In order for us to maintain our lives, we need to consume food to supply nutrient-needs for our bodies. As the global population increased, the demand for food also increased. Increased population led to mass production of foods. However, even with this mass production, in under-developed countries, people are still undernourished. On other hand, in developed and developing countries, people are overfed and suffering from obesity. In addition, the current methods of industrial farming destroy the environment. These problems raised a question to our global food system. Will it be able to sustain our increasing global population and the earth? With this question in my mind, I decided to investigate the sustainability of our current global food system. There are many problems confronting our global food system. One of them is that the food is not distributed fairly or evenly in the world. According “The Last Bite Is The World’s Food System Collapsing?” by Bee Wilson, “we are producing more food—more grain, more meat, more fruits and vegetables—than ever before, more cheaply than ever before” (Wilson, 2008). Here we are, producing more and more affordable food. However, the World Bank recently announced that thirty-three countries are still famine and hungers as the food price are climbing. Wilson stated, “despite the current food crisis, last year’s worldwide grain harvest was colossal, five per cent above the previous year’s” (Wilson, 2008). This statement support that the food is not distributed evenly. The food production actually increased but people are still in hunger and malnutrition. If the food were evenly distributed, this famine problem would’ve been not a problem. Wilson added, “the food economy has created a system in w... ... middle of paper ... ...ms Shrink Our Ecological Footprint." Redefining Progress: For People, Nature, and The Economy 1 (2003). https://blackboard.syr.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_3_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_285766_1%26url%3D (accessed March 26, 2014). Knox, Paul, and Sllie Marston. "Chapter 8 Food and Agriculture." In Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context. Glenview, Il: Pearson, 2013. 266-298. Roberts, Paul. "Spoiled: Organic and Local Is So 2008." Mother Jones 1 (2009). https://blackboard.syr.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-3188122-dt-content-rid-8212178_1/courses/33750.1142/Spoiled.pdf (accessed March 25, 2014). Wilson, Bee. "The Last Bite." The New Yorker, May 19, 2008. https://blackboard.syr.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-3187189-dt-content-rid-8200767_1/courses/33750.1142/The%20Last%20Bite.pdf (accessed March 27, 2014).
In “Called Home”, the first chapter of the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year in Food Life, Barbara Kingsolver presents her concerns about America's lack of food knowledge, sustainable practices, and food culture. Kingsolver introduces her argument for the benefits of adopting a local food culture by using statistics, witty anecdotal evidence, and logic to appeal to a wide casual reading audience. Her friendly tone and trenchant criticism of America's current food practices combine to deliver a convincing argument that a food culture would improve conditions concerning health and sustainability. I agree with Kingsolver that knowing the origin of food is an important and healthy benefit of developing a true food culture, but it is impractical to maintain that everyone is able to buy more expensive food. Kingsolver presents a compelling argument for developing a food culture, however this lifestyle change may not be practical or even possible for a poverty-level citizen. The following essay will summarize and respond to Kingsolver’s argument to demonstrate how “Called Home” is a model for novice social scientists.
Former editor of Us News and World Report and recipient of Guggenheim Award,Stephen Budiansky in his article, “Math Lessons For Locavores”,published in August 19,2012 addresses the topic of locally grown food and argues it as a more sustainable choice in terms of freshness and seasons.I agree with Budiansky for growing food locally,however; with three other reasons: we can reduce food waste,(which will benefit the environment), and obesity(which will help an individual mentally and physically), and improve our economy. The purpose is to illustrate why locally grown foods would be a finer option for an American lifestyle. Budiansky adopts an informative,persuasive,and insightful tone for his audience,readers
Knox, P. L., & Marston, S. A. (2012). Human geography: Places and regions in global context (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Stuffed and Starved brings to light the uneven hourglass shape that exists within our world’s food system, and describes what factors contribute to these discrepancies. It begins with the decisions farmers are forced to make on the farm, and ends with the decisions the consumers are able to make at the grocery stores. The purpose of Stuffed and Starved was to describe what factors attribute to the hourglass shape of the food system. Author Raj Patel points out who is profiting and who is suffering in this system, and gives insight as to how the system may be improved.
The correlation between over-population and growing world hunger has become a controversial topic in today’s society. Concerns of population expansion, world starvation, and environment destruction are matters of debate and are of much concern for their outcomes affect everyone of society. The world is home to an estimated 6 billion people with more than 80 million additions every year. With this astonishing growing rate of population it is necessary to address the matter of world hunger before it is too late. The three main theories of world population and the correlation to world hunger are debatable; however, it is ultimately left to an individual to determine the truth/ answer to such theories of world hungers origin.
