This document summarizes a debate about where food will come from in 20 years. It discusses topics like population growth, different food production methods, transportation of food globally, food waste, and whether the UK can produce enough food for its own population. Several charts and statistics are presented on topics like world population projections, the amount of land used to produce different foods, and the origins of foods sold in UK stores. Links are provided to additional resources on each topic for those wanting more information from the debate.
Outlined are the positive global effects a vegetarian diet and methods to solve current global issues, such as hunger, pollution, climate change, and health issues.
B4FA 2012 Tanzania: The challenge of food security and sustainability for 9bn...b4fa
Presentation at the November 2012 dialogue workshop of the Biosciences for Farming in Africa media fellowship programme in Arusha, Tanzania.
Please see www.b4fa.org for more information
Food production is among the leading sources of the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. Food production generates up to 30% of total global emissions1,2 and is also a significant contributor to biodiversity loss, deforestation, freshwater use, and land use change.3 The production of livestock generates the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions, whereas the production of fruit and vegetables generates the lowest levels.4 Globally, changes to food production and consumption, including reducing food waste and shifting to a more plant-based diet,5 are critical to reducing global warming and other environmental impacts.3
Outlined are the positive global effects a vegetarian diet and methods to solve current global issues, such as hunger, pollution, climate change, and health issues.
B4FA 2012 Tanzania: The challenge of food security and sustainability for 9bn...b4fa
Presentation at the November 2012 dialogue workshop of the Biosciences for Farming in Africa media fellowship programme in Arusha, Tanzania.
Please see www.b4fa.org for more information
Food production is among the leading sources of the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. Food production generates up to 30% of total global emissions1,2 and is also a significant contributor to biodiversity loss, deforestation, freshwater use, and land use change.3 The production of livestock generates the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions, whereas the production of fruit and vegetables generates the lowest levels.4 Globally, changes to food production and consumption, including reducing food waste and shifting to a more plant-based diet,5 are critical to reducing global warming and other environmental impacts.3
A menu of solutions to sustainably feed more than 9 billion people by 2050. Find out more at http://www.wri.org/publication/creating-sustainable-food-future-interim-findings
Reducing meat consumption can benefit China from a health resource , climate and geopolitical perspective.Over 50% of the population is suffering from environmental-related illnesses many of which are made worse by higher meat consumption , such as heart disease , obesity , cancer and diabetes , China having 20% of population but 33% of the worlds diabetics - Child obesity has quadrupled in a single generation . The rising health care costs associated with these emerging crisis will be significant
From plant-based beef to chicken grown from cells, alternatives to conventional meat are attracting considerable innovation and investment worldwide.
These new foods have everyone from vegans to meat corporations excited, but what does this global trend mean for Australian business, agriculture and science?
EAT LESS MEAT -Analysis and valuation of the health and Climate Change co ben...New Food Innovation Ltd
Millions of lives and trillions of dollars could be saved if people the world over ate more fruits and vegetables and less red meat, according to a new study. Such a shift in global eating patterns would also reduce the planetary burden of greenhouse gas emissions and help halt the worst effects of climate change.
The report, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, argues that food-related emissions could fall between 29 and 70 percent by 2050 were the world’s population to adhere to certain dietary guidelines established by global health agencies. Global mortality could drop by as much as 10 percent — preventing as many as 8.1 million deaths per year — and between $1 trillion and $31 trillion could be saved.
The transformative role of livestock in the developing worldILRI
Presented by Christopher Delgado (World Resources Institute) at the ILRI@40 side event on Livestock-based options for sustainable food systems, Des Moines, USA, 15 October 2014
About 24 percent of all calories currently produced for human consumption are lost or wasted. This paper examines the implications of this amount of loss and waste, profiles a number of approaches for reducing it, and puts forth five recommendations for how to move forward on this issue.
How can the world feed more than 9 billion people by 2050 in a manner that advances economic development and reduces pressure on the environment? This is one of the paramount questions the world faces over the next four decades. Answering it requires a “great balancing act” of three needs - all of which must be met simultaneously.
My first presentation (out of three) in the Master on European and Global Governance by the Institute for European Global Studies (University of Basel, Switzerland).
An analysis of the global food system (production, consumption and crisis) and the two different sub-systems that conform it: the industrial food systema and the peasant's food web.
