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Food Supply & Human Future
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ironhajee
Posts: 384 Member
in Debate Club
Hey MFP,
Let's also discuss this topic casually,
Given our rapid reproductive growth as a society and it's projection to hit over 10 billion population in "x" ammount of time, and the rate of deforestation and the slaughter of animals and the vicious cycle that society is handcuffed too, does food run out at some point?
It's a finite world we live in.
It's like that movie Infinity Wars where Thanos has to kill 50% of the universe so that the rest can continue to live.
Or like INTERSTELLAR where food sources stop growing completely and all that's left was corn
Although unrealistic .... food security may not be a concern for our generations but certainly in the years to come given our patterns of consumption will become an inevitability. Does the younger generations then realize the mistakes of our forefathers and transition gradually into more plant based nutrition sources and divert more towards reinforcing our agricultural industries (we are already seeing a growing movement towards vegan and vegetarian diets based primarily for morality but also couple with health benefits)
I myself eat both (plant and animal) but the question does make you think about it.
What are your thoughts about food scarcity
Let's also discuss this topic casually,
Given our rapid reproductive growth as a society and it's projection to hit over 10 billion population in "x" ammount of time, and the rate of deforestation and the slaughter of animals and the vicious cycle that society is handcuffed too, does food run out at some point?
It's a finite world we live in.
It's like that movie Infinity Wars where Thanos has to kill 50% of the universe so that the rest can continue to live.
Or like INTERSTELLAR where food sources stop growing completely and all that's left was corn
Although unrealistic .... food security may not be a concern for our generations but certainly in the years to come given our patterns of consumption will become an inevitability. Does the younger generations then realize the mistakes of our forefathers and transition gradually into more plant based nutrition sources and divert more towards reinforcing our agricultural industries (we are already seeing a growing movement towards vegan and vegetarian diets based primarily for morality but also couple with health benefits)
I myself eat both (plant and animal) but the question does make you think about it.
What are your thoughts about food scarcity
7
Replies
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Insects are the answer.9
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L1zardQueen wrote: »Insects are the answer.
Hmm..0 -
A lot of previous discussion on the same topic here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10667802/how-long-can-society-sustain-its-growing-population/p1
Animals are a renewable food source. They reproduce. They also provide renewable food sources on their own, such as chickens/eggs.
I don't see any moral superiority or documented health improvements from a vegan/vegetarian diet. I don't see anything wrong with it if that's what somebody chooses, but "morality" in this sense is a subjective individual decision. Any diet is as "healthy" or "unhealthy" as somebody chooses to make it.
I'm not sure genocide would be a morally or logistically feasible strategy. Seems a bit extreme. Definitely not healthy for at least 50% of the population, either....It's like that movie Infinity Wars where Thanos has to kill 50% of the universe so that the rest can continue to live...13 -
A lot of previous discussion on the same topic here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10667802/how-long-can-society-sustain-its-growing-population/p1
Animals are a renewable food source. They reproduce. They also provide renewable food sources on their own, such as chickens/eggs.
I don't see any moral superiority or documented health improvements from a vegan/vegetarian diet. I don't see anything wrong with it if that's what somebody chooses, but "morality" in this sense is a subjective individual decision. Any diet is as "healthy" or "unhealthy" as somebody chooses to make it.
I'm not sure genocide would be a morally or logistically feasible strategy. Seems a bit extreme. Definitely not healthy for at least 50% of the population, either....It's like that movie Infinity Wars where Thanos has to kill 50% of the universe so that the rest can continue to live...
Still better than Chipotle.15 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »A lot of previous discussion on the same topic here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10667802/how-long-can-society-sustain-its-growing-population/p1
Animals are a renewable food source. They reproduce. They also provide renewable food sources on their own, such as chickens/eggs.
I don't see any moral superiority or documented health improvements from a vegan/vegetarian diet. I don't see anything wrong with it if that's what somebody chooses, but "morality" in this sense is a subjective individual decision. Any diet is as "healthy" or "unhealthy" as somebody chooses to make it.
I'm not sure genocide would be a morally or logistically feasible strategy. Seems a bit extreme. Definitely not healthy for at least 50% of the population, either....It's like that movie Infinity Wars where Thanos has to kill 50% of the universe so that the rest can continue to live...
Still better than Chipotle.
I just saw a thread about Chipotle! Someone said it's like poison.
* Eats burrito while typing*5 -
100_PROOF_ wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »A lot of previous discussion on the same topic here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10667802/how-long-can-society-sustain-its-growing-population/p1
Animals are a renewable food source. They reproduce. They also provide renewable food sources on their own, such as chickens/eggs.
I don't see any moral superiority or documented health improvements from a vegan/vegetarian diet. I don't see anything wrong with it if that's what somebody chooses, but "morality" in this sense is a subjective individual decision. Any diet is as "healthy" or "unhealthy" as somebody chooses to make it.
I'm not sure genocide would be a morally or logistically feasible strategy. Seems a bit extreme. Definitely not healthy for at least 50% of the population, either....It's like that movie Infinity Wars where Thanos has to kill 50% of the universe so that the rest can continue to live...
Still better than Chipotle.
I just saw a thread about Chipotle! Someone said it's like poison.
