Ketchup Case Study

1) According to the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Assessment, Ecosystem services are categorized into four sections which are provisioning, cultural, regulating and supporting. In the following paragraphs, I will consider the ecosystem services used to produce a finished bottle of ketchup to make it ready for purchase.

Provisioning is defined as "making something available such as food, drink, or equipment". In the context of the ecosystem, provisioning refers to transportation, energy, defense, seafood, and biomedical. The cultural component of the ecosystem services refers to intangibles such as traditions, education, and religious benefits. Regulating services refers to the regulations put in place to protect the ecosystem from disease, environmental

Raw materials such as fertilizer, wooden sticks, and water are used to help the tomatoes mature. Also, provisional services also include the transportation of the tomatoes to the facility and delivering the bottle of ketchup to the grocery stores (MAROA 2017, MEA 2009).

In conclusion, regulating, supporting, and provisional services are equally important in the production of a bottle of ketchup. Each service plays a critical role in the production process which involves transportation, pest control, and acquiring raw materials. Therefore, I do not believe that one is more critical than the other with regards to producing a bottle of ketchup. For example, the farmer can 't transport the tomatoes without the provisional service and he/she can 't produce the tomatoes without regulating and supporting services (MAROA 2017, MEA 2009).

2) The production process would collapse or become extremely difficult because we will need to find different modes of transportation to deliver the tomatoes to the facility and the finished product to the stores. Also, the farmers will be forced to harvest the tomatoes manually by hiring more employees. Thus, it will be more expensive to produce a bottle of ketchup due to the increase in transportation, labor and energy