HOW DO WE FEED A HUNGRY PLANET This is a question some businesses, policy makers, scientists and NGOs would have you believe has a silver bullet answer. Being: Make more food, by any means necessary. * Hybrid and transgenics seeds, to increase yields. * Mono cropping on large scale farms to increase efficiency. * Synthetic chemicals to kill pests * Cheap labour, to minimise costs. We, the people..... Need to question these assertions and write a new story. Feeding people requires more than cheap calorie intake, which is why the shape of malnutrition manifests in both starving people and obese people. We are what writer Raj Patel calls..... Stuffed & Starved..... Stuffed with corn,(the crop used in bio plastics, bio fuels and used o feed livestock) but starved for real nutrition. According to the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, there are more people in the world overweight & obese, than emaciated people. Which has been identified as a direct result of the increase in urbanisation and sedintary lifetyles as well as diets that increasingly prioritise processed foods. For the first time in human history, overwieght people outnumber underweight people. With an estimated 870 million people underweight, compared to 1.5 billion overweigt or obese. Both groups suffer from micro nutrient malnutrition, including defficiencies in, vitamin A, Iodine and Iron. The diseases that obesity makes more prevelant are predicted by the World Health Organisation, to be the leading causes of death, in ALL countries, including the poorest ones within a few years. Focusing on those more..... starved than stuffed..... How do we feed our hungriest ? The answer is we already can,(currently at a population of 7 billion and in the future at 10 billion) because for the past 20 years, the rate of global food production has outpaced the rate of global population growth. The world already produces more than one and a half times enough food, to feed EVERYONE on the planet, which at this rate will acount for th predicted global population of 10 billion, by the year 2050. So, why are people hungry? Because..... availability - does not equate to access.....due to the abundance not being equally distributed. More than 60% of underfed people live in South Asia & Sub Saharan Afrrica. Areas described as Hungers centre of gravity Ironically, 50% of those from these areas,(that are experiencing the abject effects of food insecurity) are small farmers who live on less than $2 per day. So evn though they can grow food - they lack the means to meet their needs, to procure or buy food. The largest group of people in the world growing food,(peasant farmers) are to poor to buy food. Hunger...... is caused by poverty and inequality....leading to food scarcity and this isnt restricted to developing countries. In Australia, 14 million people are identified as being overweight or obese. Australian people throw as much as 20% of purchased food away and yet 20% of Australias population, will struggle to put food on the table tonight, tomorrow night so on and so forth. Wasted food... is a waste of energy,(water, labour and all the resources used to produce, process, store and transport food) This isnt just a local concern, globally its estimated that 1/3 of food is wasted. On average Australians spend between 11% - 15% of disposable income on purchasing food. With one group,(the first peoples community) who are spending closer to 35% of disposable income to purchase food. Globally..... On average Indonesians: spends 44% of disposable income on food Kenyans: spends 45% of disposable income on food Italians: spend 13% of disposable income on food. Consider this... What happens to your diet and your budget when the price of food gos up ? Paticularly,(not when your spending around 10%) when your spending nearly 50% or even 30% of disposable income on food? Rice, Maize & Wheat, provide 60% of our global calorie intake. The prices of these foods have increased exponentially in the last decade. In the case of Maize, prices have trippled. Why this volatility ?....... One reason, being competing interests, where these crops are being used to create bio fuels and livestock feed. Bio- fuels: The worlds biggest producers of Ethonol are the USA and Brazil, who together produce 87% of global output. To achieve this production rate, the USA and Brazil have allocated over 460 million tonnes of the edible crops, Maize & Sugar cane. Which in 2010 equated to 6% of global crop production of these edible food sources. Supply and demand are dynamic, causing price fluctuatuons. The reallocation of crop land, for fuel production,(as opposed to it being used for food) coupled with an increase in demand for Meat, as developing countries become more wealthy And Trade agreements or policies that favour large scale and subsidised agricultural practices, has completely distorted the market. The flow on effect being an increase in the price people are having to pay for food. Those that would have you believe that increased starvation rates is soley connected with inceasing population rates are dismissing deeper systemic problems. Which is masked by the mantra of produce more food at any cost, because its already apparent that more food doesnt equal equitable access to food. Any efforts to feed people need to consider: * Source of food * Distribution * Food wastage 36% of the calories produced by the worlds crops, are used for livestock feed and only 12% of those livestock feed calories, ultimately contribute to the human diet, as meat and other animal products. The worlds crop lands could feed 4 billion more people than they currently do, by reversing the direction of using these crops as the source of bio- fuels and livestock feed and instead exlusively producing these crops for human consumption. 