved or thrown away/recycled.