What is biotechnology? How can it be used to solve the world's problems? What is the North Carolina Biotechnology Center's role in feeding, fueling and healing the world?
The United Nations projects that world population will rise from just over 7 billion in 2012 to nearly 9.6 billion by 2050. This paper examines the nature of the population challenge globally, the effect of population growth on food demand in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the potential benefits -- in terms of food security, economic growth, and environment -- of reducing fertility levels more quickly than currently projected. This paper then explores promising, non-coercive approaches for reducing fertility rates.
Drivers of change in crop-livestock systems and their potential impacts on ...ILRI
Presented by M. Herrero, P.K. Thornton, A. Notenbaert, S. Msangi, S. Wood, R. Kruska, J. Dixon, D. Bossio, J. van de Steeg, H. A. Freeman, X. Li, C. Sere, J. McDermott M. Peters and P. Parthasarathy Rao at the Nairobi Forum, ILRI, Nairobi, 21 September 2010
A menu of solutions to sustainably feed more than 9 billion people by 2050. Find out more at http://www.wri.org/publication/creating-sustainable-food-future-interim-findings
Reducing meat consumption can benefit China from a health resource , climate and geopolitical perspective.Over 50% of the population is suffering from environmental-related illnesses many of which are made worse by higher meat consumption , such as heart disease , obesity , cancer and diabetes , China having 20% of population but 33% of the worlds diabetics - Child obesity has quadrupled in a single generation . The rising health care costs associated with these emerging crisis will be significant
From plant-based beef to chicken grown from cells, alternatives to conventional meat are attracting considerable innovation and investment worldwide.
These new foods have everyone from vegans to meat corporations excited, but what does this global trend mean for Australian business, agriculture and science?
EAT LESS MEAT -Analysis and valuation of the health and Climate Change co ben...New Food Innovation Ltd
Millions of lives and trillions of dollars could be saved if people the world over ate more fruits and vegetables and less red meat, according to a new study. Such a shift in global eating patterns would also reduce the planetary burden of greenhouse gas emissions and help halt the worst effects of climate change.
The report, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, argues that food-related emissions could fall between 29 and 70 percent by 2050 were the world’s population to adhere to certain dietary guidelines established by global health agencies. Global mortality could drop by as much as 10 percent — preventing as many as 8.1 million deaths per year — and between $1 trillion and $31 trillion could be saved.
The transformative role of livestock in the developing worldILRI
Presented by Christopher Delgado (World Resources Institute) at the ILRI@40 side event on Livestock-based options for sustainable food systems, Des Moines, USA, 15 October 2014
About 24 percent of all calories currently produced for human consumption are lost or wasted. This paper examines the implications of this amount of loss and waste, profiles a number of approaches for reducing it, and puts forth five recommendations for how to move forward on this issue.
How can the world feed more than 9 billion people by 2050 in a manner that advances economic development and reduces pressure on the environment? This is one of the paramount questions the world faces over the next four decades. Answering it requires a “great balancing act” of three needs - all of which must be met simultaneously.
My first presentation (out of three) in the Master on European and Global Governance by the Institute for European Global Studies (University of Basel, Switzerland).
An analysis of the global food system (production, consumption and crisis) and the two different sub-systems that conform it: the industrial food systema and the peasant's food web.
What is biotechnology? How can it be used to solve the world's problems? What is the North Carolina Biotechnology Center's role in feeding, fueling and healing the world?
The United Nations projects that world population will rise from just over 7 billion in 2012 to nearly 9.6 billion by 2050. This paper examines the nature of the population challenge globally, the effect of population growth on food demand in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the potential benefits -- in terms of food security, economic growth, and environment -- of reducing fertility levels more quickly than currently projected. This paper then explores promising, non-coercive approaches for reducing fertility rates.
Drivers of change in crop-livestock systems and their potential impacts on ...ILRI
Presented by M. Herrero, P.K. Thornton, A. Notenbaert, S. Msangi, S. Wood, R. Kruska, J. Dixon, D. Bossio, J. van de Steeg, H. A. Freeman, X. Li, C. Sere, J. McDermott M. Peters and P. Parthasarathy Rao at the Nairobi Forum, ILRI, Nairobi, 21 September 2010
How to save Word 2007 documents in earlier formats, to be acceptable for OU assignment submission, and how to make an assignment template. Links to videos on Screenjelly
Gave a talk at StartCon about the future of Growth. I touch on viral marketing / referral marketing, fake news and social media, and marketplaces. Finally, the slides go through future technology platforms and how things might evolve there.
