Difference between revisions of "Food/Intro"
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As for our growing appetite for meat: the argument is that it requires 16 kilos of grain to produce one kilo of beef, so to preserve food and avoid a food crisis, we must all become vegetarian <sup>[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/global-food-shortage-fear/story-e6frf7l6-1111115339654]</sup>. This makes the assumption that cows must be fed grain. Cows eat grass. Grass is not edible by humans, so no useful food resources are being wasted, and beef from grass-fed cows has a better nutritional profile than from grain-fed animals<sup>[http://www.nwhealth.edu/healthyu/eatWell/grassfed.html]</sup>. Similar logic applies to other kinds of meat. | As for our growing appetite for meat: the argument is that it requires 16 kilos of grain to produce one kilo of beef, so to preserve food and avoid a food crisis, we must all become vegetarian <sup>[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/global-food-shortage-fear/story-e6frf7l6-1111115339654]</sup>. This makes the assumption that cows must be fed grain. Cows eat grass. Grass is not edible by humans, so no useful food resources are being wasted, and beef from grass-fed cows has a better nutritional profile than from grain-fed animals<sup>[http://www.nwhealth.edu/healthyu/eatWell/grassfed.html]</sup>. Similar logic applies to other kinds of meat. | ||
| − | This planet has 31,800,000km<sup>2</sup>, or 31.8 trillion m<sup>2</sup>, of {{wp|Arable_land|fertile land}}. Even taking a pessimistic estimate of 400m<sup>2</sup> | + | This planet has 31,800,000km<sup>2</sup>, or 31.8 trillion m<sup>2</sup>, of {{wp|Arable_land|fertile land}}. (Though this can be greatly expanded if necessary by irrigating deserts.) However, improving food supply has much more to do with increasing the yield of existing farmland than creating new farmland <sup>[http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/35686/icode/]</sup>. To increase the carrying capacity of Spaceship Earth, we need to move from low-yield agriculture to high-yield agriculture. How to do this is the subject of the rest of this article. |
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| + | Even taking a pessimistic estimate of 400m<sup>2</sup> high-yield farmland per person, our 31.8 trillion m<sup>2</sup> would grow enough food for 79.5 billion people, well over ten times the current world population. (And this does not even factor in the more efficient controlled-environment methods discussed below.) | ||
[[Decentralization|Decentralized]] food production would mean a reduction in transport costs and would preserve the freshness and nutritional value of our food and eliminate the need for preservatives, energy-expensive refrigeration and food storage. Most importantly, it would ensure {{wp|Food_security|food security}}; no one would starve due to the inefficiency and injustice of the distribution of our food-resources. While this article gives suggestions on increasing food yields, we already have enough food to feed everyone on the planet <sup>[http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm]</sup>. The problem, unsurprisingly, is distributing it. Growing food in many small farms and greenhouses, so that no one is far from a source of food, will go a long way to solving the distribution problem. | [[Decentralization|Decentralized]] food production would mean a reduction in transport costs and would preserve the freshness and nutritional value of our food and eliminate the need for preservatives, energy-expensive refrigeration and food storage. Most importantly, it would ensure {{wp|Food_security|food security}}; no one would starve due to the inefficiency and injustice of the distribution of our food-resources. While this article gives suggestions on increasing food yields, we already have enough food to feed everyone on the planet <sup>[http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm]</sup>. The problem, unsurprisingly, is distributing it. Growing food in many small farms and greenhouses, so that no one is far from a source of food, will go a long way to solving the distribution problem. | ||
Traditional methods of decentralized food production are rather labour-intensive. For many people, growing their own food is a very enjoyable and rewarding sort of labour that they willingly devote their energies to. Others would like the option of avoiding this labour. For those folk, it is now possible to [[Advanced automation|automate]] food production (see below). | Traditional methods of decentralized food production are rather labour-intensive. For many people, growing their own food is a very enjoyable and rewarding sort of labour that they willingly devote their energies to. Others would like the option of avoiding this labour. For those folk, it is now possible to [[Advanced automation|automate]] food production (see below). | ||
Revision as of 02:07, 14 July 2010
. People are moving from farms into cities at the rate of over a million a week [1], and their appetite for meat is growing[2]. These trends means that food demand is rising, but there are fewer farmers to supply it. It would indeed seem that we are heading for a food crisis.
But this analysis misses a key point: that there are far more efficient ways to produce food than the ones now in wide use. Any food shortage is really a shortage of applying know-how to food production. In the case of soil depletion, for example, while it is true that certain farming methods deplete soil, there are other methods (like permaculture, discussed below) that rapidly and reliably increase the fertility of the soil.
As for our growing appetite for meat: the argument is that it requires 16 kilos of grain to produce one kilo of beef, so to preserve food and avoid a food crisis, we must all become vegetarian [3]. This makes the assumption that cows must be fed grain. Cows eat grass. Grass is not edible by humans, so no useful food resources are being wasted, and beef from grass-fed cows has a better nutritional profile than from grain-fed animals[4]. Similar logic applies to other kinds of meat.
This planet has 31,800,000km2, or 31.8 trillion m2, of fertile land . (Though this can be greatly expanded if necessary by irrigating deserts.) However, improving food supply has much more to do with increasing the yield of existing farmland than creating new farmland [5]. To increase the carrying capacity of Spaceship Earth, we need to move from low-yield agriculture to high-yield agriculture. How to do this is the subject of the rest of this article.
Even taking a pessimistic estimate of 400m2 high-yield farmland per person, our 31.8 trillion m2 would grow enough food for 79.5 billion people, well over ten times the current world population. (And this does not even factor in the more efficient controlled-environment methods discussed below.)
Decentralized food production would mean a reduction in transport costs and would preserve the freshness and nutritional value of our food and eliminate the need for preservatives, energy-expensive refrigeration and food storage. Most importantly, it would ensure food security ; no one would starve due to the inefficiency and injustice of the distribution of our food-resources. While this article gives suggestions on increasing food yields, we already have enough food to feed everyone on the planet [6]. The problem, unsurprisingly, is distributing it. Growing food in many small farms and greenhouses, so that no one is far from a source of food, will go a long way to solving the distribution problem.
Traditional methods of decentralized food production are rather labour-intensive. For many people, growing their own food is a very enjoyable and rewarding sort of labour that they willingly devote their energies to. Others would like the option of avoiding this labour. For those folk, it is now possible to automate food production (see below).
