Civil society organizations tackling environmental and social risks
SweatFree communities
SweatFree Communities aims to support sweatshop workers globally in their struggles to improve working conditions and achieve respect at work. This campaign does this by encouraging U.S. cities, states and school districts to adopt policies to purchase goods made in humane conditions by workers who are paid decent wages. By adopting a sweatfree policy, an institution makes a commitment to use its leverage to help improve conditions for sweatshop workers. Sweatfree procurement laws send the message of "not with their sweat, not with our dollars!"
Localities can take several key steps toward becoming sweatfree. Adopting a sweatfree procurement policy puts in place requirements for transparency and decent working conditions in government supply chains. As part of the policy, governments should join the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium in order to have a bigger impact in their supply chains by pooling resources for policy implementation. In consultation with the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium, the City of Madison, Wisconsin, has developed a cooperative "piggyback" contract with a vendor that has agreed to transparency and anti-sweatshop measures, and supplies a variety of uniforms and other apparel typically purchased with our tax dollars. The contract, which was bid competitively in a request-for-proposals (RFP) process, is available for use by public agencies across the United States.
Sweatfree campaigns can foster sustained local activism and strong coalitions of labor, student, and faith-based groups. Using institutional purchasing as a lever for worker justice, the sweatfree movement empowers people to advance fairness in the global economy through local action.
Re-shoring is the opposite of outsourcing. It happens when manufacturers decide to relocate their overseas operations back to their country of origin which is usually where the headquarter is.
Factors that are accelerating the reshoring movement include favorable domestic economic conditions; advanced technologies such as automation, robotics, and the Internet of Things; reduced domestic energy costs; the just-lowered corporate tax rate; aggressive tax incentives from various states; as well as increased labor costs overseas.
In particular, the labor cost differential between China and the U.S. has narrowed significantly over the past five years, greatly reducing profits for offshore enterprises. Increased shipping costs further erode the bottom line. Disruption of supply is also a concern with longer supply chains. This is especially true for possible shortages of materials or parts that can only be sourced from a few suppliers, which would have serious impacts on delivery and production schedules. Increasingly, the cost advantage of lower wages overseas is undercut by higher supply chain costs and quality issues. When all these factors are considered together, more U.S. manufacturers are starting to look at the United States as the place to manufacture.
Use of crowd-sourcing technologies to build resilience by government and civil society
The term crowd-sourcing splices together two words: crowd and outsourcing. In this way crowd-sourcing occurs when an organization outsources a work project or creative problem to a large group of people. In its purest form, then, crowd-sourcing is a process of co-creation between an organization that provides direction, structure, and incentive, and “the crowd” which devotes its time, effort, and abilities to completing a task.
Crowd-sourcing projects might assume various forms, but one common application of crowd-sourcing is to achieve large, labor-intensive work projects more quickly, easily, and economically.
Through crowd-sourcing, large work projects can be broken down into smaller chunks called micro tasks and then divvied out to tens, hundreds, or thousands of people for fast, efficient completion. In this sense, crowd-sourcing is based on the principle that many hands make light work.
Waze: one of the most successful crowd-powered start-ups is Waze. It’s an app that allows users to report traffic jams and automatically gives directions for the best route to take. Waze crowd sources information by measuring drivers speed to determine traffic jams and by asking users to report road closures. It’s a great app that proves a dedicated crowd is sometimes all a company needs. It also attracted some big-name investors and suitors.
McDonalds Burger builder: in 2014, McDonalds decided to give their customers free reign and submit ideas for the types of burgers they’d like to see in store. They could create their perfect burgers online and the rest of the country could vote for the best ones. In Germany, creators were also encouraged to create their own campaigns, which included viral videos and other valuable content marketing, which of course cost McDonalds nothing. Once the winners were crowned, McDonalds released the burgers weekly, along with the picture and short bio of the creator.
Lego: toy company, Lego is responsible for probably one of the best examples of Crowd-sourcing we’ve seen. The company allows users to design new products, and at the same time, test the demand. Any user can submit a design that other users are able to vote for. The idea with the most amount of votes gets moved to production and the creator receives a 1% royalty on the net revenue. Lego has been successful in increasing the number of product ideas while also improving customer engagement. And this specific kind of engagement generates a certain buzz that’s difficult to recreate by any other method. Just like McDonalds, creators take it upon themselves to promote their idea, and in doing so promote Lego as a company, too.
