真正的成本会计食物：平衡规模addresses the unseen costs of a broken food system. The new book suggests that a better food system is possible if the true cost of food is taken into account during every step of the supply chain, from farm to rubbish bin and beyond.
真正的成本会计for Food提供了一种新的镜头，可以通过该视角了解食品的社会，人类，经济和环境成本。真成本会计是一种整体食品系统评估工具，旨在照亮和衡量食品系统的流量，外部性和依赖性，无论是消极和正面的。
Edited by Dr. Lauren Baker, Paula Daniels, and Dr. Barbara Gemmill-Herren, the book begins with an introduction from the trio that details the myriad factors that true cost accounting encompasses.
“Behind all the food that we eat is a vast realm of unaccounted for interactions: the diversion of water from rivers; the extraction of nutrients from soil; the discharge of pollutants to air and water; the exaction of labor to grow, manage, pick, and package; the release of carbon dioxide to transport and deliver; and so on,” they write. “When we shine a light on these interactions it becomes clear that a 99¢ hamburger costs all of us a lot more than the dollar placed by a consumer into the hands of a cashier.”
真正的成本会计是“食物的新经济学以及与我们所吃的土地和食物的新关系，从整体视图中，整体视图不平衡，并以新的业务和综合报告结尾，”得出结论。
该书的章节是由一群专家组成的，包括农民，研究人员，科学家，律师和其他专家。作者包括联合国食品和农业组织（FAO）的Nadia El-Hage Scialabba，可持续食品信托的Patrick Holden和一项公平工资的Saru Jayaraman。
整本书中的一个断言是，真正的成本会计可以用作研究和激励可持续农业实践的经济工具。
Chapter 2, entitled “Cotton in Egypt: Assisting Decision-Makers to Understand Costs and Benefits,” by Helmy Abouleish, Thoraya Seada, and Nadine Greiss, details a 2020 study that compares the price of conventional versus organic farming in Egypt – a country with extreme soil erosion and drought.
“Organic food is in fact already cheaper to produce than conventional products, if the externalized costs for pollution, CO2 emissions, energy, and water consumption are considered,” Abouleish, Seada, and Greiss write. “These are currently transferred to society or future generations, but if they would appear on supermarket bills, this would be evident to everyone.”
同样，第9章探讨了真正的成本会计方法如何帮助鼓励加利福尼亚中部的杏仁种植者使用再生农业实践。
在“加利福尼亚州的养育健康土壤：农民动机和障碍”中，作者乔安娜·奥里（Joanna Ory）和阿拉斯泰尔·艾尔斯（Alastair Iles）解释说，购买，种植和种植的覆盖作物的前期成本通常会阻止农民使用该技术。加利福尼亚海岸沿岸的密集蔬菜农民不到5％使用农作物。
The authors argue that growers are unaware of, or don’t understand, the environmental, social, and economic benefits of cover crops. They point to improved bee health, erosion control, water filtration, carbon storage, reduced use of synthetic fertilizers, and the prevention of soil health degradation. More information – and incentivizing policies – could lead to a greater uptake of sustainable agriculture practices.
Limited knowledge about the costs and benefits of the agriculture industry also impacts shoppers.
作者帕特里克·霍尔顿（Patrick Holden）和阿黛尔·琼斯（Adele Jones）写道，消费者通常不知道自己花在食物上的每一美元，他们支付一美元的隐藏费用。这些成本可能会作为清理污染水道的税收，或者作为影响未来子孙后代的环境退化。
该书还重点介绍了社区的成功故事，这些社区学会了如何整体上的商品定价。
The book’s collaborators see真正的成本会计for Foodas a powerful resource for food systems change, containing solutions like sustainability investing and agricultural subsidy reform. True cost accounting “has the transformative potential to amplify the positive benefits of food systems,” editor Lauren Baker tells Food Tank.
