Food Security

Discuss the current threats and possible solutions to food security.  Within your answer identify the problems associated with the possible solutions. 

The threat to food security is one of the biggest challenges the human race will face in the upcoming century.  Some of the main threats include world population growth, the increase for the demand for food, food price, and the disappearance of the variety of agricultural plant species.  There is also a limit to the available land to produce food on and an increase in the area of scarcity water.  

Over the past 50 years the global population has increased from 3 to 6.8 billion people.  This trend is predicted to continue in the future years creating a rapid growth of the world’s population.  With this increase in population there will also be an increase for the demand for food in the growing world.  According to the World Conservation Union, one out of every eight-plant species is at risk of extinction, because of loss of habitat, pressure from non-native species and over harvesting. All of these threats to food security need to be addressed in the upcoming years if the world wants to avoid a food crisis.  

Some possible solutions include increasing production and the access to food through a more sustainable agricultural system.  One problem with this solution being that the world would have to have farmers that were very successful at every level of production.  Even though this should be considered an optimistic goal it might not be reasonable to only focus on this when addressing food security.  

Another possible solution is for all of us to eat less meat.  Cutting back on the environmental and time costs of meat production would provide greater food security around the world.  Unfortunately one problem behind this possible solution is that as GDP’s across the globe continue to rise, people who weren’t able to eat meat before now use it frequently in their diet.  It would be a great day when everyone would cut back or even cut meat out of their diets, but I just do not see that happening any time soon.  

Relevant Websites:

1)http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jun/04/eat-less-meat-food-security

2)http://www.cargill.com/wcm/groups/public/@ccom/documents/document/na3059569.pdf

3) http://www.sustainabletable.org/280/food-security-food-access

4) http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/impact/food-security-livelihoods

5)http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/inet/images.nsf/vluimages/youth-and-children/$file/food-security-strategy-e.pdf

6) http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/susagri/susagri059.htm

Image Citations:

1)http://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Policy/China-lays-out-plan-for-global-action-on-food-security

2) http://www.paulchefurka.ca/Population%20and%20Food%20Production.html

3)http://agricultureworldsystem.blogspot.dk/2013/02/sustainable-agriculture-definition.html

4)http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jun/04/eat-less-meat-food-security