{"id":8375,"date":"2019-01-31T17:25:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T16:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=8375"},"modified":"2019-01-31T17:25:02","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T16:25:02","slug":"feeding-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=8375","title":{"rendered":"Feeding the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pumpkins\"<\/a>Feeding the world in the future has been in the news recently.\u00a0 The UN Food and Agriculture organisation (FAO) has called for a transformation in global agriculture towards healthy eating and the Lancet medical journal have brought out two reports on eating sustainably.\u00a0 What is intersting is that the Lancet has linked the global health crisis (obesity and linked health disorders) to the climate crisis.<\/p>\n

The Lancets’ recommended diet involves huge cuts in meat production (and therefore consumption) and a huge drop in consumption of sugars.\u00a0 This general idae ahs been summarised in the past by food writer Micheal Pollen some years ago thus;<\/p>\n

” “Eat<\/b> food<\/b>, not too much, mostly<\/b> plants<\/b>.”<\/p>\n

The problem with the Lancets recommendations for every person per person per day on the planet is that quantities are either small (29g chicken) or fractional (one fifth of an egg).\u00a0 This makes sense scientifically (per year) but is hard to get your head around in practice.<\/p>\n

We potentially face huge issues in doing all the above whilst feeding a lot more people whilst not using oil\/gas.\u00a0 Which of course is finite.\u00a0 Briefly what are the alternatives.<\/p>\n

Food waste.<\/strong>\u00a0 Around 30% of global production is wasted.\u00a0 In the developing world it tends to be in the field.\u00a0 In the developed world in the fridge.\u00a0 Pros.\u00a0 An obvious solution that would at least buy time.\u00a0 Cons.\u00a0 Easy in theory but hard in practice to bring about.\u00a0 Also the waste could be used for biogas which could be used an energy source.<\/p>\n

Conventional “Western” agriculture.<\/strong>\u00a0 Pros.\u00a0 Has led to huge increases in food production since WWII.\u00a0 Has saved whole continents from famine.\u00a0 Cons.\u00a0\u00a0 Relies on farm machinery and fertilizer.\u00a0 Very energy intensive at every stage, fertilizer uses enormous of gas to produce (covered in our book<\/a> in more detail).\u00a0 The use of fertilizer had led to severe soil and water courses.\u00a0 It had led to many now talking about peak soil as it literally washes away.\u00a0 Expensive kit.\u00a0 Huge greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n

Organic production.<\/strong>\u00a0 This makes up only very low percentages of food bought in the US and UK.\u00a0 Organic producers have to follow a strict set of rules and the use of pesticides and antibiotics is severely limited.\u00a0\u00a0 Pros.\u00a0 Good for the planet.\u00a0 Cons.\u00a0 Onerous and controversy rages over productivity and whether there are more nutrients in organic food.\u00a0 Lots of rules and expensive to register with inspections.\u00a0 Still uses oil to a certain extent.<\/p>\n

Semi-organic.<\/strong>\u00a0 This the approach that my co-author Andy has been taking.\u00a0 Exactly as its name suggests using less of the fertilizer\/pesticides but being less strict about it.\u00a0 Pros.\u00a0 Both these and completely organic producers are more likely to use heritage varieties of animals\/plants.\u00a0 These have advantages with diseases.\u00a0 Cons.\u00a0 Still only semi-sustainable.\u00a0 Still uses oil to a certain extent.<\/p>\n

Permaculture.<\/strong>\u00a0 Hard to describe but involves using the land in a very specific and targeted way (the best use of land that is sunny\/shaded\/sheltered organically).\u00a0 Pros.\u00a0 Potentially sustainable.\u00a0 Cons.\u00a0 Quite specialised and more of a way of thinking and culture. Organic but still uses oil to a certain extent.<\/p>\n

Biodynamic.\u00a0<\/strong> Involves doing things like planting according to the cycles of the moon, organically.\u00a0 Pros. No hard evidence that its works although its proponents reckon it does.\u00a0 Cons. Niche. Organic but still uses oil to a certain extent.<\/p>\n

Small farms.<\/strong>\u00a0 About 80% of the world’s food is produced by small farms which make 90% of the 570 million farms worldwide.\u00a0\u00a0 Pros.\u00a0 The FAO sees these farmers as the key to any transition.\u00a0 Cons.\u00a0 Many smallholders are loosing land by people stealing it.\u00a0 Hard to communicate new ideas and many such farmers are resistant to new ideas.\u00a0 Still uses oil to a certain extent.<\/p>\n

Technology.<\/strong>\u00a0 We have covered this on the blog recently.\u00a0 Basically uses robots and drones.\u00a0\u00a0 Has elements of permaculture to it in that the land is intensively mapped both in terms of topography and soil type, pest monitored using drones\/robots.\u00a0 Pros.\u00a0 Not organic but allows lower use of pesticides\/fertilizer\/water.\u00a0 Cons.\u00a0 Has to be still pretty energy intensive.\u00a0 Job losses for those who work on land.\u00a0 Still uses pesticides\/fertilizer.<\/p>\n

We face huge issues in feeding the world.\u00a0 One area of encouragement to leave you with.\u00a0 There is increasing evidence to suggest global population may peak at a far lower level than had previously been thought.\u00a0\u00a0 Fertility rates are plunging.\u00a0 In most developed countries they are well below replacement levels (including in the UK).\u00a0 The only continent with vary high fertility rates is Africa but even these are falling.\u00a0 Falls in population bring other economic challenges but in general terms from a sustainability perspective are to be welcomed.\u00a0 On that note…<\/p>\n

Neil<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Feeding the world in the future has been in the news recently.\u00a0 The UN Food and Agriculture organisation (FAO) has called for a transformation in global agriculture towards healthy eating and the Lancet medical journal have brought out two reports … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[253,104,54,53],"class_list":["post-8375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-peak-oil","category-uncategorized","tag-feeding-the-world","tag-food","tag-food-miles","tag-food-security"],"yoast_head":"\nFeeding the world - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=8375\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=8375\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=8375\",\"name\":\"Feeding the world - 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