I take food for granted. The majority of people in the developed world likely do as well. Our next meal is as close as our kitchen refrigerator or a trip to a restaurant. If you are fortunate enough to receive a regular paycheque it's relatively easy to sustain yourself. In many cases the food you have consumed has traveled a great distance to enter your mouth. In Canada, it's easy to note that much of our fruit throughout the year comes from places on the other side of the continent or even the globe. It may not be long before this becomes the exception and not the rule.
There are expected to be 7 billion people on planet Earth in 2012; by 2050, over 9.2 billion. As many people in the world already subsist on very little to eat, humanity is going to need a lot more food, and fast.
A few weeks ago, I discovered what I consider a very sensible situation analysis regarding the subject of food scarcity and sustainable agriculture. The paper quite clearly explains our current situation but offers no single solution. This is no cop-out. World food production is an enormous subject to assess and there are unique challenges in each region. Those who are quick to dismiss GM-modified foods take note: they will find a place at our table if food production is to double in the next few decades. This research is incomplete, but it is a necessary avenue to explore. Science has enriched our lives in the past and we cannot discount its efforts, though any developments and discoveries must be closely monitored.
Due to the efforts of philanthropy, lending financial assistance to people in under-developed countries in order to develop local food production has also been met with success. This will hopefully increase in popularity. But climate change will be a wild card in all of this. If worldwide droughts and floods continue–or increase in regularity–as populations increase, the difficulties we feel today will worse in the future.
It's an easy argument that Canadians are eating more than our bodies need. The average adult needs about 2,000 calories per day in order to be healthy. I took this simple online calculator and it determined that I am consuming approximately 2600 calories per day for my current weight. I'm overweight for my height and age, so it suggested a minimum of 500 calories less per day in order to begin to reduce body fat. This was not an entire surprise, but knowing that excess food consumption is a factor in contributing to food scarcity, I have a new way of looking at things. It's almost prophetic.
Entrée's should be treated just like dessert. Small–if at all–for the sake of us all.
