Most people in the US don’t really think about where their food comes. The average distance the food in our super markets travels is 1,500 miles and the stores maintain an inventory of 2-3 days for normal times. During the past decade our food system has grown increasingly fragile due primarily to the affects of climate change and peak oil. During the latter part of the 20th century world hunger and malnutrition had been decreasing, but since the mid nineties it is on the rise again. Currently it is estimated that a billion children go to bed hungry every night.
Between 2006-08 food prices soared with wheat, rice and soybean prices tripling. The current recession has temporally brought prices down, but here in Copenhagen you can really feel the impact of the falling value of the dollar. Food price increases in the past have been caused by isolated events with production returning to previous levels or increasing. The current situation is the product of long-term trends, which will continue to limit food and increase demand. These trends include loss of topsoil, desertification, water depletion, soil nutrient depletion and erosion. The miracle of GMO seeds is also proving to be a threat to the future of food by reducing biodiversity, creating super weeds and bugs, decreasing soil capacity, and presenting yet unknown threats to animal and human health. Lab tests on rats have shown serious damage to digestive systems and cancers.
While this has been happening the global demand for food has been increasing. World population is increasing by 79 million annually. The profitable bio fuel market is taking land away from food production. While the US is experiencing an explosion of obesity, a large percentage of global populations are facing starvation and malnutrition. The growing demand for meat is also threatening food availability as it takes about 10 pounds of grain and enormous amounts of water to produce 1 pound of meat. Also, factory farming of livestock produces about 40% of the greenhouse gases.
Another disturbing trend of the many countries that can no longer feed their people is the acquisition of farmland in other countries. According to World Watch Institute:
• Libya plans to farm wheat on 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) in Ukraine
• South Korea signed deals to grow wheat on 690,000 hectares in Sudan
• Chinese firm secured 2.8 million hectares in Democratic Republic of the Congo for palm oil
• In all, some 50 large agreements worth $20-30 billion are being pursued
These land shopping trends portend a major threat to global security and international cooperation, especially since the acquisitions are often made in already impoverished countries. Further exasperating the situation is the idea that some of the countries plan to bring in foreign farm laborers.
Historically food scarcity has led to the collapse of civilizations like the Mayan, Sumerian, and numerous other early civilizations. What can we do to avert a collapse of our earth systems and protect life on this planet? Of course there are not guarantees, but there are a few things that would help.
- Eat and grow locally produced organic food.
- Ask yourself what are the food dollars I am spending supporting?
- Reduce your intake of meat.
- Write your political leaders and support small farmers instead of large agribusiness. Ask them to stop farm subsidies that are mono-crops and petro chemical intensive.
- Compost
- Spend time in nature and reconnect with the natural system of mother earth. She is talking – we are not listening.
- Make a list for yourself of how you can support food security.
Food and water security is one of our biggest threats to civilization. We can turn things around. All it really takes in a shift in consciousness. It all starts with you and I communicating, educating ourselves and acting on behalf of future generations…
Thank you for your excellent coverage of the Copenhagen conference.
You state one item I ask you to look at more closely:”The growing demand for meat is also threatening food availability as it takes about 10 pounds of grain and enormous amounts of water to produce 1 pound of meat.”
Your comment is accurate in as much as you look at conventional farming practices, but not if you look at traditional farming practices. If grazing animals are raised in harmony with nature and their nature, they are not fed grain at all. Cows, for example, are grazing animals and as such eat grasses. Grass grows on land not suitable for other crops that demand flat land and higher fertility. Grazing is appropriate use of marginal land, such as in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, to produce more food. Using marginal land for grazing animals is in harmony with nature and the true nature of the animal, providing food from lands not usable for other types of food production. Eat grass-fed local meat!
As far as the water part of the comment goes, I am always amazed at how much water is required to water my vegetables. One little plant gets several gallons a day to produce a few eggplants or squash. A more true comment might be: It takes an enormous amount of water to produce food.
Many blessings,
Jennifer