Thursday, December 5, 2013

Italian Wheat: Impacts

The production of wheat in Italy has had both environmental and human impacts:
  • Recent bad wheat (durum) harvests  have increased pasta prices in Italy
  • Also biofuels, which convert crops to energy, have increased wheat prices because of the high demand, which leads to increased pasta prices
  • Italy exports pasta to other places to help their economy and also consumes a lot.
  • Italy uses approximately 2200 liters per m^2 for agriculture (wheat included)
  • Plow natural land for farming (habitat loss)
  • Use fossil fuels transporting wheat and fueling tractors/combine machines
*Cited from

Spiegel Onlin (2007): Spaghetti Shock in Italy: Biofuels Boom Results in Pricey Pasta. Online Article: http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/spaghetti-shock-in-italy-biofuels-boom-results-in-pricey-pasta-a-493795.html

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