We Can Feed the World Without Destroying It

June 5, 2014 in Our Planet

Jenny Cottle

One of the biggest challenges our planet faces is our need for food. Climate change adds to that challenge both in the increased difficulty in growing many crops and because of the large amounts of greenhouse gas created by many large scale farming methods. It is predicted that by 2050 there will be more than two billion people on earth to feed. The world’s population continues to grow and so does our need to feed them.

Many of those who ‘inform’ us tell us that it is impossible to feed the world without large scale factory farming. Corporations like Monsanto, who have grown into a multinational megacorporation with enormous power internationally (including huge sway with the US Food and Drug Administration), continue to push this message adding the need for genetic modification of food into the mix.

This is an untruth.

The truth is factory farming and genetic modification are not the solution but are adding to the problems.

Agriculture globally contributes between 20-30% of greenhouse gas to our atmosphere which in the US is more than all their cars, trucks, trains and planes combined. Globally, livestock contribute almost 15% of all greenhouse emissions to our atmosphere. Clearing of land for agriculture has been a major contributor to greenhouse gas through the loss of the forests which store carbon and practises used to clear the land.

Agriculture also uses large amounts of water and is a major polluter of water systems, from synthetic fertilizers to pesticide runoff. It takes much more water to grow a kilogram of meat that to grow a kilogram of plant based food – the larger the animals, the more water that is required. 1 kilogram of tomatoes can be grown using as little 250 litres of water, whereas 1 kilogram of beef can take 20,000 litres or more.

Factory farming can be toxic. It is toxic to the animals who endure it and it is toxic for us. Factory farms create vast amounts of waste, which if it is not disposed of properly, pollutes the air, soil, ground water and waterways. Because of the unhealthy conditions in factory farms, there are also large amounts of antibiotics used. This over use of antibiotics are causing more strains of drug resistant bacteria which is affecting treatment of many diseases, including human diseases.

Genetically modified crops are starting to fail – their yields are falling and the pesticides and herbicides they were bred to resist are no longer effective on insects and weeds. More frighteningly, residual chemicals are being retained in the GMO crops – the herbicide roundup has been found in the blood of unborn babies.

The good news is that there are alternatives to the corporate model. For example, small scale organic farming could double food production in many parts of the world. Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food and author of the report Agro-ecology and the Right to Food, said in a press release. “The solution lies in supporting small-scale farmers’ knowledge and experimentation, and in raising incomes of smallholders so as to contribute to rural development.”

As part of an 8 month series on global food issues, National Geographic recently published an article, Feeding 9 Billion. The author of the report, Jonathan Foley, led a team of scientists who analysed data on agriculture and the environment to come up with 5 steps which could solve our global food problem.

Below is a brief summary of the article which I have taken the liberty to annotate.

Freeze Agriculture’s Footprint – stop cutting down forests and destroying ecosystems. “Most of the land cleared for agriculture in the tropics does not contribute much to the world’s food security but is instead used to produce cattle, soybeans for livestock, timber, and palm oil.”
Grow More on the Farms We’ve Got – increase yields on less productive farmland (which is possible with improved farming practises). I would like to add – rehabilitate degraded land – degraded land can be restored to use for growing produce, such as palm oil sustainably without the need for clearing forest.
Use Resources More Efficiently – use technology to target water, fertilizer and pesticide use to meet local conditions and minimise their use. Go organic – “Organic farming can also greatly reduce the use of water and chemicals—by incorporating cover crops, mulches, and compost to improve soil quality, conserve water, and build up nutrients. Many farmers have also gotten smarter about water, replacing inefficient irrigation systems with more precise methods, like subsurface drip irrigation. Advances in both conventional and organic farming can give us more “crop per drop” from our water and nutrients.”
Shift Diets – today more than one third of all food grown is fed to livestock. We need to switch from a less meat intensive diet if we are to avoid the pitfalls of factory farmed meat. Also, as a further 10 percent of grown food is used for biofuel, we need to invest in sustainable energy alternatives to free up this food.
Reduce Waste – stop wasting food. About one third of all food produced is lost in the food supply chain. “In rich countries most of that waste occurs in homes, restaurants, or supermarkets. In poor countries food is often lost between the farmer and the market, due to unreliable storage and transportation. Consumers in the developed world could reduce waste by taking such simple steps as serving smaller portions, eating leftovers, and encouraging cafeterias, restaurants, and supermarkets to develop waste-reducing measures.”

Feeding the world will take effort, and in the ‘west’ a change in mindset – 11 billion people cannot all eat like Americans or Australians, but with the soaring obesity epidemic, do we really want to keep eating this way?

We also don’t want to be made increasingly sick by the food we eat.

Increasing plants in our diet could start with going meat free one day per week. We could also grow a little more of our own food, and perhaps water it with recycled water.

Don’t overlook imperfect produce, small blemishes and being a little misshaped does not mean it should be thrown away.

Eat well, but eat less – and pay a fair price for good food so that sustainable farmers can continue to provide good food.

Happy World Environment Day and Bon Appetit.