Pierre Desrochers is Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Toronto Mississauga. His research and teaching activities focus primarily on economic development, technological innovation, entrepreneurship, international trade, business-environment and business-university interactions. His other areas of expertise include intellectual property and urban and housing policy.
How the Globalized Food Supply Chain Benefits Our Economy and Environment
Today's food activists think that "sustainable farming" and "eating local" are the way to solve a host of perceived problems with our modern food supply system. But after a thorough review of the evidence, University of Toronto professor Pierre Desrochers concludes that these claims are mistaken. Building on historical, economic and scientific evidence, Desrochers reveals what locavores miss or misunderstand: the real environmental impacts of agricultural production; the drudgery of subsistence farming; and the essential role large-scale, industrial producers play in making food more available, varied, affordable, and nutritionally rich than ever before in history. Eliminating agriculture subsidies and opening up international trade, not reducing food miles, he argues, is the real route to sustainability.
We are also pleased to have Sarah Elton (http://thelocavore.ca/) to provide her extensive and knowledgeable perspective on the topic.
