FEEDING THE WORLD
THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS Even though there are more and more mouths to feed, there is currently enough grain being produced to feed everybody. The main problem is not the amount of food, but the ways in which the world's grain harvest is being used and distributed. CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY There are a lot of reasons why many poor people do not get enough food-including conflicts, political corruption, the widening gap between rich and poor, climate change and the high price of oil. But one major new element is the increased use of land to grow biofuels. Using fertile soil to grow crops to create fuel, instead of to feed people, is clearly a luxury the world cannot afford. The United Nations has described it as 'a crime against humanity'. Yet a far greater luxury we cannot afford is meat. Seven times as much grain is currently fed to animals to produce meat than is used to create biofuel. Instead of adding to the amount of food available, meat simply creates even more mouths to feed; those of farmed animals. They are fed no less than half of the world's harvest. |
WHY IS MEAT WORSE? The 'return' is extremely poor. It takes roughly eight kilograms of grain to produce one kilogram of beef and two kilos are required for one kilo of chicken. More meat means that land is devoted to growing grain to feed the rising number of farmed animals, when it would make far more sense to grow food that humans can eat directly-grains, pulses, legumes,nuts, vegetables and fruits. As resources become ever more scarce, experts now agree that the human population must rely more upon a plant-based diet. Patrick Wall, chairman of the European Food Safety Authority, questions whether it is 'morally or ethically correct' to be feeding grain to animals while 'people starve'. The Health Editor of The Independent newspaper states that 'to maximise food production it is best to be vegan'. |