Today , some of us wake up to a full meal while nearly 1 billion others wake up to nothing in the developing side of the world . An estimated number of 3.1 million children under five die each year due to poor nutrition and yet , population continues to grow rapidly showing no signs of stability especially in poor nations . The unfortunate facts state that the population will double and reach 9 billion by mid-century. Increased population means higher human activity , higher consumption rate and further environmental degradation , all which will impose pressure on Earth's ability to provide our basic needs . In other words , Earth's resources are not expected to be doubled with the population which means that the global food system will …show more content…
As a matter of fact , policies can help make farming more sustainable and help overcome many issues regarding food security . For example , some farmers use inefficient irrigation wasting vast amounts of water and many other farmers apply more fertilizers than plants can use . These excess nutrients run off fields and pollute rivers and lakes, and the cost of the damage caused to the environment is considered a negative externality meaning that the cost is not compensated by the producers .This can be regulated by setting out policies that will make farmers and other producers pay for the things they use from the environment . Another way is to pay farmers for ecosystem services , for instance , the European Union has established policies that will pay farmers extra for maintaining wildlife habitat and biodiversity . This is actually a useful idea because it encourages farmers to contribute to ecosystems and biodiversity which are vital for food security and nutrition . A third way is to tax pollution or waste . This is a useful policy that will allow consumers in the west who throw out a huge amount of the food to become more efficient . But while such approaches may sound beneficial , they might result in …show more content…
Climate change , water scarcity, energy consumption , and increased population are the main challenges that impact the global food system today and they require immediate action plan before things get out of control . An important action plan that can help enhance Earth's productivity is to apply science and use appropriate technologies such as the famous technology of genetic engineering , soil-conservation , and better management of agricultural productivity . One of the major causes of poverty and hunger in the world is due to the unequal distribution of food which is a serious conflict that needs be solved through the reduction of food losses and consumption of meat products and by empowering women to do small scale farming in Africa. .The third aspect or strategy focuses on establishing a robust legal framework to regulate food sustainability by restraining agriculture from destroying the environment . We can only imagine the consequences of overpopulation by 2050 severely affecting food security if it is not well-managed . Therefore ,we need to remember that the path our world takes in the future depends on the choices we make
Pollan, however, believes that animal welfare should be espoused by allowing animals to live free-range and follow their natural instincts. Pollan and Hurst are also concerned with protecting the environment, but disagree on what the best avenue of protection is. Pollan believes that the environment would be better protected if animals were put back on farms and raised organically (370). Hurst believes that industrial farming practitioners are sufficient in their efforts to protect the environment because they are conscious of the effects industrial farming has on the environment, and they take steps to reduce the harm it could have on the environment, such as monitoring nitrogen levels. The authors, despite their differing views on the best way to accomplish their beliefs, successfully convey their
At the Polyface farm, farmers let chickens loose in the pasture. When Pollan question Slatin (the owner), Slatin simply explained: “Birds follow and clean up after herbivores”. (170) This shows that local sustainable companies such as Polyface don’t use added fertilizer. Furthermore, farmers at Polyface lets chickens go out in the pasture to get the benefit of adding nitrogen.
The U.S. agricultural industry can now produce unlimited quantities of meat and grains at remarkably cheap prices. But it does so at a high cost to the environment, animals and humans”
This source comes from the magazine “Slate” which is known for arguing against Commonly held views about a subject’s one of them being food. The article “Food Deserts Aren’t the Problem” explains that giving the poor access to healthy food will not make the poor healthy. Heather Gilligan shows an insight to the things that cause poor people have a shorter lifespan than those with a higher income. The diet of the poor does not really change when they have access to healthier food manly because the healthier food is still to expensive.
Sadly its things that the everyday person would have never considered because they are at the receiving end of this food production. While this
I am choosing to examine and address the issue of “food deserts”. Food deserts are known as poor urban areas where the residents within the poor areas cannot purchase affordable, healthy food, the term food deserts was constructed to illustrate why policy makers need to look more critically at the nutrition difficulties in low-income areas (Cummins,2002). A gap in health is embedded into the interrelationship of racism, culture and the historical, economic, and political structures that make for the experience of African Americans and other racial and ethnic groups within the United States (Lewis et al., 2011). The primary concern of “food deserts” is that poor or rural areas do not have access to supermarkets, grocery stores, or other food
Michael Pollan’s alternative to Factory farming has given a huge insight into a better ethics on food. In “The Animals: Practicing Complexity” Michael Pollan writes about a polyface farm and how it works. The goal of a polyface farm is to emotionally, economically, and environmentally enhance agriculture. Everything on a polyface farm has the potential to be helpful to something else on the farm. Pollan states “The chicken feed not only feeds the broilers but, transformed into chicken crap, feeds the grass that feeds the cows that, as I was about to see, feeds the pigs and the laying hens” (Pollan 345).
