Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Apple Orchard Management: an insight into sustainable agriculture and new opportunities
Food systems rely heavily on resource and energy inputs, and are associated with environmental impacts such as emissions to air, land, and water that can affect ecosystem health and productivity. In 2018, agriculture was responsible for an estimated 661 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, representing 9.9% of total United States (US) greenhouse gas emissions (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2018) In the face of growing populations and need for food, agricultural systems have looked towards sustainable solutions for food production so they are able to meet the needs of the consumer while decreasing environmental consequences where possible. Agricultural sustainability is a fundamental requirement for environmental conservation, food production, and food security. In order to achieve agricultural sustainability, it is essential that policies are put in place that support sustainable practices and that agricultural institutions are provided access to the necessary knowledge and technology in order to avoid eroding biodiversity and environmental quality while preparing for the inevitable challenges of climate change. In an increasingly globalized food system, sustainable agricultural systems face even more challenges in being financially competitive in even its local market. Policies that support the development of localized food systems can support consumer valuation on the relationship between themselves, the producer, and the product (Selfa Qazi, 2005; Heron Roche, 2018; Papaoikonomou Ginieis, 2017) For most agricultural producers, it would be more realistic from an economic standpoint to not be fully localized, but rather distribute in local networks and distribute through larger supply chains beyond regional networks (Heron Roche, 2018) Even when distributing outside of the local network, agricultural sustainability can be achieved when internal and external policies align to support the needs of the industry as well as the demands of the consumer.