Airbnb: you could say that Airbnb’s whole business model is based on crowd-sourcing – it’s essentially a travel website that allows individuals to let out their homes all over the world. If it wasn’t for them, there’d be no site. More recently however, they teamed up with eYeka and worked on a crowd-sourcing project that asked filmmakers from all over the world to create fresh, authentic video content about the places they call home. The videos had to be 60 seconds long, and the winners win a share of 20, 000 euros. But this isn’t the first time they’ve crowd-sourced content. In 2013 they asked users to submit scripted shots from all over the world in the form of Vines, via Twitter. They then put the clips together, named it Hollywood & Vines, and used it as a TV ad. From these campaigns, not only have Airbnb acquired millions of unique content that adds quality and authentic value to the Airbnb brand, they’ve also saved themselves a substantial amount of money. There are even more great examples of crowd-sourcing if you look into it, and lots of ways you can incorporate crowd-sourcing into your business model. Whether you’re a new company just starting out, a fairly established company looking for extra marketing, or a company looking to engage more with your customers. You can go as little or as large as you like with crowd-sourcing, and it’s almost always going to benefit you in some way.
New technologies for the management of global flows of data and people
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users; or interrupting normal business processes.
Implementing effective cybersecurity measures is particularly challenging today because there are more devices than people, and attackers are becoming more innovative.
A successful cybersecurity approach has multiple layers of protection spread across the computers, networks, programs, or data that one intends to keep safe. In an organization, the people, processes, and technology must all complement one another to create an effective defense from cyber attacks.
People
Users must understand and comply with basic data security principles like choosing strong passwords, being wary of attachments in email, and backing up data. Learn more about basic cybersecurity principles.
Processes
Organizations must have a framework for how they deal with both attempted and successful cyber attacks. One well-respected framework can guide you. It explains how you can identify attacks, protect systems, detect and respond to threats, and recover from successful attacks. Watch a video explanation of the NIST cybersecurity framework.
Technology
Technology is essential to giving organizations and individuals the computer security tools needed to protect themselves from cyber attacks. Three main entities must be protected: endpoint devices like computers, smart devices, and routers; networks; and the cloud. Common technology used to protect these entities include next-generation firewalls, DNS filtering, malware protection, antivirus software, and email security solutions.
Why is cybersecurity important?
In today’s connected world, everyone benefits from advanced cyberdefense programs. At an individual level, a cybersecurity attack can result in everything from identity theft, to extortion attempts, to the loss of important data like family photos. Everyone relies on critical infrastructure like power plants, hospitals, and financial service companies. Securing these and other organizations is essential to keeping our society functioning.
Everyone also benefits from the work of cyberthreat researchers, like the team of 250 threat researchers at Talos, who investigate new and emerging threats and cyber attack strategies. They reveal new vulnerabilities, educate the public on the importance of cybersecurity, and strengthen open source tools. Their work makes the Internet safer for everyone.
WHY DO TNCS MOVE THEIR MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES?
Manufacturing industries and waste disposal industries are generally moving from high income to low and middle income industries. This is for several reasons.
Benefits of LIC/MICs:
Manufacturing gives the opportunity for a low/middle income country to develop its economy
FDI is welcomed by LICs and MICs with low taxes, cheap land, and government-paid improvements to infrastructure
There may be low levels of environmental regulations in lower income countries
Drawbacks of HICs:
It is harder to find workers willing to engage in dangerous occupations in higher income countries
The higher income of workers in HICs may cancel out any benefits of tax incentives and good infrastructure
Increasingly high awareness of environmental issues has led to massively increased environmental regulation in HICs
There is a debate over whether TNCs (Trans-National Corporations) deliberately move polluting industries overseas. A 1970s report by a US environmental consultant found that many companies had moved from the US to Mexico to produce dangerous materials such as asbestos and arsenic. However, in the 1980s a contradictory report found that although environmental concerns would be one part of a relocation study, “they were never strong enough to outweigh all the traditional forces that determine investment and location decisions” including raw materials, energy supplies, labour, transport, political considerations, climate and the local market. In the 1990s a mixed picture emerged, suggesting that any economic benefits of environmental degradation were short-lived due to growing awareness in the destination countries.
The concept of a Manufacturing industries and waste disposal industries are generally moving from high income to low and middle income industries. This is for several reasons.