In the US, 40% of food produced, or approximately 365 million pounds of food, is wasted each day. Food waste, however, is a problem that extends beyond America, affecting billions of people as a global issue. The overwhelming amounts of food that are being discarded contribute to global warming and climate change, and prevent the massive number of hungry people from being able to eat nourishing meals. Humanity as a whole must be more mindful of the Earth and its health, as we are the source which most directly affect it. Due to the profound environmental impacts of food waste, a reduction in the amount disposed is necessary to create a more sustainable environment, and humans have a responsibility to protect the planet, even if it requires drastic changes to the current food system.
Kalista Cook Miss Grimes College Composition II 9 February 2023 Persuasive Techniques Used by McKay Jenkins and Anna Lappe The topics of food sustainability and agricultural awareness are incredibly important. Authors McKay Jenkins and Anna Lappe bring awareness to these topics in their articles Can GMOs Be Sustainable and The Climate Crisis and the End of Our Fork. In these articles, the authors address the negative impacts of the food and agriculture industry. More specifically, they attempt to educate on the importance of creating environmentally conscious eating habits.
The farms are apt to adopt the monoculture in order to maximize profits. Under the mono farming method, the major environment threat is vanishing species. Pollan takes George Naylor’s farm as an example to illustrate the noticeable ecological change under corn subsidy. George’s farm used to be diverse and practiced crop rotation farming method. However, the situation changed from the 1950s, farmers accepted government subsidies to grow corn.
Every 6th person in America doesn 't have enough food to eat to stay healthy. Everyone knows how people take food as granted, or how much food they waste and even knowing how to help the helpless but don 't. People like me want to help people, so we decided to sell lemonade and raise money to donate canned goods for people in need. About 40% of food in America is thrown away, roughly 20 pounds per person. The amount of food we waste, we alone can stop world hunger all together. The point is eat wisely and don 't be afraid to save food for the people in need.
As Patel himself states, we need to get inside the hourglass and make the food system work for all of us, as farmers, producers, distributers, and consumers as a whole. Regardless of the confusion a first time reader may run across, this book does one thing undoubtedly right: it makes you think long and hard about everything you thought you knew about food. It goes far past GMOs and RoundUp, way beyond HFCS and the overproduction of soybeans, over and above those who are stuffed and those who are starved. Throughout the span of the novel, Patel not only helps you realize that there are many issues in our food economy, but also makes you feel how vital it is to take back what we did not even realize had long been
If our future generation has less food, people from all over the world will suffer from starvation. They will not only suffer from the lack of food, but also from the disease that pollution causes. Our world will become something so frightening and unsuitable for any living
Literature Review: Theoretical Approaches, Empirical Studies, Analytical Concepts and Legal Frameworks Theoretical Approaches towards food security With respect to the theoretical approaches to food security, there are three theories developed in 1970s and 1980s as cause to food insecurity. The first one is Climate theory; this theory explains food insecurity as caused by climatic phenomena. Cox, related this theory with the concept of “famine belt” in which he directly links climate condition to food insecurity. This theory argued that in the national or local level, climate linked phenomena such as drought, floods and others are a major factor causing food insecurity (Cox, 1981, cited in Steven Engler,
According to the royal society, between1930 and 2010 the world’s population grew from 2 billion to 6.8 billion ,so the Continuing population causes a consumption growth and that means the global demand will increase over the next years and growing competition for land, water and energy will increase too(Black, 2010). Growth of population will affect on some countries ability to produce food especially in the poor developing countries, so improved nutrition is central to improved income generation, poverty reduction, and provide a good food quality. Lack of food quality has an impact on mother’s nourishment because they are more likely to give a birth, so mothers which are malnourished later will give birth of babies with a less healthier, growth retardation are associated with reduced physical activity, impairment of