What Will Work:
Addressing the Criteria
In order to achieve food security for the future, further action must be taken.
Ultimately increased food production (Criteria 1) should be improved by addressing efficiency and sustainability (Criteria 3 and 4). Efficiency should be improved mostly through a mixture of improving technologies, but also by distributing those technologies so that all farmers can access them. This falls to groups and governments. Local governments and state governments need to take on the job that the UNFAO have been doing, by interacting with farming communities in order to educate farmers and improve production methods. In order to improve sustainability richer countries that overuse their farming resources need to be regulated, again by local and state government. For example, American farming communities who overuse fertiliser should be restricted in order to create a more controlled use of resources. With improved efficiency and sustainability, there will also be an increased production long into the future.
Distribution (Criteria 2) has been poorly addressed by most people involved, with the exception of the Bangladeshi government. However, distribution is a matter that must be addressed on a global scale. The best way to counter poor distribution is to create better transport services that can reach isolated communities. This would be the sort of thing that could be set up by a company, non-profit NGO or government. Another way to improve distribution would be to ensure that farming communities that already function in isolated areas, are actually maintaining and increasing their production so that all people in that area can be properly fed.
Food wastage (Criteria 5) is best addressed through education, and "recycling". Education of people would explain just how valuable food is, and how wasting it creates a much bigger job for producers. This is the kind of job that governments could get behind, however it falls to consumers to ensure that food they buy isn't wasted. Food recycling is similar to Feeding the Five Thousand or Ausharvest are doing. These groups go around collecting large quantities of food that restaurants throw out, despite it still being quite edible and then use it to feed people who wouldn't otherwise get a decent meal, in most cases, homeless people.
Over-consumption of food (Criteria 5 cont.) could be counteracted in the long-term through a worldwide change in diet. Using the statistic from the Individuals section of How Well Has it Worked? we can extrapolate that it would take approximately 32 quadrillion Btu to feed 9 billion people, the estimated population of 2050. It is theoretically possible to feed 15 times that population with the amount that is currently being eaten.
There are several ways this can be fixed, one of which being a world-wide change to a vegetarian diet. Vegetables take less energy to produce than meat, and could lower consumption levels and even create a healthier lifestyle for all those involved. Foods such as soybean and wheat gluten, appropriately textured, can even act as effective meat substitutes, especially when breaded or stir-fried (Brooks, 2012). Although not as protein-rich as their meat counterparts, equivalent quantities can still be produced significantly more efficiently than producing meat. Potentially the problem could also be solved with better distribution and significant food rationing, but the vegetarian diet offers a simpler, and more long-term way for people to reduce their caloric intake.
Ultimately increased food production (Criteria 1) should be improved by addressing efficiency and sustainability (Criteria 3 and 4). Efficiency should be improved mostly through a mixture of improving technologies, but also by distributing those technologies so that all farmers can access them. This falls to groups and governments. Local governments and state governments need to take on the job that the UNFAO have been doing, by interacting with farming communities in order to educate farmers and improve production methods. In order to improve sustainability richer countries that overuse their farming resources need to be regulated, again by local and state government. For example, American farming communities who overuse fertiliser should be restricted in order to create a more controlled use of resources. With improved efficiency and sustainability, there will also be an increased production long into the future.
Distribution (Criteria 2) has been poorly addressed by most people involved, with the exception of the Bangladeshi government. However, distribution is a matter that must be addressed on a global scale. The best way to counter poor distribution is to create better transport services that can reach isolated communities. This would be the sort of thing that could be set up by a company, non-profit NGO or government. Another way to improve distribution would be to ensure that farming communities that already function in isolated areas, are actually maintaining and increasing their production so that all people in that area can be properly fed.
Food wastage (Criteria 5) is best addressed through education, and "recycling". Education of people would explain just how valuable food is, and how wasting it creates a much bigger job for producers. This is the kind of job that governments could get behind, however it falls to consumers to ensure that food they buy isn't wasted. Food recycling is similar to Feeding the Five Thousand or Ausharvest are doing. These groups go around collecting large quantities of food that restaurants throw out, despite it still being quite edible and then use it to feed people who wouldn't otherwise get a decent meal, in most cases, homeless people.
Over-consumption of food (Criteria 5 cont.) could be counteracted in the long-term through a worldwide change in diet. Using the statistic from the Individuals section of How Well Has it Worked? we can extrapolate that it would take approximately 32 quadrillion Btu to feed 9 billion people, the estimated population of 2050. It is theoretically possible to feed 15 times that population with the amount that is currently being eaten.
There are several ways this can be fixed, one of which being a world-wide change to a vegetarian diet. Vegetables take less energy to produce than meat, and could lower consumption levels and even create a healthier lifestyle for all those involved. Foods such as soybean and wheat gluten, appropriately textured, can even act as effective meat substitutes, especially when breaded or stir-fried (Brooks, 2012). Although not as protein-rich as their meat counterparts, equivalent quantities can still be produced significantly more efficiently than producing meat. Potentially the problem could also be solved with better distribution and significant food rationing, but the vegetarian diet offers a simpler, and more long-term way for people to reduce their caloric intake.