Imagine your skin tightening around your body to the point that you see your veins, no fats or muscles, the foul odor that comes from your mouth, your eye sockets sunken in, your eyes bulging out, the visibility of your collar and chest bones, your stomach bloated, and your body eating itself. These are the symptoms of someone who is starving. The dictionary definition of someone who is starving or hungry is someone who displays the need for food, the need for calories in their body. This is a feeling that millions of people feel every day because there is not enough food being farmed for them to eat, food is too expensive for them to buy, and because they do not have the knowledge nor ability to grow and maintain their own food. This all can be fixed with one simple solution and that solution would be agricultural …show more content…
diversification. Agricultural diversification is the process of increasing crop production while decreasing waste, increasing in profits, and essentially controlling the efficiency of crops. This would be important to make sure we have the least possible food going to waste. Agricultural diversification in generally more popular in countries that have a larger population for the simple fact that they have more people to feed. Some examples of these countries would be China and India. China started to practice agricultural diversification close to 7,000 years ago. Since people are going hungry because there is not enough food being grown to eat, food is expensive, and people cannot grow their own food, then I agree with the process of agricultural diversification. We should all agree with the process of agricultural diversification, it will just help us reduce hunger. The average human being eats three full meals and usually two in-between snacks within a day. There are 365 days within a year and a human usually lives to the age of 65 years old. This means that a human being will eat an average of 118,625 meals within their lifetime. This does not apply to all 7.3 billion people that are currently alive. According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations close to 795 million people are starving and do not meet their recommended 2,100 calories a day intake. (The State of Food Insecurity…) This means that close to one in nine people of the world are currently hungry. The main reason these people are not eating is because there is not enough food being grown. This is not the worst part. Jonathan Foley, director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota says that “We’ll likely have two billion more mouths to feed by mid-century—more than nine billion people.” (Foley) Though Jonathan is not for nor against agriculture diversification, he does believe that it is a key factor in helping feeding these people. He believes in a balance between organic farming and agriculture diversification. Singh Aradhana, an author for eoearth.org says that” Diversification of agriculture refers to the shift from the regional dominance of one crop to regional production of a number of crops, to meet ever increasing demand for cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruits, oilseeds, fibers, fodder and grasses…” (Singh) This means that agriculture diversification will help substitute crops that are no longer needed, to those that are in high. One example that would be in high demand would be to grow fresh fruits and vegetables to help feed those who are starving. It is a key essential to one’s life to eat at least 5 fruit and or vegetables every day. Though food is important because it feeds the hungry, farmers grow other crops to maintain nutrients in their soil. The rotation of these crops will also allow certain nutrients to be released into the soils allowing for the production of better produce. Nutrient rich soils will produce fruits and vegetables that are bigger and tastier and will also help produce a higher volume of product per crop. These fruits and vegetables will be considered more organic and will be sold for a better price. Agriculture diversification can also be an advantage financially to both the farmers and the consumer. Since farmers are mass producing efficient crops and spending less money on raw materials, then that means that it costs the farmers less money to produce those crops. Farmers will then lower the price of their produce, allowing more people to buy more product from them. Alastair M. Smith a Political Economist explains how diversification can help out the economy by allowing more opportunity for profits. He uses the Fair Trade as an example and says it “established to help producers deal with the real life limitations on livelihood development by manipulating prices upwards as well as offering long-term trading relations to provide the necessary stability for long-term planning and eventual diversification into higher-value products and processes.” (Smith) Alastair also explains how the“…stable income can also act as collateral for raising loans to carry out business development that would otherwise not be possible for marginalized producers.” (Smith) Alastair explains the opportunity for finical growth and expansion within their business. This becomes an advantage to the consumer because it allows for the creation of more job opportunities. As the farmers expand their crops to fulfill larger demand, then they tend to hire more people to help pick and fulfill those orders. The University of California explains on their agriculture website how “Workers can provide a better standard of living for their families by having continuous employment at a single location.” (Johnston) They also explain how “diversity makes economic sense and helps to enhance the livelihood of both farmers and farm workers.” (Johnston) Their website explains how farm owners take into considerations all aspects when producing a crop. The farmer even pay good benefits to their employees. Singh also agrees that agriculture diversification produces good income and jobs. He says agriculture diversification “…generates income and employment for rural youth year round for the ultimate benefits of the farmers in the country.”