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Metabolic flows of the potato: most potatoes processed and consumed in Switzerland are produced on Swiss ground. The potato has various uses such as food or animal fodder and its starch is used in paper and food production. The production chain of the potato: only 53% of potatoes produced for food end up as a food product, the rest is processed further into biogas or animal fodder. The history of the potatoe in Switzerland goes back to the 16th century, when the Spanish and British colonies imported potatoes from the newly discovered South America. In the 1850s, the potato spread further throughout Europe and reached Switzerland via Alsace and Ireland. Painting: Frederik the Great examines the potatoe harvest, Robert Warthmüller, 1886. During hunger crises such as the Second World War the potato was promoted as a staple food. Photograph: Zurich schoolchildren harvesting potatoes at the beginning of the 20th century. Swiss National Museum Nowadays potatoes have become a staple food throughout the globe, mostly in countries in the northern hemisphere. In Switzerland, potatoes are mainly grown in the Cantons of Fribourg, Bern, and Vaud, and wholesalers are spread throughout the Swiss Plateau. Production costs are relatively high for farmers in Switzerland. To avoid imports, the state makes direct payments to its farmers, the paradigm of self-sufficiency being one of the main drivers of this politics.

LAND CONSUMPTION

Diana Strässle and Emily Tobler

Metabolic flows of crops: import and domestic production almost equal. Most of the crop that is imported is processed into fodder. Wheat grows in moderate climate zones. The countries of the northern hemisphere produce more crop for fodder and fuel than for human consumption. Switzerland imports two hundred times more wheat than it exports. Around two hundred years ago there were around 3000 mills in operation across Switzerland. Through processes of industrialisation of production such as fusion, expansion, and modernisation only around 70 mills are in operation nowadays. They are located mostly on the Swiss Plateau, well connected to the transportation networks. The Swissmill facilities in Zurich can be traced back to 1843. At the time, the building was located outside of the city. Drawing: Baugeschichtliches Archiv Zürich Wheat has always played a key role as a staple food. In 1775, people revolted in France against price increase of grain after bad harvests, which would make it unaffordable for the lower class. Color print: J.Girard, 1934 Processing corn in the Swissmill from reception and storage to milling and packing The Swissmill is today a highly modernised and automatised mill and one of the main players on the Swiss market. The minerals required for the wheat to grow are provided by the soil. Current farming practices in crop cultivation such as the use of fertilisers and monocultures extract these nutrients from the soil lastingly. Feeding the soil rather than the plant could enable farmers to close the ecological cycle sustainably.

CROP CULTIVATION
Ronan Crippa, Ekaterina Scholz, and Arianit Ramiqi

Metabolic flows of beef: swiss meat breeding and products Inside the Zurich slaughterhouse Half of the beef’s meet is processed as slaughter disposal and used for non–food purposes such as medication, biogas, or fertiliser. Production chain in the slaughterhouse Zurich Infrastructure of the slaughter line in the slaughterhouse Zurich: in each step the work of the butcher is required. In the slaughterhouse Zurich in 1909, all work steps of the slaughter line took place in the same space. Photograph: Heinrich Wolf-Bender/Baugeschichtliches Archiv Zürich In Switzerland the crop is mainly produced on the Swiss Plateau while pastures for cattle are located in the hilly and mountainous regions, less favourable for crop. The farming of beef is responsible for a significantly higher consumption of food, water, and land resources and has a larger impact on the climate through methane and CO2 emissions compared to pig and chicken. What we eat has a direct impact on which livestock production farmers pursue. Should Switzerland remain a landscape of cows? Drawing: Hannes Binder/Tages-Anzeiger, 1988

ANIMAL FARMING
Lara Biesser and Ella Willemse

Potato

Wheat

Beef

Metabolic flows of the avocado: global production and distribution Among more than 500 existing avocado varieties, only “Fuerte” and “Hass” are grown industrially and exported to Switzerland. Production and transport routes from the nursery to Switzerland Workers picking fruits at an avocado plantation. Photograph: Westfalia fruit, avocado harvest, South Africa. Deforestation is a common practice to make space for avocado plantations. Photograph: Avocado plantations excavated on the outskirts of Uruapan, Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times Before global distribution, avocados are sorted. Only those fruits that meet a certain standard in terms of shape and size are then exported. In a next step, avocados are packed into boxes for shipment. The production and global distribution of avocado by air causes a large CO2 footprint, comparable to the production of beef in Switzerland. Upon arrival in Switzerland, the avocados are transported to ripening facilities and from there to distribution centres, mostly located in well-connected locations on the Swiss Plateau. Metabolic flows of the avocado: the supply chain of fairtrade avocados reveals the unequal distribution of margins. Distributors and sellers earn much more than producers.

FOOD NETWORKS 
Rémi Jourdan, Andrés Ruiz, and Yannick Wettstein

Metabolic flows of the bee: in Switzerland, farmers restock both the honeybee (left) and the bumble bee aviary (right) to secure pollination of their cultivations. Apiary of the Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ) to produce honey. The city provides habitats for bees, while agricultural land often does not. The mapping of apiaries (left) and honey bees (right) reveals a slight concentration in urban areas. Both the number of honeybee colonies and beekeepers has decreased since 1946. Apple trees and strawberries depend more strongly on pollination by bees than other plants. Wild bees and bumble bees are more crucial to pollination than the more wider known honey bee. Different bee species pollinate different plants. Infrastructure of bee cultivation in Switzerland: The use of pesticides, imported from the EU, and habitat loss make the import of bees and beekeeping equipment necessary in order to sustain cultivation of fruit and vegetables in Switzerland.