32 Ways a Digital Marketing Consultant Can Help Grow Your BusinessBarry Feldman
How can a digital marketing consultant help your business? In this resource we'll count the ways. 24 additional marketing resources are bundled for free.
Great Report on the status of British Food production - complied by some of the UK Thought leaders on the Global Food System
In Conclusion :
The quote fro Prof Tim Benton - Head of Strategic Research University of Leeds
"A globalised food system drives efficiency, scale and specialisation and, in turn, drives diets towards the commodity crops – calorie rich but nutrient poor – with its implications for health. Increased productivity has led to the degradation of soils, loss of biodiversity, and homogenisation of the countryside. Increased imports means that often, in return for cheaper food, we ‘export’ the environmental costs of production. Furthermore, over-reliance on global markets has led to a situation in which there are some inherent systemic risks in the system the magnitude of which are only just coming to light."
• This will protect our farming economy, our environment, and lead to more clarity about where our food comes from.
• The UK can never – and should not aim to be – self- sufficient in food production.
Conclusion
• However, it makes sense to hedge our bets and build a more resilient system, by growing our local production to provide more food, and more diverse food, to the nation.
Dr. Patrick Moore - Agriculture, Human Health, and Environment: Confessions O...John Blue
Agriculture, Human Health, and Environment: Confessions Of A Greenpeace Dropout - Dr. Patrick Moore, Ecosense, from the 2016 Iowa Pork Congress, January 27-28, Des Moines, IA, USA.
More presentations at http://www.swinecast.com/2016-iowa-pork-congress
Transforming Agri-food Systems to Achieve Healthy Diets for AllCGIAR
Challenges: Why Agri-Food Systems Need to Be Transformed
Opportunities: What Science Can Offer to Address these Challenges
The CGIAR partnership: Our Contribution to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Targets
Dr. Frank Mitloehner - Sustainable Intensification: How to Satisfy the Growin...John Blue
Sustainable Intensification: How to Satisfy the Growing Global Demand for Animal Protein Without Depleting Natural Resources - Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Former Chair, FAO’s Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance Partnership, from the 2014 Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB), November 2 -5, 2014, São Paulo, Brazil.
More presentations at http://trufflemedia.com/agmedia/conference/2014-global-roundtable-sustainable-beef
Dr. Marty D. Matlock - Impacts of GMO Products on Food Security and TradeJohn Blue
Impacts of GMO Products on Food Security and Trade - Marty D. Matlock, PhD PE BCEE, Executive Director, Office for Sustainability, Area Director, Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability, Professor, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of Arkansas, from the 2014 NIAA Annual Conference titled 'The Precautionary Principle: How Agriculture Will Thrive', March 31 - April 2, 2014, Omaha, NE, USA.
More presentations at http://www.trufflemedia.com/agmedia/conference/2014_niaa_how_animal_agriculture_will_thrive
Valuing Our Food: Minimizing Waste and Optimizing Resources - The Scope of th...Steven M. Finn
This presentation addresses the scope and significance of the problem of global food waste - noting that a serious disconnect exists which allows nearly one billion people to go hungry while the world wastes one to two billion tons of food annually. Our values regarding food are well out of balance, and a global food system which creates such vast amounts of waste is in many ways dysfunctional. Industrialized nations display a “culture of abundance” which leads to massive amounts of food waste while the social, economic, and environmental costs of that waste get little mainstream attention. The current state of waste, pollution, and hunger is unsustainable. This presentation notes the importance of valuing our food and optimizing resource usage to prepare the world to handle nine billion people by 2050. While the nine billion by 2050 problem is a daunting challenge, it should also be viewed as a critical opportunity to unite the world with shared purpose to eradicate hunger, minimize environmental impact, and enhance global security through a collaborative global network driven by expertise and urgency. To facilitate this transition, the overall opportunity can be viewed – and addressed – as a series of linked opportunities. This is a journey the world must embrace – we have little choice but to rapidly adopt sustainability principles across the globe which involve minimizing food waste and optimizing resource use if we are to successfully support nine billion people by 2050.
