Food Systems in North New Jersey

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Food Systems in North New Jersey
Summary of Current Regional Food System
Food systems comprise the interacting sections of the human society and nature that deliver food to the society. Some of the common foods in North New Jersey include Vegetables and fruit, crops, equestrian, poultry and eggs, and dairies. The food systems from these products can be expressed as shown below.
Poultry and Eggs
1 Food product: Eggs from the poultry farm.
2 Food supply chain (For those sold)
1 Collected from the poultry firms
2 Packaged into egg trays
3 Transported to the city
4 Sold in markets and shops
5 Prepared at home.
Food Supply Chain (For those Consumed at Home).
1 Collected from the poultry farm
2 Prepared at home and eaten.
Vegetables and Fruits (cranberries, spinach, blueberries, peaches, bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus, squash, and apples).
1 Food product: different types of vegetables and fruits.
2 Food supply chain (for those sold)
1 Harvested from the farms
2 Cleaned and packaged into boxes
3 Transported into nearby processing plants.
4 Taken to supermarkets and groceries.
Food supply chain (For those consumed at home)
1 Harvested from the farms
2 Cleaned and eaten raw or cooked.
After pharmaceuticals and the tourist industry, food production is New Jersey's third-biggest business, generating vast money in income. Over $1 billion in monetary revenues were earned by the state's more than 9,000 farmland in 2014 (Brody et al. 88). Farming is the most significant single source of food enjoyed by all New Jersey inhabitants across the year; therefore, preserving profitable, taxpaying farms is crucial to all people. Approximately 720,000 acres of productive agriculture are available (Brody et al. 88). Producers in the Garden State grow over a hundred types of fruits and vegetables for customers to enjoy raw or prepared in New Jersey, Northeastern Canada, and other nations around the globe. This paper will analyze the food systems of the northern New Jersey region.
Farmers grow specialized plants worth millions of dollars, lending a particular taste to the Garden State's abundance (Brzezinski et al. 97). For instance, orchards are a fast-growing business component, enabling the state's fifty wineries to create a wide variety of prized wines. Water supplies in the state are strained by conflicting demands from a population boom, farming, commerce, and leisure. Over 100 days of deer gaming are offered, including seasons for archery and rifles. Environmental forces are presently having a more substantial impact on food systems than human activities due to land and resources in the region.
Socioeconomic, Cultural, and Policy Factors Affecting Food Systems
Socioeconomic, culture, and political factors affect the food systems by either enhancing or challenging the supply chain processes. For example, the improved socioeconomic status, New Jersey is registering an improved infrastructure system that will allow easier transportation of farm products. In terms of culture, being a multicultural state, characterized by Italians, Quakers, Irish, Germans, and African Americans, the state has each culture being excited by a unique product. Consequently, there is a variety of foods that area designed to satisfy people from different cultures.
Interaction between the Food Systems and the Environment
The environment plays an essential role in determining the types of food systems to be cultivated in a given environment. The environmental factors in this regard mainly comprise the climate of the region. The Northern region of New Jersey has a continental climate with minimal influence from the Atlantic Ocean unless the winds are easterly. The primary winds in the summers are from the southwestern, while the prevailing winds in the winter are from the northwestern. The Northern Zone's climate is unique from the rest of the state due to the hills and mountains in the area (Ngoy and Daniela 77). Clouds and precipitation are encouraged by orographic factors. All through summers, storms are responsible for the bulk of rainfall. Tropical storms and frontal passes are less likely at this time of year. This region experiences around twice as frequent storms as the coastal area, where the nearby ocean helps to stabilize the atmosphere. The northern part of New Jersey has experienced minor droughts due to the high levels of rainfall in the region. The growing season in the Northern Zone is the least, lasting roughly 155 days.
Discussion of future scenarios
As per the United States Census Bureau projections, New Jersey lost more individuals over the previous year than all but eight different states as the coronavirus epidemic took a heavy toll. The agency estimates that the state's populace declined by 12,613 individuals from July 2020 to July 2021. And the July 2020 projections were below official census data that placed the overall population at 9,288,994 (Okoh et al. 7). New Jersey is among the first jurisdictions to bear the total weight of the epidemic, with 28,822 fatalities verified deaths in June 2021 (Okoh et al. 7). Furthermore, many senior inhabitants retired during the epidemic and went to warmer regions, while immigration dropped substantially. Immigrants make up roughly 1 in every four inhabitants in the state, per the American Immigration Council, bringing up the increasing flow of individuals migrating from the Northeast to southern states. This indicates that New Jersey needs to be worried about rent and utilities and future situations. This also shows diminishing immigration. New Jersey surpassed the past decade's predictions by a more significant margin than any other state as authorities participated in a big drive to see anyone recorded. Estimates during the 2010s indicated New Jersey plateauing and trending downward towards the decade's conclusion (Birkner et al. 108). Projections estimate that the state will gradually increase its population over the next few years, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic has been controlled.
Rainfall and runoff are likely to intensify in the Northeastern region of New Jersey in the winter and spring when temperatures rise. The higher atmospheric vapor adds to more significant total rainfall in the Northeast. Extreme rainfall occurrences would increase the most in these places, where cumulative rainfall is projected to rise the greatest. According to forecasts, spring melting will start up to two weeks sooner in the Northeast (Ngoy and Daniela 77). Early runoff decreases late-summer river flow, putting social and ecosystem systems under stress due to a lack of fresh water and increased water temperature levels. Snowpack decreases have occurred in the Northeast during the previous 50 years, and data show a shift to more rainfall and less snowfall in the Northeast. With a tendency towards heavy rainstorms, the Northeast is experiencing prolonged dry spells and extended productive periods.
Consequently, the planting season is harsher, particularly during the summers, when temperature and evaporation are at their maximum. Decreased refill from spring melting exacerbates the summertime dryness tendency. Rising seas will become more widespread as sea levels rise. Storms may become more potent as seawater is warm. Aside from greenhouse gases, other variables may impact local and regional temperatures. Rapid urbanization is one crucial reason. Vast areas of concrete and asphalt associated with urban and residential development and the loss of woods, farms, and other public fields as a consequence, are causing global warming (Ngoy and Daniela 77). This impact is amplified in heavily populated metropolitan areas, which might experience the so-called heat island effect. That and other climate-related dangers are expected to worsen throughout the twenty-first century, wreaking havoc on New Jersey's poorest deprived neighborhoods.
Analysis of the resi...