Tackling global food shortages and GM crops
Posted by Ellee on Jan 24, 2011 in Blog, News | 6 commentsThe chances are I might not be around in 40 years time, but my sons will, and their children too. I want to know they are going to have food to eat. I also want to believe that others in the world will be able to eat as well.
According to a report by Sir John Beddington, the government’s chief scientist, called “The Future of Food and Farming“, that may not be the case. He has warned that the world is going to need 40% more food, 30% more water and 50% more energy by the middle of the century – at a time when climate change is starting to have serious environmental impacts on the planet, flooding coastal plains, spreading deserts and raising temperatures.
Global unrest could follow too; just look at this photograph (courtesy of Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters) after a supermarket has been looted in Honduras with the threat of rising food prices too. Can you, will your full belly, comprehend the desperate anguish of not being able to feed yourself and your loved ones? Desperate situations like this lead to desperate actions. As a civilised society we should not ignore the writing on the wall, or the benefits which thoroughly tested GM crops will provide in a world where almost a billion people are suffering serious food shortages and face starvation.
This is what Sir John says:
“It is unimaginable that in the next 10 to 20 years that there will not be a worsening of that problem unless we take action now, and we have to include the widest possible range of solutions.
“Around 30% of food is lost before it can be harvested because it is eaten by pests that we never learnt how to control. We cannot afford that kind of loss to continue.
“There will be no silver bullet, but it is very hard to see how it would be remotely sensible to justify not using new technologies such as GM. Just look at the problems that the world faces: water shortages and salination of existing water supplies, for example. GM crops should be able to deal with that.”
The media can help by being more responsible and not using the label “Frankenstein foods” which The Telegraph is guilty of today. It is intended to alienate the public and cause fear at a time when we need science and technology to feed the world.
*Do watch this video if have a moment. It puts in perspective the absurdity of our increasing obese population while others in third world countries face starvation.
It’s a very complicated subject but bizarre that obesity correlates with lack of wealth in the West. Do you blame that on government subsidies?
This is such complex issue. I am certain that advances in biotechnology have, and will continue to improve the efficiency of converting solar energy into consumable energy. There seems to be enormous unjustified prejudice against GM foods in this country whereas in America is is largely taken for granted.
I do not have an answer to the Malthus ideas that increasing food production results only in a growth in population so that there is no net benefit to society.
I agree that it is likely that before long there may be a crisis of global proportions and it make take something like that to bring humanity to its senses. I too fear for my grandchildren.
It’s an awful world in reality – our own society is a very fragile thing. In actuality the net sum of pleasure has always been outweighed by and infinitely larger amount of suffering in the animal kingdom. We are in danger – by facilitating future population explosions – of making the sum of human suffering far greater in the long term. For this reason – for it not to be counter productive – there cannot be such aid without there first being closely supervised governance and population control. Are we up to it ? Incidentally Britain is now too puny – in all respects – to even be thinking this way. The Chinese or Indians may have to take the lead on humanitarianism – that’s if they feel so inclined.
As for obesity and waste in Britain: the present shift in spending power from West to East should ensure that we begin to fully value food and moderate its use soon enough.
I feel sorry for the people who are suffering global food shortages. I hope I have plenty of money to help them. http://www.judithbassler.com/blog/global-food-shortage-the-truth-about-what-you-can-do.html
I’m with Disaffected on this – global population is most definitely a factor. i think Stanley Johnson wrote about this – there is debate on this though I don’t have links (sorry).
I’m not saying it’s a reason not to give but I have noticed appeals that feature small babies in an area where there is a 4 year famine.
The solution is not to grow GM crops .
There is actually enough food to go round ( but look at how we in the West throw it out never even used !!)
The problem is one of simply too many people on the planet.
Unless we sort that out by restricting populations ( as did China ) then no amount of tinkering will help.
There is no excuse now for huge families its just hopeless to allow people to have children they cannot then feed when we have such good means of birth control available.
Two only should be the guiding rule , it replaces the parents , nothing extra to burden the world with.