This material was part of a presentation to the IRAS Conference (Institute of Religion in an Age of Science) at Silver Bay, NY on July 31, 2013.
Growing Food In Cities: Benefits of Urban Agriculture in the United Kingdom
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For more information, Please see websites below:
`
Organic Edible Schoolyards & Gardening with Children =
http://scribd.com/doc/239851214 ~
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Double Food Production from your School Garden with Organic Tech =
http://scribd.com/doc/239851079 ~
`
Free School Gardening Art Posters =
http://scribd.com/doc/239851159 ~
`
Increase Food Production with Companion Planting in your School Garden =
http://scribd.com/doc/239851159 ~
`
Healthy Foods Dramatically Improves Student Academic Success =
http://scribd.com/doc/239851348 ~
`
City Chickens for your Organic School Garden =
http://scribd.com/doc/239850440 ~
`
Simple Square Foot Gardening for Schools - Teacher Guide =
http://scribd.com/doc/239851110 ~
In 2010, Planet Aid collected 95 million pounds of used
clothing and shoes. This achievement is a testament to both the generosity of the thousands of businesses and community organizations that hosted one or more of the 13,000 collection bins we have distributed across the United States, as well as the many individuals who stopped by one of those bins to donate their items.
31052024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
In a May 9, 2024 paper, Juri Opitz from the University of Zurich, along with Shira Wein and Nathan Schneider form Georgetown University, discussed the importance of linguistic expertise in natural language processing (NLP) in an era dominated by large language models (LLMs).
The authors explained that while machine translation (MT) previously relied heavily on linguists, the landscape has shifted. “Linguistics is no longer front and center in the way we build NLP systems,” they said. With the emergence of LLMs, which can generate fluent text without the need for specialized modules to handle grammar or semantic coherence, the need for linguistic expertise in NLP is being questioned.
‘वोटर्स विल मस्ट प्रीवेल’ (मतदाताओं को जीतना होगा) अभियान द्वारा जारी हेल्पलाइन नंबर, 4 जून को सुबह 7 बजे से दोपहर 12 बजे तक मतगणना प्रक्रिया में कहीं भी किसी भी तरह के उल्लंघन की रिपोर्ट करने के लिए खुला रहेगा।
हम आग्रह करते हैं कि जो भी सत्ता में आए, वह संविधान का पालन करे, उसकी रक्षा करे और उसे बनाए रखे।" प्रस्ताव में कुल तीन प्रमुख हस्तक्षेप और उनके तंत्र भी प्रस्तुत किए गए। पहला हस्तक्षेप स्वतंत्र मीडिया को प्रोत्साहित करके, वास्तविकता पर आधारित काउंटर नैरेटिव का निर्माण करके और सत्तारूढ़ सरकार द्वारा नियोजित मनोवैज्ञानिक हेरफेर की रणनीति का मुकाबला करके लोगों द्वारा निर्धारित कथा को बनाए रखना और उस पर कार्यकरना था।
03062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
An astonishing, first-of-its-kind, report by the NYT assessing damage in Ukraine. Even if the war ends tomorrow, in many places there will be nothing to go back to.
01062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
2. This is one of a series of debates organised by
Ringmer Liberal Democrats.
3. These slides have the same material as was
presented at the debate. Some of the slides
have notes with additional material, and links to
further information are included at the end.
There is a blog post at
http://acomfortableplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/
where-will-our-food-come-from-in-twenty.html
If you want to continue the debate or ask
questions, you are welcome to do so here or at
the blog
4. The material is presented under several headings:
Population
Production types
Fish
Production methods
Transport
Food waste
Food diversity
Food ethics
Can Britain produce enough food for all its population?
What would you change?
6. UK population
Now 60,000,000
2030 70,000,000
2050 78,000,000
But this is not just about the population of the UK, as the
UK's food supply is inextricably intertwined with that of
the rest of the world.
8. Food demand
Probably 50% rise by 2030 due partly to population
increase, partly to rising demand in developing countries.
Rising demand includes changes in diet - as people get
richer they tend to eat more meat, which is relatively
more demanding on land than other foodstuffs.