(Singh) The University of California explain how farmer owners will rather produce a crop that will produce a small number of long term jobs rather than a crop that will require the attention of a large number of temporary employees. This article is based on the San Juaquin Valley also recognized as “The food basket of the world” and the farming done in California. This is something I can relate to personally because I have worked in farming before and experience being a temporary employee. Though it was not a long term job for me, I was appreciative for the opportunity. I currently live in the San Juaquin Valley and though we are having trouble with water, our land continues to stay the same. We do not experience any natural disasters that will affect our crops. Many people say if you are hungry, then grow your own food. As if it was only as simple as that. People, especially those who are experiencing hunger, live in poverty and cannot afford to grow anything. In order to grow a crop you have to have the land, seeds, water, pesticides and the knowledge. If they do not have any farming knowledge, then is very difficult for them to even find land that is farmable because they do not know what they are looking for. For example, if the land is over farmed by a certain crop, then it will lose most of its nutrients and then will not grow the same crop correctly. This is where diversification becomes a solution. Singh explains how “crop diversification through substitution of one crop or mixed cropping/inter-cropping may be a useful tool to mitigate problems associated with aberrant weather to some extent, especially in the arid and semi-arid drought-prone/dryland areas.” (Singh) Agricultural diversification also has a factor when and where certain crops are to be farmed and harvested. For example, if you would like to grow banana trees, then you would have to be in a warm and humid environment. If you try to farm banana trees in Alaska, since it is not warm nor humid, then you will not receive any bananas because the crop will not sprout correctly. Having land that is farmable is always important. If a natural disaster were to accrue and if we did not have other land to farm, then there would be more people starving. In a recent study done by www.fao.org, it proves that agricultural diversification will “promote various farm enterprises to avoid any risk and uncertainties from natural disasters and marketing setbacks.”(CROP DIVERSIFICATION…) It would allow for us to have fruits and vegetables all year long. Even when a certain part of the world is flooding and the other part of the world is in a drought. This means that agriculture diversification will help your grandma can continue to make her famous apple pies, even when apples are not in season. It is painful to even know that someone went or is going to be going to go to sleep tonight hungry.
Who knows, they may not even wake up for that same reason? They might not want to wake up. They have dealt will hunger long enough that they rather just give up and move on to the next stage of their life. That is why it is important to practice agricultural diversification. It helps us feed the world, it helps us create jobs, and it allows us to have certain fruits and vegetables on a yearly base rather than just temporary. Agricultural diversification is doing nothing but being an advantage to us because it helps us solve the many problems we face. There are so many people who are truly against it, but current studies have only show prove that it is a positive rather than a negative. I would hate the day when I have nothing to eat and feel the pain of starvation. I would hate to feel my skin tightening around my body to the point that you can see my veins, no fats or muscles, the foul odor that comes from my mouth, my eye sockets sunken in, my eyes bulging out, the visibility of my collar and chest bones, my stomach bloated, and my body eating
itself.
Many people believe that the problems associated with hunger are limited to a small part of society and certain areas of the country, but the reality is much different. In many ways, America is the...
Americans, as a whole, are fat, over-indulged, lazy, entitled humans. As a whole, yes, yes Americans are all of these things. In 2004, Alison Motluk, a freelance journalist who writes for numerous magazines including the New Scientist, The Walrus, and The Economist, pens an article called “Supersize Me: It’s Time to Stop Blaming Fat People for Their Size.” Motluk blames the food industry for increased portions. She blames the food industry for unhealthy, addictive additives dumped into our food. She blames the food industry for easy access to fast food. She blames city growth for making it near impossible to walk to get food therefore, people have to drive to get sustenance. Motluk blames schools for fat children because physical education
Worldwide, 870 million people — about one in eight— are hungry. That is nearly three times the population of the United States. It is hard to imagine in the modern world that a country cannot feed its people, but in 1984, the Ethiopian Famine took over one million lives. There were many causes that contributed to the complications faced in Ethiopia. These problems received major attention in the global Community. The famine drastically changed people’s lives because of the lack of food and resources and affected Ethiopia to our present day.
When one thinks of hunger they picture a thin, gaunt, emaciated person or youngsters with a pot belly with ribs showing and skeleton arms; today’s hunger may well still be this picture but also includes those people that are obese. Hunger is not having enough food to eat, perhaps not know where your next meal will come from, however is also not receiving the vital nutrients needed to not only sustain life, but also for quality of life. “The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 795 million
Peter Singer, in his reading, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality,” asserts valid arguments that hopefully make his readers sympathetic to the famine problem. It is not something you think about every day, even if you see homeless people begging for food or money. Singer said that “suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad” (p. 519). I think the word “bad” is putting it mildly. It is inexcusable to ignore this predicament of the poor.
