Global Food Supply Chain Needs Overhaul

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

Now they're coming for the food. I have an easy solution for all our problems: those who suffer anxiety and related disorders because they worry so much about the planet should just do the honourable thing. A few million fewer mouths to feed, right? While hundreds of million go hungry and this is not even remotely funny.

"The world’s science academics are saying that the global food supply system is completely broken. They say that in order to avoid a “climate catastrophe” the global population should overhaul the farming system and eat less meat.

Billions of people worldwide are either underfed or overweight. The current food system fails to properly nourish all of these people. And that is currently driving the planet towards a climate catastrophe, according to 130 national academies of science and medicine across the world. More than 820 million people went hungry last year, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, while a third of all people did not get enough vitamins. At the same time, 600 million people were classed as obese and 2 billion overweight, with serious consequences for their health. On top of this, more than 1 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year, a third of the total produced."

[Rasmus Jorgensen + 1,169]

Marina, 

I usually read your posts with interest and tend to respect and agree with your views. However, this one seems to taking it a bit far... all that article says as far as I can see is that it would be good for the health of the population of the West and the climate (ok, discussion on defitnition coming here I know), if we ate less meat...  just the other week my mother told me I am eating too much beef which is bad for my health... 

[DA? + 301]

Agriculture is about to go through another disruption like it did around 50 years ago. But this time it's going to be better for the environment whilst being more productive. Genetics will play a large part, with artificially changing the genes but also far better breeding programs driven by knowing what gene does what. Then of course the robots are at last coming to the farm. This allows for far better care of the land, vehicles can be smaller so less compaction, ploughing isn't required (nearly all the time) as weed control is complete with little bots searching them out, very little or no weed killer chemicals required. Other pests can be managed before their is an out break radically reducing chemical use again. Each plant/animal can be monitored and conditions changed for that individual to encourage best results. harvesting isn't the field or nothing, it's targeted to certain areas. The list goes on.

Also of course better management and infrastructure from field to mouth, we already produce enough to feed 10 billion if we didn't waste it.

Then comes the artificial meats, won't get rid of all life stock but reduces it considerably. A ridiculous amount of land and resources go into meats, when it doesn't have to be that way.

renewable energies also make far more cheap electricity available for agriculture, just cheap desalination will change agriculture in many countries. Then theres heating/cooling (although meta materials look like they will change this) and so on.

We will be able to feed 10billion people in a sustainable manor if we choose.

[DA? + 301]

Oh and I forgot to mention yeast made milk. Far better for the environment and far better for humans.