9. Production types
This refers to the way in which land is used. There is a
relatively finite amount of land usable for agriculture in
this country and in the world in general.
I cannot reproduce here a comprehensive description of
the ways in which land is used, but, as with the other
issues which follow, I just give a snapshot which gives a
clue as to what is going on, and how things might
change.
10. Different forms of food use different amounts of land. This
can be encapsulated in proportions like the amount of
usable protein produced per square metre.
Food type
Usable protein grams per square metre
Soybeans
29
Rice
25
Legumes (average)
11
Milk
8.4
Wheat
8.1
Eggs
8
Maize
7.7
Meat
4
Beef
1.72
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_protein_per_unit_area_of_land
11. The figures above suggest that the land we use could
produce food much more effectively if production were
switched to some degree from heavy land use
production, such as beef, towards lighter uses such as
maize, eggs, or soya.
Nearly 60% of the world’s agricultural land is used for
beef production, yet beef accounts for less than 2% of the
calories that are consumed throughout the world. Beef
makes up 24% of the world's meat consumption, yet
requires 30 million square kilometers of land to produce.
In contrast, poultry accounts for 34% of global meat
consumption and pork accounts for 40%. Both poultry
and pork production uses less than 2 million square
kilometers of land each.
Source: http://www.globalagriculture.org/report-topics/meat.html
12. UK data
How much of our own fruit and veg does the UK supply?
(25%)
How much of our own dairy products does the UK
supply? (82%)
13. The BRC state that 75 per cent of fresh food sold in UK
stores is raised or grown in the UK. Of the quarter that's
imported, only 1 per cent is flown in. UK supermarkets
also sell 75 per cent of the organic food bought in the UK,
compared with the 1.7% sold in farmers' markets. For
organic food, 88% of the carrots, 67% beef, 93% lamb,
100% milk and 100% of eggs are produced in the UK.
(Figures from British Retail Consortium)
15. In 2009-10, the estimated designated Green Belt land
was 1,639,560 hectares, about 13 per cent of the land
area of England.
The Agricultural land (% of land area) in the United
Kingdom was 71.61 in 2009, according to a World Bank
report, published in 2010.
Agricultural land is not necessarily all being cultivated in
farms. I assume that it is land designated as agricultural
for planning purposes. We heard evidence at the meeting
for potentially significant amounts of land in Sussex being
taken over by hobby farmers and not being used to full
effect. The extent and effect of this issue may be worth
investigating.
17. Governance of the seas
“The ocean is broken”
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1848433/the-ocean-is-broken/
The chief issue about fish stocks is the lack of
governance over the oceans, which has given rise to
massive degradation of fish stocks worldwide. While a lot
of fish is farmed these days, we have to consider the
possibility that fish will contirbute only a negligible
proportion of the world's food in twenty years time. The
article from The Herald linked above is a typical account.
18. Production methods
Industrial
Organic
Large scale
Small scale
Personal
The purpose of this slide is to note the ways in which food production
can take place: industrial, by which I mean the typical British farm mechanised, capital intensive, chemical intensive; or organic (or
maybe semi organic). And at either large or small scale. Or personal
- in our survey of a few roads in Ringmer 50 forms were returned and
of those 40% said they grew some of their own food (but with no
indication of scale).
The science vs the art of farming (needs sign up to LinkedIn)
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Science-vs-Art-Farming-65094.S.5796707822989230082?view=&srchtype=discussedNews&gid=65094
19. Food production is a global issue, even if we think just in
terms of how the UK might feed itself. Sometimes the
global nature of the issue is hidden, particularly in the
case of processed food:
“Take a typical biscuit-containing chocolate bar from a
British shop, manufactured in a British factory. It contains
sugar, cocoa, milk, whey, wheat, yeast, salt, palm oil and
calcium sulphate (a nutritional additive) which are
sourced from all the world, For instance, the salt may
come from China; calcium sulphate from India; palm oil
from Southeast Asia; whey from New Zealand; milk and
wheat from the EU; sugar from the Caribbean; and, of
course, cocoa for the actual chocolate from South
America.”
Source: I have to track down again where this quote came from
20. Transport
Food production being global means that transport is a
very big issue both in terms of cost and in terms of
sustainability.
