1.End the scandal of edible food going to waste
2.Almost half of the world's food thrown away, report finds
3.Food produced globally is enough to feed almost double the existing population
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1.End the scandal of edible food going to waste
The Independent (Letters), 12 January 2013
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/letters-end-the-scandal-of-edible-food-going-to-waste-8448648.html
The news that half of all food in the world is thrown away (report, 10 January) blows rather a large whole in the GM companies' latest campaign to convince people that their technology is required to feed the world. These figures illustrate that it is the market system of distribution that is at fault for food shortages, not a failure of production.
The GM companies are after control of the food chain, pure and simple. Once they have achieved this, prices will be set even more according to companies' bottom lines. It is time to dismiss their arguments once and for all and set about redistributing the food now being produced to the people who live on this planet.
Paul Donovan
London E11
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2.Almost half of the world's food thrown away, report finds
Rebecca Smithers
The Guardian, 10 January 2013
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/10/half-world-food-waste
*Figures from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers show as much as 2bn tonnes of food never makes it on to a plate
As much as half of all the food produced in the world – equivalent to 2bn tonnes – ends up as waste every year, engineers warned in a report published on Thursday.
The UK's Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) blames the "staggering" new figures in its analysis on unnecessarily strict sell-by dates, buy-one-get-one free and Western consumer demand for cosmetically perfect food, along with "poor engineering and agricultural practices", inadequate infrastructure and poor storage facilities.
In the face of United Nations predictions that there could be about an extra 3 billion people to feed by the end of the century and growing pressure on the resources needed to produce food, including land, water and energy, the IMechE is calling for urgent action to tackle this waste.
Their report, Global Food: Waste Not, Want Not, found that between 30% and 50% or 1.2-2bn tonnes of food produced around the world never makes it on to a plate.
In the UK as much as 30% of vegetable crops are not harvested due to their failure to meet retailers' exacting standards on physical appearance, it says, while up to half of the food that is bought in Europe and the US is thrown away by consumers.
And about 550bn cubic metres of water is wasted globally in growing crops that never reach the consumer. Carnivorous diets add extra pressure as it takes 20-50 times the amount of water to produce 1 kilogramme of meat than 1kg of vegetables; the demand for water in food production could reach 10–13 trillion cubic metres a year by 2050.
This is 2.5 to 3.5 times greater than the total human use of fresh water today and could lead to more dangerous water shortages around the world, the IMechE says, claiming that there is the potential to provide 60-100% more food by eliminating losses and waste while at the same time freeing up land, energy and water resources.
Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the IMechE, said: "The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering. This is food that could be used to feed the world's growing population – as well as those in hunger today. It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that were used in the production, processing and distribution of this food."
In order to prevent further waste, governments, development agencies and organisation like the UN "must work together to help change people's mindsets on waste and discourage wasteful practices by farmers, food producers, supermarkets and consumers," the IMechE said.
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3.Food produced globally is enough to feed almost double the existing population, Mr Mark Lynas
Devinder Sharma
Ground Reality, 9 January 2013
http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/where-is-problem-with-food-production.html
Pardon my ignorance. After all the ruckus over the 'switching-over' of environmentalist Mark Lynas into the folds of GM industry, I had to make an effort to find who we are talking about. It took me some time to Google search. I now know what the fuss is all about.
I must acknowledge that I had never heard his name before nor have I ever read him. Likewise, I am sure he has never heard of me. That's fair enough.
What drew my attention was the heat generated at the Oxford Farming Conference. Speaking at the conference, Lynas was quoted as saying "research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggested the World will require 100 per cent more food to feed the maximum projected population adequately.." This is a common argument that has been doing the rounds ever since the first GM tomato was released in the market.
Well, what population projections are we talking of? The planet today hosts 7 billion plus people, and all estimates point to a population of 9 billion in 2050.
Now, let us look at how much food is available. Only a day before I looked at the USDA calculations. It annually prepares what is called as World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates. If you read the 2012 estimates (here is the link: http://www.usda.gov/oce/commodity/wasde/latest.pdf) it tells us clearly that in 2012 the world harvested 2239.4 million metric tonnes, enough to feed 13 billion people at 1 pound per day. And what is the population projection for the year 2099 that the National Academy of Sciences made? I am not aware. But there is certainly no reason to worry about 2099, and instead let's look at the year 2050, which is much closer and realistic. In other words, even at present the world produces enough to meet the food demand that is expected in 2050 and I am sure has enough for the turn of the century (even if the global population touches 13 billion by 2099).
In other words, the world food production today is good enough for double the present population. So where is the crisis on the food front? Aren't we scaring people unnecessarily or with an ulterior motive?
The real problem no one wants to address is the problem associated with food management, its access and distribution. It is true that while the West is overfed (because of the conversion through animal protein), much of the developing world remains hungry. While one part of the world is eating more, the rest of the world is left to starve. What makes it still worse is that more than a third of the food that is produced every year goes waste. In United States, Canada and Europe, 40 per cent food is wasted. For example, Americans waste $ 165 billion worth of food every year. Food wasted in Italy, if saved, can feed the entire population of hungry in Ethiopia. (See my article: The wastage myth. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/289771/wastage-myth.html).
It doesn't require any 'discovery of science' to know where the real problem lies, Mr Mark Lynas. The problem is not with food production. The problem is, as I said earlier, on the distribution front. If the world were to save the food that is going to waste, and distribute it judiciously, we would probably have enough food available every year to meet the needs of the population in the mid of the next century. The international leadership as well as the biotech industry should instead put all their efforts into cutting down on food wastage. And believe me, this will keep a cap on global warming, and also help in restricting any further damage to the soils, water and the environment.