Is Peru's Food System Sustainable?

Yes!

I would say yes that Peru has a sustainable food system. I think this because they are currently employing more than one fourth of the population. Peru is also making money from the food that they export around the world. They also seem to be managing well when it comes to things like pesticides. The food production system has so far been running as smoothly as any giant mass production system can. Because of all of these factors on how the country is gaining money and there is a sufficient amount of food being produces I would say that Peru has a sustainable Food System.

Is The Inca Food System Sustainable?

Yes!

I would say that the Inca food production system was sustainable. I think this because they seem to have many advances that a lot of cultures didn't have in that period of time. They managed to work with their environment and overcome the many obstacles it brought. They built terraces to make growing crops on a steep hill easier. They also had canals to use as irrigation to make sure their plants where watered. They also always has a three to seven year surplus of food that was preserved using what they called as "chuno" which is the process of leaving food out such as potatoes in the cold night to freeze to later be sun dried. Overall because they had all of these successful advancements along with their surplus I would say this food production system was very sustainable.

Peru-Impacts On Food System

Social Impacts

Of course a big thing that is impacted would be the trading that goes on with different countries all over the world. Also like the Inca the people who work together in a farm have to interact to make sure everything runs smoothly. There are also certain foods that go with religious holidays, like for example during holidays like Christmas the Peruvian food is typically served with Peruvian drinks like chicha morada.

Economic Impacts

Since farming is 30% of the country's populations job, with ought it there would be many jobless people not being able to pay taxes or even feed themselves. It is also how the country makes a lot of their money, by selling and/or trading various types of crops. Also the more food there is, the more the population is able to expand. Expansion can be looked as a good and a bad thing. Whats good is there could be more workers contributing to the society and a bad thing could be that with a expansion of population there needs to be an expansion of territory.

Environmental Impacts

Of course if we want to make room for farming there is going to be deforestation. This is a sad reality, but it happens all the time all over the world especially in the rain forest located in Peru. Also according to http://www.sustainabletable.org/491/food-economics because of the overuse of antibiotics air quality, the contamination of rivers, streams, and coastal water with concentrated waste are contaminated.

Inca-Impacts On Food System

Social Impacts

Farming got many of the different people of the civilization together to complete one goal and that goal being farming to make sure there is enough food for everyone in the civilization to be fed. Also according to http://library.thinkquest.org/C005446/Food/English/inca.html there where celebrations like a potluck ritual, families would each come up with their own stew and they would sit in two long lines facing each other and share a dinner. 

Economic Impacts

A strange thing about the Incas would be that they had no trading within the civilization. They would only trade with outsiders and never with the people of their culture. They also had no form of money. They way the worker payed taxes would be with labor. As long as you did your job, everything would be provided for you. Many people argue about what kind of civilization the Inca lived in. Some people say it was a socialist state, others an authoritarian monarchy, and even a empire.

Environmental Impacts

Not only did the Inca farm and herd animals, they also mined. Because of this mining they managed to pollute the water used for drinking and farming with cinnabar , a mercury containing ore and contaminated the soil and water. The also of course had to convert the native land to suit their farming needs meaning clearing an area that they used for farming. 

How Peru Develops and Implants Their Food Production System

Process of Development of Agriculture

Since agriculture is a big part of Peru's income they have to make sure everything runs smoothly. Many farmers use pesticides to exterminate insects that may be harming the crops like for example white flies. A great way some farmers fertilizer their soil would be with guano. Guano consists of the excrement of sea birds, cave dwelling bats, and pinnipeds and is high in hydrogen, phosphate, and potassium. To water the crops farms most commonly use an irrigation system to make sure all of the crops get enough water. To the left is an example of a typical area used for farming in Peru.

How The Inca Developed And Implanted The Food System

Process of Development of Agriculture

When the Incas began to develop agriculture there were many things they had to take into account in order to become successful agriculturalists including terrain, climate, and soil to say a few. They needed to learn how to master their environment, and they did just that. According to http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/society/inca-inca-agriculture-engineering-manufacturing.html in order to overcome these obstacles Inca engineers displayed extraordinary skills in terracing, drainage, irrigation, and the use of fertilizers. After overcoming these many obstacles they turned into very successful agriculturalists.  

What Drove Peru To Agriculture?

Agriculture

Peru's main food production system would be the system of agriculture. According to http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Amicas/Peru-AGRICULTURE.html Peru uses the agricultural system because of their different climate and geographical zones. It's unique climate lets them grow certain kinds of food other countries wouldn't be able to grow at that time period such as asparagus, mangoes, sweet-onions, and herbs. Agriculture also employs about 30% of the country's population. Also according to http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Americas/Peru-AGRICULTURE.html the country makes about $47.38 billion (2012 est.) in exports, a large part of that profit coming from agriculture.  

What Drove The Inca To Agriculture

Why Agriculture?

According to http://botany.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/328Fall98/incag.html the Incas turned to agriculture because they needed a variety of foods that could grown well in their diverse habitats. They lived in an area that is now called Machu Picchu, Peru. If you have heard of this place before then you must know how high above sea level the place is, 5,972 feet to be exact. To the bottom of this text is a picture of what used to be where the Inca lived today

Visiting The Farm

How It Went

The farm was located in a half acre of an abandoned house. It was teeming with life ever step that you took. He had various plants planted and they all seemed to be thriving. Something that I saw that was interesting would be the rows of what seemed to be small canals dug into the ground that he used as an irrigation system. I have a Q&A interview that will be posted in my documentary as soon as I can, along with more pictures to come.

Getting Involved

Going To The Farm

This weekend on Saturday I will be heading to a farm that belongs to a local vendor who sells their produce at a local farmers market called the Open Air Market. (Link below) While I am there I will be asking questions on his food production and in the end create a conclusion on if his food production system is sustainable. Information and pictures to come.

About The Market

If interested you can click the link below to take you to the Open Air Market website giving you the details of when this happens and where it is located.  A few details are that all the food sold there is locally grown and sold by the farmers who grew it themselves. This event is held every Wednesday and Saturday so why not stop by and check it out?

http://foodconnect.org/phxmarket/

Why This Area?

Peru

It may seem strange why I chose a place so far away from where I currently live, but I assure you there is a logical answer for that question. Well you see I am half Peruvian and have been to Peru a few times and I am very interested in their food and food production. I also chose the Incas because they where situated in an area that we call Cuzco. I though it would be important to incorporate the past and the present in relatively the same area. 

What is this?

Who am I?

Hey! My name is Andrea and I am going to be writing about the food production system. Oh no not just any boring food production system, but the ancient Inca food production system, along with the present day Peruvian food production system. Why you may ask, and the answer is simple. We need to look both to the past and the present to see just how much we have evolved along with the food production system. Stick around, you may learn a thing or two.