Food and the Future Environment

Module 10.2: Assessing Food System Impacts on Natural Systems and Sustainability

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Module 10.2: Assessing Food System Impacts on Natural Systems and Sustainability

Introduction

What are the impacts of Food Systems on the Natural Systems that support our food production? You will learn about system-level impacts and impact assessment in module 10.2. You have already considered many of these impacts on the environment in earlier modules, for example, plant domestication, nutrient cycling, water use, and water pollution. You will learn about assessing impacts that emerge from the behavior of a whole food system, and practice life cycle assessment (LCA), one method used for assessing whole-system impacts.