...ive in economical, sociological and environmental terms. Placed within an urban-scale landscape concept offering the host city a variety of lifestyle advantages and few, if any, unsustainable drawbacks. These city-traversing open spaces are running through the built environment, connecting all kinds of existing inner-city open spaces and relating to the surrounding rural area. Vegetation as well as people is able to flow into the city and out of it, partially helping the city become open and wild. Producing edible landscapes or consuming food where it has just grown establishes a healthy and sustainable balance of production and consumption. It is an effective and practical as well as self-beneficial way of reducing the energy embodied in contemporary food production. So what affects the growth of biophilic cities? Is food politics a global or a local phenomenon?
The last 20 years, hunger rates have abated by almost half, however with increasing food prices, global hunger is expected to accrue as well. (Anderson, 2007). About 40 to 60 million people, mainly children, die every year because of hunger. (Robbins, 2012). Close to 200 million children under five years old are malnourished. (Robbins, 2012). Many people may ask how hunger, in developing countries, such as Africa, can be stopped or even solved. The question seems to be; does more food need to be more food produced or is there enough for everyone on earth? If there is enough food, why does not every one have plenty to stay healthy? Hunger, in Africa and other developing countries, could be significantly mitigated or even wiped out if the people in the world worked together using technology and resources available.
Perry, Luddene, and Schultz, Dan. A Field Guide to Buying Organic. New York: Bantam Books, 2005.
In the past ten years the world population exceeded six billion people with most of the growth occurring in the poorest, least developed countries in the world. The rapidly increasing population and the quickly declining amount of land are relative and the rate at which hunger is increasing rises with each passing year. We cannot afford to continue to expand our world population at such an alarming rate, for already we are suffering the consequences. Hunger has been a problem for our world for thousands of years. But now that we have the technology and knowledge to stamp it out, time is running short.
According to Eric Holt Gimenez, the world already produces enough food to feed 10 billion people, yet over 22% of the Sub-Saharan population is undernourished. One of the main causes of this is due to food wastage. One-third of the food that is produced is never consumed (“What Causes Hunger?”). Not only is this food being wasted, it also releases over 3 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (“What Causes Hunger?”). The wastage of food directly doesn’t put food on the plates of those who need it and also further prevents it by destroying the environment without a proper reason. Another cause of hunger is who the food is feeding. About 60% of crops are farmed to feed humans, while 35% is for animal feed (“Introduction to Food Insecurity”). Although animals can be consumed, they take a lot more than they give. About 30 kilograms of grain can produce only 1 kilogram of edible beef (“Introduction to Food Security”). For those who are struggling with food is Sub-Saharan Africa, and diet that shifts away from meat consumption would assist in consuming more food. Another flaw in the where the food goes is the imports and exports of Sub-Saharan nations. Several countries have a few main crops that they produce a surplus of to export, and then they rely on imports for the rest of their food supply. The citizens buy imported food because it is less expensive, and the local farmers become poorer. Buying locally would put the money back into one’s own community instead of losing it all to a distant nation. A system that does not waste food and focuses on producing it for local humans would help reduce hunger in needy
When the topic of world hunger is broached, the majority of people’s minds will automatically equate the two words with an impossible-to-solve problem affecting only Africa. However, to make that connection is inaccurate, and ultimately damaging to the actual efforts being made towards eradicating hunger. There are more than 870 million individuals in the world who suffer from chronic undernourishment, with the majority of undernourished individuals residing in Asia or the Pacific. While Africa understandably rises to the forefront of the mind when hunger is discussed, the statistics prove that hunger permeates into a plethora of regions, and affects a wide range of countries, cultures, and age groups. Despite its wide reach, global hunger is a solvable problem. The fact that a solution has not yet been implemented speaks loudly to the lack of cooperation being exhibited throughout the world. There is more than enough food to end world hunger; it is merely a lack of proactivity and cooperation among those in power that continues to allow the problem to grow. Solving world hunger may seem to be a daunting task, but a solution is within reach as long as a more cohesive semblance of cooperation throughout the globe (including both developed and developing countries) is achieved. This cooperation would embrace the sharing of excess goods to countries in need of them, as well the establishment of sustainable agricultural systems in countries currently lacking them—goals which are only achievable through recognition of the problem and an increased involvement by the entire globe.
The developed world’s love affair with local/organic farming (peasant farming as Collier describes it) has decreased food production worldwide because it does not use the land efficiently enough as with commercial agriculture companies. It also requires government subsidies that large commercial farming companies do not necessarily need. By increasing commercial farming, the world food supply will inevitably increase over a short period.
"Where Does Your Food Come From?." Food Routes Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. .
Sayers, Ian. "New Approaches to Feeding the World's Population." International Trade Forum. July-Sept. 2011: 30. Global Issues In Context. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.
The World Food Program has been extending funds and food donations in enormous amounts to countries that are in dire need of help. They’ve concluded that there are 842 million people who suffer from famine and malnutrition every day. The nations are coming together to solve malnutrition and famine by investing in good nutrition and productivity, which eventually creates economic opportunities for these countries that suffer from famine. The World Food Program has started the process o...