75% of all agricultual land, is dedicated to livestock production. That livestock is reported to be responsible for around 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which ultimately contribute and impact on climate change. One of the smartest things we could do, is stop eating farmed animals. However this isnt the case, I fact quite the opposite is occuring. A people accrue more wealth, the reality is that we consume more meat... This shift has been described as the livestock revolution. Its estimated that 40% of the worlds populaion will increase its livestock consumption, by the year 2050. Its estimated that even a partial shift in consumption, from crop intensive beef to Pork & Chicken, could see an additional 357 million people being fed. And A shift to non-meat diets,(that include eggs and milk) could see an additional 815 million people being fed. And Cutting our consumption of grain fed livestock and animal products by 50% could see an additional 2 Billion people being fed, than currently are. Its not just what we grow, but how we grow it, or its not just what we raise, but how we raise it. The rodale institute study,(the longest study compaing conventional agriculture vs organic methods) found that organic yeilds,(without synthetic pesticides or fertilisers) from non transgenic seeds, actually matched conventional agriculture techniques in good years and out performed conventional agricultural techniques under drought conditions and environmental distress. Its been tabled, that for humanity to mainain pace with growing food demands, that we will need to increase its food productivity, with dwindling resources, on the remaining land available. All whilst the global population nearly doubles and the planet warms due to global climate change.... ouch. Those tabling these ideas,(mainly private multi national corporations) are pushing transgenic crops (GMOs) as the silver bullet answer. However many disagree and note that such a shift will likely make matters for food insecurity worse than they currently are. Maco economic indicators show, that in the USA,(the number one country growing biotech crops) food insecurity rose from 12% in 1995,(the year prior to the introduction of GM adoption) to 15% in 2011. In Paraguay,(where nearly 95% of Soy and 40% of Maize fown is GM) the global hunger index indicates 13% of the population there were food inseure in 2004,(when GM was first introduced there) as compared to the alarming shift, where 26% of the population there are clssified as being food insecure in 2011. Why ? Because the majority of the GM crops grown there, are dedicated to producing fibre, bio-fuels and livestock feed, as opposed to being a food source for human consumption. 81% of plantings of GM crops globally are dedicated to Soy & Cotton. The seeds for GM crops are owned by multi national agribusinesses... (commonly described as Seed Barrons) who Who require farmers/growers to purchase new seeds yearly. Effectively monopolising the food suply and weilding an inbalance of power over humanity and its basic and essential need to eat. The sustainable way to feed 7 - 10 billion humans, is farming like a diversified eco system. Tending to the soil, excersising moderation in inputs, conserving water and growing crops in a poly-culture as opposed to endless rows of single mono crops. Mono-cultures create a mono diet. According to the Food & Agriculture Organisation for the UN, of the around 80,000 edible plant species available, we currently only cultivate 150 of them. And Approximately 95% of human calorie intake, is derived from just 30 edible species. Reducing hunger by addressing food insecurity isnt just about increasing the quantity of food, but just as importantly improving the quality of the food we eat, in terms of bio diversity and nutrient content. Humans have been manipulating nature through agriculture for 12,000 years. The modification thats called for now is CULTURAL and not Genetic. Philosopher & farmer Wendell Berry explains: Agriculture must mediate between nature and the human community, with ties & obligations in both directions. Eating is an agricultural act. The solutions to these problems, belong to everyone of us. Our demand for meat and cheap food, strains & constrains both the farmers.....and..... the food system. Agriculture has become a commercial activity and we need to pay more attention on where that money is going and who it is that bennefits from the food we buy. We need to reconsider our relationship with the eco system and with what it means to eat well and with what it means to be nourished. The only way to feed our Hungry Planet is to ensure that everyone has a seat at the table. What is required for food security is not only production, diversification and redistribution of food...... But also a reallocation of Power & wealth. People power is powered by people and were powered by food.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 03:48:45 +0000
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