Do you know what it is like to suffer from hunger? Do you know how it feels to know that the meal you are eating today might be your last meal for about a week? Hunger is defined in the dictionary as "the painful sensation or state of weakness caused by the need of food" Hunger is not easy and it is certainly not right to watch another starve when you know you can help. Peter singer dig deep to how the world can help people suffering and dying because of hunger, shelter, and medical need. Watching hunger develop is absurd especially when others have so much that they are throwing it away and not being considerate to the ones that are suffering. Many others from outside countries can do something about it with just little from everybody. Singer
United States of America produces far more food than they could possibly manage to consume while they import the surplus. The question is how comes that some people lack this food that is claimed to be in surplus and go as far as the extent of dying? Scientists and researchers have come up with possible causes of what might have led to the rapid rates of death as a result of starvation. Some of the well-known factors that cause hunger in the United States of America as well as other continents such as Africa include poverty, AIDS, lack of infrastructure, ignorance, lack of clout, conflicts and war, environmental overload and also discrimination. For this essay, we will look at the various economic and political factors that cause the high rise on hunger and starvation in
In the period 1865-1900, technology, government policy, and economic conditions all greatly changed American agriculture at the expense of the farmers. New farming machinery had a large role in the late 19th century, giving farmers the opportunity to produce a surplus of crops. The railroads also had a large influence on agriculture. Although they were able to quickly transport goods, the railroads were also used to charge the farmers large fees. The booming industry also changed American agriculture, creating a multitude of monopolies which the farmers simply could not compete. Economically, the monetary policy along with the steadily dropping prices of agricultural produce led farmers further into debt, eventually producing outcomes such as the crop-lien system and sharecropping. All of these tie into government policy which favored the large and wealthy industries and monopolies over the farmers.
of miles in space, looking like a dot. He said to a crowd “Look again at that dot. That 's here.
This chapter is presents a brief review of literature of the various study that use different techniques to analyze the performance of agriculture sector in a particular countries.
Niger and Sierra Leone, the two poorest countries in the world only have a GDP of around 500 dollars per capita. Which, compared to Canada’s 27,000 dollars per capita, is considerably low. In the 48 poorest countries, an average of 2$ a day is made by each working person. Imagine living off 2$ a day in Canada, you couldn’t even buy a Big Mac and a drink for 2$. This is making starvation a very serious problem in 3rd-world countries, not to mention their low immune systems, used for preventing disease, not working right from the lack of nutrition.
Individual report on Reform in Australian agricultural policy During the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, Australia and the Cairns Group were strong advocates of agricultural policy reform and were arguably Instrumental in ensuring that agricultural trade was, for the first time, an important part of the negotiating agenda. In accordance to the historical terminology Australia’s conversion to free markets for agriculture has been relatively recent. Australian governments have intervened in agriculture in Australia from the time of European settlement and after World War Two, Australia’s agricultural support policies were not dissimilar to those in place elsewhere in the developed world. In the early 1950s, this paper describes how Australia
In Genesis 1:29, God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” From the beginning God has given us food for life. Plants, meats, trees, and fruits are offered to us as a means of sustenance from the very same God who made them long ago.
The Ancient world was in demand of technology as it saw a rise in complications to the world generation after generation. One very important form of rise in technology was in agriculture. The Agricultural Revolution saw a number of inventions in Medieval Europe. It saw the introduction of tools like the Heavy plough, the harrow and the mills to name a few. They also came up with new techniques in farming. These inventions and changes had a huge impact on Medieval Europe. It lead to more jobs and also more produce which eventually lead to more income.
Danielle Knight stated that “The true source of world hunger is not scarcity but policy; not inevitability but politics, the real culprits are economies that fail to offer everyone opportunities, and societies that place economic efficiency over compassion.” The author is trying to say that, basically, world hunger is mainly caused by us humans. The world is providing more than enough food for each and every one of us on earth according to the report - 'World Hunger: Twelve Myths'. The problem is that there are so many people living in the third world countries who do not have the money to pay for readily available food. Even if their country has excess food, they still go hungry because of poverty. Since people are mistaken by “scarcity is the real cause of this problem”, governments and institutions are starting to solve food shortage problems by increasing food production, while there really is an excess of food in some countries. Although the green revolution was a big success globally, hunger still exists in some countries. The author stated, “Large farms, free-markets, free trade, and more aid from industrialized countries, have all been falsely touted as the ‘cure’ to end hunger”. All of those are used to promote exports and food production, it doesn’t increase the poor’s ability to buy food he says. What the government really should do is to balance out the economy, and let more people earn more money to buy more foods.