Will we be able to feed 9 billion people in 2050?

Ever since Rev. Malthus's theory of population failed to produce the projected results, it has become mighty hard for people to be moved by 'The sky is falling' prophecies. It's amazing how many current surveys of society's perception of climate change, show that most people just don't believe it's an issue. 

Perhaps they are right. Most people in the field of energy will never suggest that the world is going to run out of energy. Energy economists, for instance, will stand by the theory of price. There are many energy sources available to us which are not viable today because of the costs of extraction and processing. When oil becomes scarce enough driving up it's price, alternatives like wind, solar, nuclear and wave energy which are just not being exploited their fullest potential in many places, will step in. Oil trapped in the tar sands of Canada (the largest reserve of petroleum in the world outside of Saudi Arabia) will be extracted. Crisis Averted.

So why should they listen when it comes to food? Well, because there are no known substitutes for food. And whilst we can give up our second cars, air-conditioning, etc. We just cannot give up food. We would die. Given my preamble, I guess it makes sense that I focus on not whether we can feed 9 billion people in 2050, but how. Whilst a lot of the measures require government action, I will focus on what you and I can do to help food security, and the environment.

• Cut down on beef

I live in the desert. Water is an issue we are constantly grappling with. And yet 70% of consumptive water is used in cattle rearing. Previously, I would have balked at the statistic "It takes 24 liters of water to produce one hamburger". Today, I am more than willing to believe. Between cultivating hundreds of thousands of acres to feed them, cleaning them and cleaning up after them, processing them, etc. Cattle take up a lot of water. Keep your consumption of beef to the minimum. Substitute with chicken, fish (and surprisingly better on the environment), even pork. The resources spent on feeding them alone; water, land, time, etc. can all go towards growing food for humans; you and me. Eat fewer animal products. Grain and soya beans should be saved for people, and animals should only be kept on land which is too poor for crops.

• Minimize waste

Accorging to Hervé Guyomard of INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research), food amounting to 800 calories is lost per person per day as waste in richer nations. Save leftovers for the next day, eat bread crusts, stalks of vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, etc.

• Buy Local

Apart from the organic benefits of farmers' markets, etc., cosmetic requirements for food sold in supermarkets lead to a lot of farm produce going waste because they are too small, too big, oddly shaped, etc. for 'commercial' purposes. Make a walk of it. Meet your local farmers, haggle prices, your food will taste twice as nice knowing you did the environment and yourself some good.

Why not start with these and see how it goes? The truth is, we will probably not have 9 billion people to feed in 2050 if we all continue living like we are. If we did, we probably won't be able to feed them if they had our current dietary preferences or worse. (i.e. given ecological and technological constraints). The impact of 9 billion people on resources depends a lot on what we eat, now and then. Are you going to do something about YOUR contribution?

Blog Action Day

Today is Blog Action Day! This is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. This year's topic is water.(see website here - blogactionday.change.org) 

If you’ve never lived in a place where you had to walk miles to fetch water each morning, where harvested rain is the cleanest source of water you have, where you boil stream water and drink it although your neighbor was peeing in it when you were fetching the water, if guinea worm, bilharzias, cholera, typhoid, amoebic and bacillary dysentery all sound like exotic diseases to you, you’ve probably never truly realized the value of water and are wondering what the fuss about water is.

www.samaritanspurse.org

If you don’t have to worry about toning your arms because drawing water from the well does that for you, if you've walked miles to fetch water from a well or bore-hole before, if you've bathed with water you've been scared of, if you’ve mastered ways of softening hard water without a single chemistry class, you probably know too well what I am referring to…

By mass, human cells consist of 65–90% water. Approximately 90% of plasma (which constitutes about 55% of human blood) is water.  Human beings can go months without food but can only last three days without water before your kidneys fail and your whole system starts to fail. If I’ve still not convinced you that water is important, think of all the things you do with water – drink water, cook with water, wash (clothes and dishes) with water, you name it...

True, 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. Yet, only 3% of this is fit for human consumption. Of this 3%, two-thirds is frozen (ice caps and glaciers), leaving only about 1% available for consumption. The remaining 97% covering the earth’s surface is salt water, which cannot be used for drinking or agriculture (hence, the whole hullabaloo about desalination). If all the earth's water fit in a gallon jug, available fresh water would equal just over a tablespoon.

According to the UN, 50% of all hospital beds worldwide are occupied by patients who are ill from contaminated water. In the developing world, water related diseases account for 80% of all sickness and claim around 5 million lives each year. In such areas, 60%-70% of the rural population neither has access to safe usable water, nor any satisfactory means of waste disposal. Presently, over 1.1 billion people lack access to improved water supply and this number is set to climb to 2.3 billion by 2025.(Source: stocksandblogs.com)

So yes, water is VERY important. If you have clean, potable water, you are blessed and shouldn’t waste it. It’s amazing how easy it is to take water for granted. Brushing our teeth with the taps running, having sex in the shower with the water still running (I see you!) using the dishwasher to wash three plates at a time… You know what you do!

Water on Earth is finite. We will never get more than what we have now and yet, population will continue to grow. This is a call for awareness, a call to conserve our water resources. How? 
Wash your fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap; turn off the tap after wetting your tooth-brush, Monitor your water bill for unusually high use. Your bill and water meter are tools that can help you discover leaks… check out more tips here (http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/index.php)

http://www.chrf.org/images/dirtywater.jpg

P/S: If you want to make the world a better place for those who have no potable water, find an organization that does so and support it. Also, click to sign the petition on my blog. Have a wonderful day!