Benefits of LIC/MICs:
Manufacturing gives the opportunity for a low/middle income country to develop its economy
FDI is welcomed by LICs and MICs with low taxes, cheap land, and government-paid improvements to infrastructure
There may be low levels of environmental regulations in lower income countries
Drawbacks of HICs:
It is harder to find workers willing to engage in dangerous occupations in higher income countries
The higher income of workers in HICs may cancel out any benefits of tax incentives and good infrastructure
Increasingly high awareness of environmental issues has led to massively increased environmental regulation in HICs
While your computer is connected to the Internet, the malware a hacker has installed on your PC quietly transmits your personal and financial information without your knowledge or consent. Or, a computer predator may pounce on the private information you unwittingly revealed. In either case, they will be able to:
Hijack your usernames and passwords
Steal your money and open credit card and bank accounts in your name
Ruin your credit
Request new account Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) or additional credit cards
Make purchases
Add themselves or an alias that they control as an authorized user so it’s easier to use your credit
Obtain cash advances
Use and abuse your Social Security number
Sell your information to other parties who will use it for illicit or illegal purposes
Do criminals hacking into computer systems pose a risk to your health, safety, or prosperity? If you ask US adults this question, the answer is likely to be a resounding yes! Last month we put this question to 750 people and gave them four possible answers: Little or no risk; Moderate risk; Serious risk; and Very high risk. This chart shows answers by percentage of respondents:
Identity theft occurs when someone uses your identity or personal information—such as your name, your driver's license, or your Social Security number—without your permission to commit a crime or fraud. There are many different types of identity theft that can occur as criminals are always looking for new ways to exploit consumer information.
Implications of surveillance for personal freedoms
A 2016 study showed that people alter their behavior when they are reminded that the government is watching their activities. To test the effects of surveillance, participants in the study were first shown a fictional news headline about the United States targeting the Islamic State in an airstrike. They were then asked how they felt about the event while being regularly reminded that their responses were being monitored. As a result, most people in the study began to suppress opinions about the fictional event that they felt to be controversial or that they believed may lead to the government to scrutinize them.
Beyond its corrosive effects on intellectual curiosity and free speech, two extremely dangerous products of mass surveillance include the gathering and assembling of surveillance data to create individual profiles and to fuel predictive analysis.
Security and law enforcement agencies aggregate surveillance data to create profiles of people and then attempt to predict their future behavior based on what they’ve done in the past. The problem with this practice is that it’s easy to make flawed presumptions and predictions based on data assembled in this ‘Frankenstein’ manner. These types of presumptions and biases are on display in so-called Crime Predicting software, which have been shown to disproportionately target poor and minority communities.
While some of our security agencies have said they only collect “metadata” and not the contents of our communications, using metadata in an attempt to glean insights from people’s behavior has a high potential for abuse, especially as ever-increasing amounts of data are gathered and stored in ways beyond our control. The recent revelation that CSIS has been illegally storing metadata about Canadians only reinforces the seriousness of the current situation.
New and emerging threats to the political and economic sovereignty of states
Profit repatriation
The transfer of corporate money or property from a foreign country back to its home country. Some foreign governments restrict this action to prevent a drain of capital or exploitation by the company to its home country.
Tax avoidance is the use of legal methods to modify an individual's financial situation to lower the amount of income tax owed. This is generally accomplished by claiming the permissible deductions and credits. This practice differs from tax evasion, which uses illegal methods, such as underreporting income to avoid paying taxes.
Ukraine is a Texas-sized country wedged between Russia and Europe. It was part of the Soviet Union until 1991, and since then has been a less-than-perfect democracy with a very weak economy and foreign policy that wavers between pro-Russian and pro-European.
This all began as an internal Ukrainian crisis in November 2013, when President Viktor Yanukovych rejected a deal for greater integration with the European Union (here's why this was such a big deal), sparking mass protests, which Yanukovych attempted to put down violently. Russia backed Yanukovych in the crisis, while the US and Europe supported the protesters.
Turkey is undergoing a new nationalist wave led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a study by the Center for American Progress (CAP) concludes. The report and the findings of polls and focus groups conducted in Turkey late last year conclude that Erdogan is trying to craft a new nationalism. "He is doing this with his political rhetoric, but he is also drawing on a genuine upswelling of nationalism from the Turkish populists" Max Hoffman, one of the report's authors, told VOA. Hoffman said this new nationalism includes "real hostility towards the West, particularly the U.S., but also Germany and Europe. Correlated to that, there is widespread hostility towards Syrian refugees and to some extent, other immigrants to Turkey." Ali Cınar, president of the Turkish Heritage Organization, said the main reason for the anti-U.S. attitude in Turkey is the anger against Washington for not extraditing U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen and for supporting the Syrian Kurdish militia group YPG in the war against Islamic State.