NATURE PROTECTION 
Gabriel Bleisch and Anna-Lea Stalder

Metabolic flows of Chlorothalonil: as a pesticide in agriculture, chlorothalonil enters the ground and disperses through the soil to the aquifer from which water is drawn for drinking, industrial, or agricultural use. Chlorothalonil is a cancerogenic fungicide used for vegetables and viticulture, that has recently been banned in the EU and in Switzerland, but is still used in the rest of the World. Pesticide application on crops Infrastructure of production and use of chlorothalonil Map of the municipalities in the Canton of Zurich where the Chlorothalonil concentration in drinking water exceeds the maximum permitted concentration of 0.1 µg/l (red). Mostly municipalities with a high degree of agricultural use have too high values of chlorothalonil in drinking water. Overlaying the map of the municipalities with a concentration of Chlorothalonil over the permitted value with the aquifer reveals the potential contamination of groundwater in these regions. Axonometry of a water treatment plant in the Canton of Zurich The removal of the Chlorothalonil metabolites is almost impossible and incredibly expensive. How can we change agricultural practices to avoid the use of chlorothalonil in the first place?

WATER IN AGRICULTURE 
Brandon Schwab Rodriguez, Tolga Tomel, and Julian Häderli

Avocado
Bees


Chlorothalonil
Metabolic flows of the trout: only 4 % of fish consumption in Switzerland is covered by national production—most fish is imported from abroad. Swiss rivers and lakes are habitats for different species, among which are many long distance migrators, such as the trout. Many of them have decreased significantly in population or disappeared completely from Swiss water territories. On a stretch of around 20 km of the Limmat there are 11 barriers alone. Migrating species such as the trout travel from Swiss waters via the Rhine until the North Sea for laying eggs. On this trajectory to the sea, further barriers such as power plants complicate the migration. Eventually, the fish end up in the turbines which in most cases kill the animals, like in the power plant Letten in Zurich pictured here. In recent years, attempts have been made to secure the migration of fish through fish ladders. But the attempts are not sufficient. To sustain the Swiss fishing industry, fish is bred and waters are stocked. How has the waterscape of the Canton of Zurich to adapt, so that fish populations can sustain themselves?

CONSTRUCTION OF LANDS
Juliet Ishak, Ayça Kapicioglu, and Airas Sánch

Metabolic flows of milk: most milk is produced in conventional agriculture and then processed into various dairy products, with cheese being proportionally the most milk-consuming product. Land consumption of milk production is high due to the use of pastures for grazing. Infrastructure of milk processing: as milk is the basis for a wide variety of dairy products, the processing of the milk takes up a predominant role in the production chain. Industrialised milk distribution (top) and yoghurt steerage (bottom) in the former Toni-Molkerei in Zurich. Through the use of breeding techniques cows produce more milk today than ever before. Throughout the last centuries, new and highly productive breeds such as Holstein were introduced in Switzerland to increase efficiency in milk production. Subsidies are one of the main tools by the state to keep milk production in Switzerland at a high level. Direct payments support in particular milk production in mountainous regions of Switzerland, where productivity is significantly lower than in valley regions. Since 2002, the number of milk farmers has decreased significantly and the number of cows slightly, while the number of produced milk increased by more than 200 %. How is this possible? Evolution of the milk price since 1999. The diagram reveals that the milk price payed to the farmer per liter is subject to the fluctuations and level of the price for which it is sold to the end consumer. As a response to a plummeting milk price, farmers throughout Europe took part in the 2009 milk strike, pouring their milk onto the fields. What could be an alternative, sustainable system of milk production in Switzerland instead of direct payments? Photograph: Reuters/Yves Herman

THE FARM AND THE FARMER
Leonie Füssler, Ramon Oetterli, and Patrik Willen

Metabolic flows of the seasonal worker: Swiss agriculture relies mostly on the work of family members, while the share of foreign labour is with 15.5 % relatively low. Due to increasing intensification in agriculture, the number of large farms is increasing at the expense of smaller, family-run farms. Cutting costs is one of the pathways to remain competitive on the market—resorting to cheap labour from abroad is one option. Seasonal workers working on a lettuce field in Switzerland. Photograph: Gerber Gemüsebau, Fehraltorf ZH Working conditions in agriculture are below Swiss average. The week counts around 55 working hours with an hourly wage of 13.55 CHF. In general, wages and hours are more generous in the French speaking part of Switzerland. Due to the bilateral Agreement on the free movement of persons (AFMP), most seasonal workers come from the EU, with a work permit for only a few months. Transport is usually organised by seasonal workers themselves, while the employer organises accommodation. Containers, rooms in farm houses, or separate buildings for workers are the most common types of accommodation. Prefabricated unit for seasonal workers in Fehraltdorf, Canton of Zurich. Photograph: Gerber Gemüsebau, Fehraltorf ZH On this farm in Dübendorf, Canton of Zurich, the farmer might be accommodating his seasonal workers in rooms or an apartment in the pen pictured here. Photograph: Beerstecher AG, Dübendorf ZH Most seasonal workers are employed in harvesting. Swiss agriculture depends on this foreign short-time workers. How can their working conditions be improved? Photograph: Beerstecher AG, Dübendorf ZH

AGRICULTURAL LABOUR
Silvie Frei and Marko Mrcarica

Trout
Milk
Seasonal Worker