Using these numbers and associated assumptions, how many people could be fed annually if all of those 14,775 acres were in food production?
acres required Number of people % of northampton who could be fed per person population fed with potentially available land (14,775 acres) (a) Peters vegetarian diet
0.45
32,833
111%
(b) Peters avg US meat (5+ oz) diet
1.06
13,939
47%
(c) Peters high fat, high meat (12 oz) diet
2.13
6,937
23%
These figures indicate the great range of possible outcomes of efforts to grow more food locally, from a city-wide surplus to just under a quarter of Northampton’s food needs met from within its boundaries. They also suggest the difficulty in making definitive, single-figure forecasts. Further complications arise when the assumptions of the Peters’ calculations are modified—for example, taking into account alternative methods to intensively farm prime, flat, fertile lands year-round (potentially producing greater yields annually than conventional methods) and techniques for growing food in places and under conditions not usually associated with food production (producing yields sometimes smaller than those of the Peters et al. study). Finally, while cultivating more of the 14,775 acres would certainly help decrease the amount of food people need from the global food system, more than this is needed for the creation of a local food system. Hubs—described below—will be needed to provide vital functions such as warehouses and commercial refrigerators for storage, processing facilities to create value-added products, mobile slaughterhouses to prepare local meat, farmers markets and CSA depots for distribution, and a municipal composting facility to offer organic fertilizer.
Feed NorthamptoN culTivaTing pOssibiliTies
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