Use the content from this post to plan an answer for the following question: ‘Discuss how do technological and globalizing processes create new geopolitical and economic risks for individuals and societies?’. 16 marks. Use mark scheme on page 56 from the new syllabus guide (AO3)
1. Insect Resistance
Some GMO foods have been modified to make them more resistant to insects and other pests. A report from the University of California in San Diego states that toxic bacteria (yet safe for human use) can be added to crops to make them repel insects. This means the amount of pesticide chemicals used on the plants are reduced, so their exposure to dangerous pesticides are also reduced.
2. Stronger Crops
Another benefit that GM technology is believed to bring about is that crops can be engineered to withstand weather extremes and fluctuations, which means that there will be good quality and sufficient yields even under a poor or severe weather condition. As populations across the world grow and more lands are being utilized for housing instead of food production, farmers are prompted to grow crops in locations that are originally not suitable for plant cultivation, and culturing plants that can withstand high salt content in soil and groundwater, not to mention long periods of drought, will help them grow healthy crops. Also, animals and plants that have been genetically modified can become more resistant to unexpected disease problems. We can just think of the technology as a vaccine for the species, except that it is encoded into their genes, rather than being shot into their immune system.
3. Larger Production
It has been easier to raise crops that are classified as genetically modified because all of their examples have the stronger ability to resist pests. This attribute helps farmers with producing greater amounts of crops or foods.
4. Environmental Protection
According to an Oklahoma State University report, the increase of GM animals and crops often requires less time, tools and chemicals, and may help with reducing greenhouse gas emissions, soil erosion and environmental pollution. This means the general health and beauty of the environment that surrounds farms will be improved, contributing to the preservation of better water and air quality, which can also indirectly benefit every person’s well-being.
5. Extensive Protection for Crops
GM foods were created with the use of genetic engineering—a technology that was designed to make sure crops will never be damaged in a fast rate. The method also allows farmers and merchants to preserve the good quality of foods more efficiently by using special substances.
6. More Nutritious Foods
According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, some GM foods have been engineered to become more nutritious in terms of vitamin or mineral content. This not only helps people get the nutrients they need, but also plays a significant role in fighting against malnutrition in third-world countries. In fact, the United Nations recommends that rice that is enhanced with vitamin A can help with reducing deficiencies of such nutrient around the world.
7. Decreased Use of Pesticides
It has been proven that genetically modified crops do not need pesticides to become stronger against various types of insects or pests that may destroy them.
8. More Income
With genetic engineering, farmers will have more income, which they could spend on important things, such as the education of their children for example.
9. Less Deforestation
To sufficiently feed the growing population of the world, deforestation is needed. But with genetically modified animals and crops, the use of this method will be minimized. This would decrease carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which would, in turn, slow global warming.
10. Decrease in Global Warming
As more plants and crops can be grown and at more areas, including those that were previously unsuitable for farming, oxygen in the environment is increased, decreasing the proportion of carbon dioxide and, in turn, reducing global warming. In fact, British economists noted in a study that genetically modified crops have made significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by over 10 million tons, which is equivalent to removing 5 million cars from the road each year. This means that people would not have to give up their vehicles.
11. Decrease in Food Prices
Due to higher yield and lower costs, food prices would go down. As people in poorer countries spend over half of their income on food alone, this means automatic reduction of poverty.
12. New Products
New kinds of crops are being developed to be grown at extreme climates, such as those present in dry or freezing environments. As an example, scientists have developed a new type of tomato that grows in salty soil. Another good discovery in genetic engineering of plants is the exclusion of the gene responsible for caffeine in coffee beans, creating decaffeinated coffee beans, which can then be grown naturally.
List of Disadvantages of Genetically Modified Foods
1. Allergic Reactions
According to research by the Brown University, resent genetically modified foods can pose significant allergy risks to people. It states that genetic modification often adds or mixes proteins that were not indigenous to the original animal or plant, which might cause new allergic reactions in our body. In some cases, proteins from organisms that you are allergic to might be added to organisms that you were not originally allergic to. This means your range of food choices will be lessened.
2. Not 100% Environmentally Friendly
Though it is claimed by many experts that genetically modified foods are safe for the environment, they actually still contain several kinds of substances that are not yet proven to be such. And what’s worse? These substances are remained hidden to the public.
3. Lower Level of Biodiversity
One big potential drawback of this technology is that some organisms in the ecosystem could be harmed, which in turn could lead to a lower level of biodiversity. When we remove a certain pest that is harmful to crops, we could also be removing a food source for a certain species. In addition, genetically modified crops could prove toxic to some organisms, which can lead to their reduced numbers or even extinction.
