Caloric Efficiency
“Caloric efficiency” is a strange term with a simple meaning: how many calories of energy does it take to produce a calorie of food? A calorie is a measure of energy, whether it’s energy we’re consuming to feed our bodies or energy we’re burning to run tractors, trucks, and food processing plants. If I grow food in my backyard using natural means (what my grandmother did), the only energy I use is muscle energy, and that makes me fitter and healthier. So I get a calorie of food at no cost except being in better shape and healthier. But every calorie of food produced in the industrial food chain requires at least 80 calories of energy from petroleum to cultivate, harvest, process, and ship the food… an amazing waste of energy!