Food is a critical resource, and the American food system has become highly dependent on fossil fuels in recent decades. Energy flow into agriculture has increased several-fold since World War II, and productivity of American agriculture has increased 82 percent since 1960. The “Green Revolution,” fueled by fossil-fuel-based fertilizers, has increased calories available per person almost 20 percent worldwide. The food system now accounts for about 17 percent of the energy used in the U.S., the equivalent of about 400 gallons of oil per person annually. This includes the energy used to produce (e.g., fertilizers, irrigation, tractors and other farm equipment), transport, process and distribute the food. The production of nitrogen fertilizer, for example, requires natural gas, and there is no practical substitute currently available. As natural gas prices rise, use of nitrogen fertilizers will likely decrease, resulting in a reduction in world food production of as much as 60 percent. Moreover, food routinely travels thousands of miles to reach our tables. An estimated 5 to 10 calories of energy are typically used to produce one calorie of processed food.[4] In a very real sense, we are eating fossil fuels.

Oregon possesses some of the most productive agricultural land in the world. Oregon farmers produce over 225 different crops, fewer than only California and Florida, and agriculture accounts for 10 percent of the state’s economic activity. Eighty percent of Oregon’s agricultural production leaves the state, and one-half of that goes overseas, including 90 percent of Oregon’s wheat production. The Port of Portland is the largest wheat exporter in the U.S., shipping wheat primarily from Oregon, Idaho and Washington overseas. About 60 percent of agricultural goods in the U.S. move by long-haul truck, including most processed foods.

Oregon produces more than enough dairy products, wheat, potatoes, green peas, green beans, sweet corn, onions, pears, cherries and hazelnuts to be self-sufficient, and is close in a number of other products including various fruits, vegetables, nuts and seafood. Nonetheless, an estimated 65 to 75 percent of the food consumed in Oregon is grown out of state. Sixty-two percent of Oregon’s harvested cropland relies on irrigation, and irrigated farms produce 77 percent of the total value of harvested crops.

Much of this bounty is within reach of Portland. The Willamette Valley accounts for more than 60 percent of the value of all crop production in the state, and almost 30 percent of the value of animal production. More than 40 percent of the crops produced are specialty products, such as nursery crops, turf, bulbs, seed stock and Christmas trees.

Food security today is affected more by access to food than production of food. While Oregon is a major agricultural producer, Oregon ranks among the worst in the nation in outright hunger and sixth for food insecurity. More than 650,000 people received emergency food assistance from the Oregon Food Bank network in 2000. In terms of food consumption, about 46 percent of American food dollars are spent in restaurants. About a quarter of our food is wasted, of which about half is edible.

In examining food production, transportation, processing, distribution and preparation, the Task Force identified the following major impacts.