21. Food produced on another continent starts its journey on
a truck or a train to get from the farm to the transport hub
Truck in Kenya
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A2013-01-22_08-21-05_Kenya_Nairobi_Area_-_Ruiru.JPG
By Hansueli Krapf
This file was uploaded with Commonist. [CC-BY-SA-3.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
22. It continues on a ship or a plane
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AShip_Cap_Spencer_(2).jpg
By Tvabutzku1234 (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
23. Then a truck or a train again
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGardner_European_WA04BHY_(1).jpg
By Graham Richardson from Plymouth, England (Gardner European WA04BHY Uploaded by oxyman) [CC-BY-2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
24. To a distribution centre (itself an intensive use of
resources - electricity, etc)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ATesco_Distribution_Centre%2C_Livingston%2C_West_Lothian.JPG
By Kim Traynor (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia
Commons
25. And then by truck again to the shop
http://www.commercialmotor.com/latest-news/tesco-to-create--jobs-with-enfield-home-delivery-hub
26. And then home in your car
I have seen figures that suggest that the journey from the
distribution centre to the store in the truck creates less
CO2 per item than the journey home in the car.
27. Food miles as a way of assessing sustainability?
About half of our survey participants thought that food
miles was a good way of assessing the sustainability of
food production.
There are complications. For instance, importing
strawberries grown in Spain may cause less greenhouse
gas production that growing them here under artificial
conditions.
This is linked to a question asked in the survey as to
whether people would be prepared to eat with the
seasons or would want their preferred foods to be
available all year round. About half said they would be
prepared to eat with the seasons.
28. Food waste
The amount of food we need to produce is affected by the
amount we waste - at least in the developed world.
Tesco says almost 30,000 tonnes of food 'wasted'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24603008
'Six meals a week' thrown away by Britons
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24846612
Our survey participants estimated that they threw away
6% of their food on average. 71% say they use the
council caddy and 35% compost.
29. Food diversity
The ways in which foodstuffs are created, and the
proportions created by the different means may change in
the future.
Natural
Hybrid
GMO
Wild
There is an intense debate over the possible effects and
desirability of GM food, which I don't intend to go into in
detail here.
Here is an article which gives a flavour of the debate, and argues for hybrid forms of
production
rather
than
GM:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/politicalscience/2013/jun/28/gm-food
30. Food ethics
The key issue is whether to buy fairly traded food
(whatever that means) or not.
59% of our survey participants said they were prepared to
spend more for fairly traded food, 61% for locally grown
food, and 49% for organic food.
31. Can Britain farm itself?
A key issue for food security is whether Britain can
produce enough food to feed its own population. The
answer from land magazine is - Yes, if we switch some
production from meat to other foods. The article is long
and detailed, and worth reading in full:
http://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/articles/can-britain-farm-itself-2
This does not altogether solve the issue as we still expect
food trade to be significant, and that we would still export
a considerable amount and import other foods.
32. What would you change?
And finally we asked the question what would you change
to ensure food security for the country in twenty years
time. We did consider whether anything needed to
change: it is possible that scientific advances in
agriculture and water supply may keep us all reasonably
fed.
But to change, for most people, would involve buying
more locally produced food, eating less meat, wasting
less (hence only buying what is needed), eating with the
seasons, perhaps growing some more of their own.
33. What would you change?
We considered food security as an issue for the UK and
also as an issue for the world. Growing our own is not
enough if the rest of the world still does not have enough,
so we considered how Britain might grow more, how the
world might grow more, and how we might help to ensure
that the food that is grown is distributed to the right
places.
Expansion in world population is much slower than it used to be, and than it was predicted to be a few years ago. This is one of the success stories of the Millenium Development Goals: reducing child mortality and increasing girls' access to education has slowed the rate of childbirth darmatically. Part of the continuing rise in population is due to people's longevity increasing.
I have not had the time to find figures for how much of our production we export, either in the wholel or separately for different varieties of food.
I have had difficulty establishing reliable figures for the amount of food flown into the country. I have seen figures of 30% of imported fresh food comes by air, butI cannot now find a reliable source for that figure. The BRC's 1% seems extremely low, and I would not accept it without verification.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.
The point was made in the debate that “Made in the UK” had a very loose definition, and consumers would be better served by a labelling system that actually meant what it said.