"Half a century ago, [[Howard Odum]]—in his systematic examination of energy and the environment—noted that **modern societies “did not understand the energetics involved and the various means by which the energies entering a complex system are fed back as subsidies indirectly into all parts of the network … industrial man no longer eats potatoes made from solar energy; now he eats potatoes partly made of oil**.” "**Fifty years later, this existential dependence is still insufficiently appreciated**—but the readers of this book now understand that our food is partly made not just of oil, but also of coal that was used to produce the coke required for smelting the iron needed for field, transportation, and food processing machinery; of natural gas that serves as both feedstock and fuel for the synthesis of nitrogenous fertilizers; and of the electricity generated by the combustion of fossil fuels that is indispensable for crop processing, taking care of animals, and food and feed storage and preparation." ([Location 1532](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08SGC3TD3&location=1532)) --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[fossil-fuels]], [[food-production]], [[food-security]], [[economics]], [[photosynthesis]] **Source** -- [[202412030828 - B - How the World Really Works]]