4. Decreased Antibiotic Efficacy
According to the Iowa State University, some genetically modified foods have antibiotic features that are built into them, making them resistant or immune to viruses or diseases or viruses. And when we eat them, these antibiotic markers will persist in our body and will render actual antibiotic medications less effective. The university also warns that ingestion of these foods and regular exposure to antibiotics may contribute to the reduced effectiveness of antibiotic drugs, as noticed in hospitals across the planet.
5. Unusual Taste
Genetically modified foods are observed to have unnatural tastes compared with the ordinary foods that are sold on the market. This could be the result of the substances that were added to their composition.
6. Not Totally Safe to Eat
It is proven by scientific studies that GMO foods contain substances that may cause diseases and even death to several kinds of species in this world, including us humans. For instance, mice and butterflies cannot survive with these foods.
7. Cross-Pollination
Cross-pollination can cover quite large distances, where new genes can be included in the offspring of organic, traditional plants or crops that are miles away. This can result in difficulty in distinguishing which crop fields are organic and which are not, posing a problem to the task of properly labeling non-GMO food products.
8. Gene Spilling
It is unclear what effects, if there are any, the genetic pollution resulting from inadequate sequestering of genetically modified crop populations would have on the wild varieties surrounding them. However, it is stressed that releasing pollen from genetically altered plants into the wild through the insects and the wind could have dramatic effects on the ecosystem, though there is yet long-term research to be done to gauge such impact.
9. Gene Transfer
Relevant to the previous disadvantage, a constant risk of genetically modified foods is that an organism’s modified genes may escape into the wild. Experts warn that genes from commercial crops that are resistant to herbicides may cross into the wild weed population, thus creating super-weeds that have become impossible to kill. For genetically enhanced vegetation and animals, they may become super-organisms that can out-compete natural plants and animals, driving them into extinction.
10. Conflicts
GMO foods can cause a lot of issues in the merchants’ daily life. How? These products might encourage authorities to implement higher tariffs to merchants, who would be selling them.
11. Exploitations
Some countries may use genetic engineering of foods as a very powerful weapon against their enemies. It is important to note that some scientists have discovered that these products can kill a lot of individuals in the world by using harmful diseases.
12. Widening Gap of Corporate Sizes
This disadvantage can possibly happen between food-producing giants and their smaller counterparts, causing a consolidation in the market. There would be fewer competitors, which could increase the risk of oligopolies and food price increases. Moreover, larger companies might have more political power and might be able to influence safety and health standards.
13. New Diseases
As previously mentioned, genetically modified foods can create new diseases. Considering that they are modified using viruses and bacteria, there is a fear that this will certainly happen. This threat to human health is a worrisome aspect that has received a great deal of debate.
14. Food Supply at Risk
GMO seeds are patented products and, in order to purchase them, customers have to sign certain agreements for use with the supplier or creator. As the reliance on these seeds expands around the world, concerns about food supply and safety also continue to arise. Furthermore, these seeds structurally identical, and if a problem affects one of them, a major crop failure can occur.
15. Economic Concerns
Bringing a genetically modified food to market can be a costly and lengthy process, and of course, agricultural bio-technology companies want to ensure a profitable ROI. So, many new plant genetic engineering technologies and products have been patented, and patent infringement is a big concern within the agribusiness. Also, consumer advocates are worried that this will raise seed prices to very high levels that third-world countries and small farmers cannot afford them, thus widening the gap between the rich and the poor.
PROS: THE OPPORTUNITIES, BENEFITS, AND ADVANTAGES OF VERTICAL FARMING
1. Improves Production Output and Maximizes Land Use
A remarkable opportunity from or advantage of vertical farming over traditional field agriculture is that it can help increase agricultural outputs by maximizing the use of lands. The study of Chirantan Banerjee and Lucie Adenaeur revealed that a 37-storey building standing on a 0.25 hectare of land was able to produce 3500 tons of different fruits and vegetables. Take note that field farming within a similar land area would not be able to produce as much.
The review study Kurt Benke and Bruce Tomkins also mentioned that vertical farming could address the issue concerning the declining farmlands across the world due to the reduction of fresh water supply and the effects of climate change.
2. Protects the Environment through Resource Conservation
Vertical farming also aims to address environmental issues associated with the use of limited natural resources and land areas. Because this practice involves maximizing the use of a limited land area, it can eliminate deforestation and desertification due to agricultural encroachment. It also eliminates farming practices that lead to soil erosion and nutrient runoff.
Furthermore, vertical farming involves a closed-cycle design that maximizes the use of resources such as energy and fertilizers while minimizing losses due to runoff and leeching that are associated with field farming.
