Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: While many are aware of the inputs required to maintain food production at an \nindustrial level in the United States, we seldom reflect on the profound significance of a \nfood system that is so deeply rooted in what Matthew Huber calls the “dead ecologies \nof fossilized energy.” In order to more fully understand and critique the linkages \nbetween fossil fuels and agriculture, as well as their ecological and social implications, I \nexamine the use of fossil fuels in agriculture through an eco-socialist framework. I \nemploy Wim Carton’s fossil fuel landscape and Marx as developed by John Bellamy \nFoster’s concept of metabolic rift to illuminate the linkages between combustible \ncarbons and the food we eat. Ultimately, these two concepts lead to a place of critical \nunderstanding in attempts to envision a more sustainable and resilient future. Such an \ninquiry is of the upmost urgency considering the dual threats of climate change and soil \nerosion. Both threats are exacerbated by our continued use of fossil fuels and the \nmachines they power.
Author: Siena Polk
Language: English
Subfield: Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3095730798