How Much Food Is Enough In The World

Author: Ivan Red Jr. Time for reading: ~3 minutes Last Updated: November 04, 2022

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The environmental risks of food production and the problems of disposal of food waste are discussed in a new report prepared for the International Wildlife Fund (WWF). If the population of the Earth continues to grow as it is now, and the methods of food production and food preferences of people do not change, by 2050 this could lead to catastrophic consequences. The authors came to this conclusion

The ecological risks of food production and the problems of disposal of food waste are discussed in a new report prepared for the International Wildlife Fund ( WWF ).

If the population of the Earth continues to grow as it is now, and the methods of food production and food preferences of people do not change, by 2050 this could lead to catastrophic consequences. The authors of the report "The Global Food System: An Analysis" prepared by the research company Metabolic for WWF came to this conclusion .

The authors of the report draw attention to the serious environmental consequences of food production. Even now, 50% of the land where it is possible to grow vegetation is used for agriculture. At the same time, food production is one of the main factors that affects the environment, in many cases transforming it.

In general , 25-30% of all greenhouse gases that lead to anthropogenic climate change are released during food production. 69% of the water resources used by humans go directly to the needs of agriculture, while fresh water makes up only 3% of all water on Earth.

The development of technical means of catching, as well as the growing interest of consumers in seafood, lead to the fact that 90% of marine fisheries are already actively used. Which leads to the depletion of resources - in many places it will never be possible to restore wild populations.

Among the 5 largest food producers in the world are the USA, China, India, Brazil and Russia.

A third of all food in the world is thrown away

As the report emphasizes, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), currently 31% of food products are simply thrown away. Annual "losses" of food suitable for humans are estimated at 1.3 billion tons. There are 795 million people in the world who are chronically malnourished. Even a quarter of the food thrown away is enough to feed all these people.

Most of all food is thrown away in developed countries. So, for example, in Europe and North America, up to 300 kg of food spoils and is thrown away per inhabitant annually , and more than a third is disposed of by the consumers themselves. On other continents, the percentage of food that is thrown away is lower, and a smaller part of this waste occurs due to the fault of consumers. After all, food often becomes unusable even before it reaches the buyer - in warehouses and bases, in stores, during transportation, etc.

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Ways To Solve The Problem (Premium)

Ways to solve the problem (PREMIUM)

How to prevent an ecological disaster and at the same time not leave humanity without food ? WWF all over the world proposes to bet on sustainable development and the introduction of the ecological certification system. Such production standards have already been developed for soy (Round Table on Responsible Soy, RTRS), palm oil (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, RSPO), wild fish (Marine Stewardship Council, MSC) and aquaculture (Aquaculture Stewardship Council, ASC).

Agriculture, dietary preferences and food security are an integral part of solving the problem of reducing the burden on our planet, comments the senior coordinator of the WWF Green Economy program . For some reason, in the future, the international WWF family plans to make food one of the priority areas of its work. Their goal is to ensure that agriculture and aquaculture develop sustainably, without compromising biodiversity and taking into account adaptation to climate change.

However, not only food producers , but also consumers themselves can reduce the negative impact on food ecology. As part of the "Earth Time" campaign, WWF urges to follow a number of eco-tips in 7 areas, one of which is food . The Foundation suggests buying, first of all, local and seasonal products, because the transportation of food from other countries and parts of the world causes significant damage to nature. In addition, it is useful to consume more plant foods and less semi-finished products, the production of which consumes energy and resources.

How Much Food Is Enough In The World

CHAPTERS (Table Of Contents)

A third of all food in the world is thrown away

Ways to solve the problem (PREMIUM)

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