3. Merges Food Production and Consumption in One Place
Another benefit of vertical farming is that it shortens the entire farm-to-market process by enabling urban farming. A review study by Kheir Al-Kodmany noted that cities need to produce food internally to respond to demand from growing population, avoid price shocks, and address environmental issues concerning field farming.
Vertical farming tackles the issues mentioned above. This benefit translates further to more specific opportunities and benefits such as the promotion of sustainable or self-sufficient cities, encouragement of urban growth, and the delivery of fresh and inexpensive food products.
4. Supports Diverse Crops through an Adaptable System
Vertical farming depends on the effective and efficient use of different technologies and practices such as hydroponic systems, aeroponics, aquaponics, greenhouse design, environmental control, and energy sustainability to collectively implement a controlled-environment agriculture or CEA technology. This technology can maintain the optimal growing conditions of agricultural produces and even animal-based food products.
In addition, because a vertical farm can control different environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, light, and nutrient distribution through CES technology, it can essentially support the cultivation of different types of crops that are sensitive and dependent to weather or other environmental preconditions.
5. Promotes the Efficient and Sustainable Use of Energy
Another advantage of vertical farming is that it can be aligned with renewable and alternative energy technologies. A facility can take advantage of photovoltaic solar panels to store and generate needed electricity for running its CES technology. It can also exploit methane digesters to produce energy, particularly by building an on-site capability for transforming organic waste into biogas. The biogas can fire up fuel-based electricity generators.
Note that there are ongoing studies and tests centered on generating electricity or producing fuels using natural and engineered plants, and cultured bacteria. In other words, given the right use of current technologies or the future availability of more advanced technologies, a vertical farm can work off-the-grid and be self-sufficient.
6. Generates Multidisciplinary High-Skilled Jobs
There is also an opportunity or benefit centered on the creation of different types of jobs from different fields or disciplines. Promoting vertical farming means promoting high-tech green industry. It would lead to the generation of new careers for professionals in the fields of civil engineering and agriculture, information technology, project management, business and management, and marketing and retail, among others.
A new breed of farmers with relevant skills or knowledge would also be needed to manage planting, cultivation, monitoring, and harvesting. Demand for experts in the different subfields of science such as agricultural science, biotechnology, bioengineering and genetics, plant pathology, and horticulture, among others could also increase.
CONS: THE CHALLENGES, LIMITATIONS, AND DISADVANTAGES OF VERTICAL FARMING
1. Issues Regarding Economic Viability Due to Costs
Different concerns regarding economic feasibility collectively comprise one of the notable limitations or disadvantages of vertical farming. For example, Banerjee and Adenaeur noted that the 37-stored vertical farm on a quarter-hectare of land they investigated had an investment cost of more than USD 220 million. Note that this modern type of farm depends heavily on modern engineering and architecture, as well as the application of different technologies.
There is also a challenge over costs and competition for commercial spaces in cities. Building vertical farms in expensive cities can add to the total investment and operational costs. Furthermore, endorsing the building of vertical farms could also increase occupancy cost and real estate value due to additional demand.
2. Possible Environmental and Energy Implications
There are also concerns over pollution and sustainable use. Crops grown indoors depend on artificial light. Note that sunlight can be exploited for natural lighting or self-sufficient generation of electricity through photovoltaic solar panels. The use of light-emitting diode or LED lamps also drives down the cost of electricity consumption. Of course, other than artificial lighting, a vertical farm includes complex machinery and automated systems. Hence, when compared to field farming, vertical farming has an additional energy input.
While renewable and alternative sources of energy can promote the ecological soundness of vertical farming, the practice can still have a considerable carbon footprint if it still depends on the use of fossil fuels. There is a need to improve first renewable and alternative energy technologies to guarantee environmental sustainability and energy efficiency of vertical farming.
3. Likely Disruption to the Rural Sector and its Communities
Another foreseen challenge and disadvantage of vertical farming involves the potential for disrupting the rural sector, especially those communities with economies that are dependent on agriculture. Vertical farms can render traditional farming jobs obsolete. Farmers who do not have competencies in vertical farming would be left jobless. Communities dependent on agriculture would certainly suffer.
Essentially, urban farming would compete with rural farming. The review study of Benke and Tomkins noted that to transition to vertical farming effectively, there is a need to devise and implement strategies or plans intended to educate government officials, create relevant laws or policies, and familiarize farmers to new trends in agriculture.
4. Requires Advance Technologies and Complex Processes
Aligned to the high startup cost of building and operating a vertical farm, another possible disadvantage is the need to apply various technologies and design complex processes. Vertical farming is more complicated to initiate and maintain than traditional field agriculture.
