Food and Sustainability issues of the Appalachians

The Appalachian region faces a unique situation with food acquisition common to less hospitable terrain. Due to the rocky hills and dense forests, the region is not ideal for crop or livestock farming. Food must be shipped in on semi-trucks from farms and distribution centers in the foothills. The routes into the mountains are often treacherous two lane roads laden with switchbacks and cliffs, making progress slow and pushing brakes and transmissions to the edge. This difficult venture causes prices for goods to skyrocket and encourages actions such as hunting, trapping and fishing for nutrition, which cuts down on local wildlife populations.

Sustainability issues of the area relate back to the problem of food and also for shelter and expansion.  Again, the necessity of locals to hunt wildlife for food causes a decreased population and can lead to species extinction. In addition, an ever-growing demand for timber for housing and amenities results in acres of forest land being wiped out by the thousands. The loss of forested land results in habitat loss for both tree dwelling creatures like birds and squirrels and ground dwelling animals, which rely on the cover of the trees to survive. Expansion of housing developments and tree farms also result in cleared forests. Very few trees are saved for housing developments and the trees in tree farms are small and unsuitable for habitats.