8:10am Tuesday 2nd February 2010
This week I was listening to Radio 4 around seven in the morning and I heard Government Chief Scientific advisor, John Beddington, discussing the challenges we face in feeding a growing world population. He said the solution is not a simple one but it doesn’t have to be high-tech and that current technology can be utilised. Key issues he states which need to be addressed in the developing world are infrastructure, education and access to seed. He also highlighted that food waste must be tackled as well in all countries, as you know food waste is one of my biggest concerns. Turning to the issue of whether not eating meat is a way to better food security he took the view that we have grasslands that cannot be ploughed and are ideal for grazing animals.
At the same time I heard that the Head of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, Jacque Diouf, said that the world must double food production by 2050 to ensure there is food for 9 billion people. Josette Shearan, head of the UN World Food Progam called for food security (access to sufficient food for all) to be put at the top of the agenda.
Surely reducing the food waste and looking at consumption must be a priority for the western world before we just blindly produce more and more food to be thrown away? And the ability to grow some of our own food where we can – and we know that most of us can do produce something ranging from a grow bag of salad leaves to a pig for the freezer where there is more land.
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