For example, automation through information technology and information systems in vertical farming are essential for maintaining and adjusting appropriate climate conditions without the need for regular human intervention. IT-related technology will also be helpful for monitoring crops, crop maintenance, recording outputs, and determining demands. Nevertheless, it would be challenging to build and operate a vertical farm for someone who does not have relevant familiarity, connection, and capital.
The Daily Express reports that in the UK, 85% of the total land footprint “is associated with animal products, with the land footprint of commercial lab-grown meat being 99% lower than for normal animal husbandry”.
“We can produce the same amount of meat in factories on 1% of the land it presently takes us to do it,” Prie said.
Sustainability
In America, consumers eat 26 billion pounds (13 million tons) of beef each year, which Wired says “demands a massive industrialized livestock system that is problematic for the planet”.
Worldwide, livestock “may be responsible for 15% of greenhouse gas emissions”, the magazine adds, and switching to lab-grown meat would reduce these emissions by up to 96%.
As such, it has been touted as a possible solution to global warming and climate change, and should theoretically lead to a reduction in deforestation for livestock purposes. Prie adds: “It's sustainable, environmentally friendly, we don't have to cut down rainforests to plant crops to feed animals if you're growing it in factories.”
Animal welfare
The system of farm-based meat production “rarely has the animals’ best interests in mind”, Wired says, and animal welfare in meat-producing farms and factories has long been a source of controversy worldwide.
Lab-grown meat, meanwhile, could be “environmentally and animal-welfare friendly, ethical, and less likely to carry diseases”, The Conversation suggests.
“It could increase the proportion of happy animals on Earth if it replaced intensive farm animal production. By happy, we mean well nourished, comfortable, healthy, free from pain, and able to perform.”
Health benefits
“Doing away with slaughterhouses could reduce the risk of food-borne illnesses, as well as diseases transmitted between live animals and humans,” Faunalytics says.
“In addition, lab-grown meat could easily supplemented with vitamins and minerals that are not found in natural meat.”
Cons
Trust
In a survey undertaken by The Conversation, the site found that people often have a “perception that [lab-grown meat] is unnatural”, which “may be similar to people’s concerns about genetically modified (GM) foods – some of those who oppose GM foods are moral absolutists who would not be influenced by any argument in favor”.
Job losses
Many farming bodies are “understandably against this potential threat to their livelihood - and there's some way to go to convincing some food lovers we spoke to,” Sky News says.
“There’s a very real danger that those at the bottom of the business pyramid find themselves excluded from the marketplace, if the world does embrace new, more 'ethical' meat products,” Twisted says. “Balancing the need for development in our farming practices with maintaining peoples’ livelihoods promises to be a difficult tightrope to walk over the coming years.”
Taste
Lab-grown meat could theoretically contain no fat, and would also contain no bones, which may compromise the taste to some consumers, Future For All suggests.
However, at present, little is known about the potential flavors of lab-grown meat compared to livestock-based products.
Obesity
If lab-grown meat proves to be cheaper and easier to mass-produce than traditional meat, “researchers believe it could encourage over-consumption, which could, in turn, increase obesity and related issues”, Faunalytics says.
Agriculture subsidies mean the financial assistance provided by government to farmers through government-sponsored price-support programs. The objective behind providing agriculture subsidies is to provide benefits to farmers and thereby stabilize food prices, ensure plentiful food production, and to guarantee basic income to farmers. In U.S. and France, agricultural subsidies are designed to increase farm income by raising the long-term level of prices above free-market levels or by providing direct payments to farmers. Agricultural subsidy helps to influence the cost and supply of commodities such as wheat, feed grains, cotton, milk, rice, peanuts, sugar, tobacco, and oilseeds such as soybeans.
An international, independent medical humanitarian organisation
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) translates to Doctors without Borders. We provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff - bound together by our charter. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of impartiality, independence and neutrality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organisation.
MSF was founded in 1971 in Paris by a group of journalists and doctors. Today, we are a worldwide movement of more than 42,000 people.
The influence of TNCs (agribusinesses and the media) in shaping food consumption habits
For much of human history, food production was seen as the job of the family or village. Towards the end of the 20th century, commercial farming in many parts of the world was transformed into a corporate enterprise as large companies purchased and merged small farms. The aim of the corporations involved in farming, commonly known as agribusiness, to achieve economies of scale by farming large areas of land using a high rate of mechanization to minimize labor needs in an effort to maximize profits. Some agribusiness are international in scale, in which case they are examples of TNCs (transnational corporations).
