Asian Fruit Market - © hungerhunger blogspot.com

Global Food Supply Crisis Already Here?

I’ve been following the progress of the looming food crisis which could see the world unable to feed itself later in this century. But I was shocked to read a University of Guelph study that says we’re already suffering an overall food supply deficit – in the foods that we should be eating most of…

Fresh Veggies - © muccifarms.comFollowing current dietary guidelines – which feature eating more Fruits
and Veggies – could free up 50 million hectares / 123.55 million
acres of arable land to grow even more food.

Researchers at the University’s Arrell Food Institute say they’ve discovered a critical gap between official dietary recommendations for consumption of Fruit and Veggies and actual consumer habits.

“We simply can’t all adopt a healthy diet under the current global agriculture system,” said study Co-author Prof. Evan Fraser, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security and Director of the Arrell Food Institute. “Results show that the global system currently overproduces grains, fats and sugars, while production of fruits and vegetables and, to a smaller degree, protein is not sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of the current population.”

What they did…

Using the Harvard University’s simplified “Healthy Eating Plate” guide – which recommends that half of our diet consist of Fruits and Vegetables; 25 percent, Whole Grains; and 25 percent, Protein, Fat and Dairy – researchers at U. of G. calculated how much food there is available in the world and compared that with how many mouths we have to feed.

Researchers tallied the amount of land now dedicated to producing different kinds of food and how much would be needed if everybody followed the current official dietary guidelines. Then, they projected those numbers to 2050, by which time the world’s population could reach 10 billion.

What they found…

In short, there’s good news and bad news…

  • The world now produces 12 servings of grain per person, somewhat in excess of the recommended8 servings per day.
  • Five servings of Fruits and Veggies are currently produced, but the official recommendations call for 15.
  • There are only three servings of Protein produced instead of the recommended 5.
  • We get too much refined sugar: 4 servings a day when ‘none’ is recommended.
  • We also get too much Fat and Oil: 3 servings a day instead of 1.

What it means…

“What we are producing at a global level is not what we should be producing according to nutritionists,” Fraser told Food In Canada.

The skinny is: We’re producing too much Fat, Starch and Sugar and not enough Protein and Fresh Produce.

In particular, we are producing excess carbs (Starches, Grains) – probably because they’re easier to produce than other, more nutritious foods. And many poorer countries encourage and even subsidize production of these foods to ensure that their people will have full stomachs, regardless of the quality of the food.

Study Co-author Krishna KC notes, “Also, fat, sugar and salt are tasty and are what we humans crave, so we have a real hunger for these foods,” said KC. “All of these factors combined have resulted in a world system that is really overproducing these types of foods.”

And he adds, following official dietary guidelines and producing food accordingly would not only be good for us, but for the environment, as well: “If we do switch to nutritious diets, we would see a drop in the amount of land required to feed our growing population.”

How much less land? Fifty million hectares / 123.55 million acres less than we use now, because Fruits and Veggies take less land to grow than Animal Proteins, Carbs and Fats. That’s 500,000 sq. kilometres, or 193,000 sq. miles; an area almost the size of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona combined, which could be used to produce even more food.

Fraser concludes: “Feeding the next generation is one of the most pressing challenges facing the 21st century. For a growing population, our calculations suggest that the only way to eat a nutritionally balanced diet, save land and reduce greenhouse gas emission is to consume and produce more fruits and vegetables as well as transition to diets higher in plant-based protein.”

My take…

The fastest-growing populations on Earth are in Asia. But they’ve got the right idea about food, and have had for millennia. They eat far more Fruits and Veggies than we do, and mix their Rice with Beans and Lentils, to provide a complete dietary protein with no meat required. And their scientists are wt the forefront of developing Rice strains and other crops designed to resist climate change. The rest of us could take a cue from them!

~ Maggie J.