Ghost Acreage

[ɡəʊst ˈeɪ.kɚ.ɪdʒ]

Related terms: Consumption, Ecological Footprint, Ecological Unconscious, Geisterfläche (German), Haunting, Hinterland (D), Land Footprint, Solastalgia, Surface Fantôme (French), Unheimlich (German), Virtual Land, Waste

The term »ghost acreage« is used to describe the displaced consumption of resources. Historically, the industrialization of the West has outsourced fertile farm lands and the labor required for them into colonies. The calories produced by these ghostly lands in the global south supply the energy intake of Western populations. In today’s global economy, »Earth Overshoot Day« marks the point at which a country consumes more than its resources can recover or replenish in a one-year cycle. These unseen lands that are consumed and depleted are not acknowledged or cared for by those who subsist on them. We are all haunted by the ghost acreages we devour.