Source: Codrington, Stephen. Our Dynamic Planet. 2nd ed., Solid Star Press, 2016, p. 628.
The ongoing globalization, privatization, and deregulation of food systems and supplies may have relatively little impact on public health in high-income countries whose dietary patterns are already fully industrialized. But the displacement of traditional food systems in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (“the South”) by the fatty, sugary, or salty “long-life” ultra-processed products marketed by transnational food and drink corporations, which has been increasing rapidly since the 1980s, has the potential to undermine public health by increasing the incidence of chronic diseases and obesity.
Gender roles related to food and health, including food production/acquisition and disparities in health
Food security is defined as having four main components: availability, access, utilization, and stability. Women play key roles in maintaining all four pillars of food security: as food producers and agricultural entrepreneurs; "gatekeepers" who dedicate their own time, income and decision-making to maintain food and nutritional security of their households and communities; and "managers" of the stability of food supplies in times of economic hardship.
In many countries women supply most of the labour needed to produce food crops and often control the use and sale of food produce grown on plots they manage. However, the gender disparities in ownership of, access to, and control of livelihood assets (such as land, water, energy, credit, knowledge, and labour) negatively affect women's food production. For instance, compromised land access often means that women obtain lower yields than would otherwise be possible if household resources were allocated more equitably. Insecurity of tenure for women thus compromises their production potential and increases food insecurity. Greater food security would be achieved if women had access to needed assets and resources and had a voice in the decisions that have an impact on the lives of their households and communities.
A significant proportion of women work in informal non-agricultural sectors, such as trading and small-scale processing, which both contributes to the food value chain and generates income for them to purchase food. However, rural women often face constraints to market engagement due to factors such as lack of mobility, capacity, and technical skills. Likewise, women food crop entrepreneurs can play important economic roles that have positive effects beyond the micro level (e.g. supplying food products and employment opportunities), but are often hindered by discriminatory practices and stereotypical attitudes from accessing opportunities to expand their businesses. Improving women farmers' participation in marketing chains and entrepreneurial activities – e.g., by investment in transport and infrastructure, improved provision of training and information, or changes in policy and regulatory frameworks – would mean giving a boost to aggregate food security.
Famines are extreme events in which large populations lack adequate access to food, leading to widespread malnutrition and deaths. More of these deaths are caused by infectious disease than starvation because severe malnutrition compromises human immune systems. This makes people much more susceptible to killer diseases such as measles, or even common conditions such as diarrhea. Young children are especially vulnerable.Experts now agree on three characteristics that define a famine:
At least 20 percent of households in a given group face extreme food deficits, with no ability to cope;
At least 30 percent of children in a given group are acutely malnourished, meaning that their weight is dangerously low compared to their height; and
Mortality rates exceed two people per 10,000 population per day. For comparison, a noncrisis rate in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa would be about 0.3.
Famines have always occurred as the result of a complex mix of ‘technical’ and ‘political’ factors, but the developments of the modern industrial era have generally reduced the salience of natural constraints in causing famine. This includes availability of food per person, made possible through increasing agricultural yields; improvements in healthcare and sanitation; increased trade; reduced food prices and food price volatility; as well as reductions in the number of people living in extreme poverty. Over time, famines have become increasingly “man-made”-phenomena, becoming more clearly attributable to political causes, including non-democratic government and conflict. Paradoxically, over the course of the 20th century famine was virtually eradicated from most of the world, whilst over the same period there occurred some of the worst famines in recorded history. This is because many of the major famines of the 20th century were the outcome of wars or totalitarian regimes. As such, the waning of the very high levels of warfare over the last decades (as seen in the reduced number of battle deaths in recent times) and the spread of democratic institutions has also played a large part in the substantial reduction in famine mortality witnessed in recent decades.
The water, energy and food (WEF) nexus means that the three sectors — water security, energy security and food security — are inextricably linked and that actions in one area more often than not have impacts in one or both of the others.
FAO has developed an approach to assess and manage the water-energy-food nexus to inform decision-making processes and to guide the development of “Nexus-sensitive” policies, supporting countries in designing and implementing them in a participatory manner.
AS part of the WEF Nexus approach, the Nexus Assessment (including the Nexus Rapid Appraisal) consists of an easily applicable methodology, which relies on indicators that are based on different country typologies, allowing a quick assessment of possible interventions against overarching development goals such as food security, and the sustainability of the use and management of energy and water supplies.
Use the content from this post to plan an answer for the following exam style question: ‘Contrast the scale of causes and solutions to food and health problems’. 10 marks.