* Eats burrito while typing*
In the future, it will be delivered to you by a drone: https://www.abc10.com/article/tech/mind-blown-drones-to-deliver-chipotle-burritos/3157492664 -
A lot of previous discussion on the same topic here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10667802/how-long-can-society-sustain-its-growing-population/p1
Animals are a renewable food source. They reproduce. They also provide renewable food sources on their own, such as chickens/eggs.
I don't see any moral superiority or documented health improvements from a vegan/vegetarian diet. I don't see anything wrong with it if that's what somebody chooses, but "morality" in this sense is a subjective individual decision. Any diet is as "healthy" or "unhealthy" as somebody chooses to make it.
I'm not sure genocide would be a morally or logistically feasible strategy. Seems a bit extreme. Definitely not healthy for at least 50% of the population, either....It's like that movie Infinity Wars where Thanos has to kill 50% of the universe so that the rest can continue to live...
There was also a thread by @bpetrosky on some of the newer farming technologies that was interesting. I couldn't seem to find it yesterday.2 -
I image maybe a few hundred years from now we'll be sitting down to a plate of little white cubes, one will be roast chicken flavoured, another peas, another potato.. all synthetic.. yummy
3 -
Food insecurity is for the most part the results of capitalism. There's more than enough food to feed the planet, but since most of us don't have the means to grow or rear our own, we have to rely on the food producers, which are increasingly multinationals who set their own prices and will happily destroy or hoard food to keep profit margins high. We have food mountains that could keep millions of people alive, but companies won't release their surplus because it will drive prices down, and they're in business to make profit, not feed people for free. Veganism won't solve world hunger. Plants take up a lot of land and gargantuan amounts of water. If you don't have enough water to irrigate enough crops to feed people, or the soil is too poor to support crops, you have to pay for crops to be brought in. If you're living at a subsistence level you may not have that option. Then it may be more sustainable to feed what little crops you have to your animals and use them for meat, which in that instance would be a more nutritious food source. Food insecurity will only be resolved once everyone has ready access to all food at all times. If that sharing model isn't implemented, it doesn't matter if plant based eating becomes the default. There would still be people who could never be able to do it.11
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100_PROOF_ wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »A lot of previous discussion on the same topic here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10667802/how-long-can-society-sustain-its-growing-population/p1
Animals are a renewable food source. They reproduce. They also provide renewable food sources on their own, such as chickens/eggs.
I don't see any moral superiority or documented health improvements from a vegan/vegetarian diet. I don't see anything wrong with it if that's what somebody chooses, but "morality" in this sense is a subjective individual decision. Any diet is as "healthy" or "unhealthy" as somebody chooses to make it.
I'm not sure genocide would be a morally or logistically feasible strategy. Seems a bit extreme. Definitely not healthy for at least 50% of the population, either....It's like that movie Infinity Wars where Thanos has to kill 50% of the universe so that the rest can continue to live...
Still better than Chipotle.
I just saw a thread about Chipotle! Someone said it's like poison.
* Eats burrito while typing*
In the future, it will be delivered to you by a drone: https://www.abc10.com/article/tech/mind-blown-drones-to-deliver-chipotle-burritos/315749266
That would be awesome!
I'm just wondering if it'll really stay hot though?
I'll be eagerly awaiting the burritos from the sky!4 -
If you're worried about the food running out then why are you trying to discourage people from eating Chipotle and dying from food poisoning?? Natural selection....
But seriously, there is still debate as to whether vegetarianism is actually that much better for the environment than an omnivorous diet. As the situation stands, this is less a question of "what should we eat?" and more of a question of "how can we reduce food waste and the carbon footprint of the supply chain?"
The problem is that we want variety and we want things that don't necessarily grow in our area. So you'll never be able to limit everyone to only those plants and animals that are native to their immediate area. Canadians would never see another avocado. A majority of the world's population would never have wild caught seafood.
So fix the overall farming and distribution methods and then we can talk about which diet is more appropriate.
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Soylent Green is people!
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It's estimated that we will reach 9.7+ billion people by 2050. Most world authorities believe 10 billion is the tipping point to earths capacity. Even in the case of maximum efficiency, in which all the grains grown are dedicated to feeding humans (instead of livestock, which is an inefficient way to convert plant energy into food energy), there's still a limit to how far the available quantities can stretch. "If everyone agreed to become vegetarian, leaving little or nothing for livestock, the present 1.4 billion hectares of arable land (3.5 billion acres) would support about 10 billion people," (The 3.5 billion acres would produce approximately 2 billion tons of grains annually, he explained. That's enough to feed 10 billion vegetarians, but would only feed 2.5 billion U.S. omnivores, because so much vegetation is dedicated to livestock and poultry in the United States. (Harvard University sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson).2
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It's estimated that we will reach 9.7+ billion people by 2050. Most world authorities believe 10 billion is the tipping point to earths capacity. Even in the case of maximum efficiency, in which all the grains grown are dedicated to feeding humans (instead of livestock, which is an inefficient way to convert plant energy into food energy), there's still a limit to how far the available quantities can stretch. "If everyone agreed to become vegetarian, leaving little or nothing for livestock, the present 1.4 billion hectares of arable land (3.5 billion acres) would support about 10 billion people," (The 3.5 billion acres would produce approximately 2 billion tons of grains annually, he explained. That's enough to feed 10 billion vegetarians, but would only feed 2.5 billion U.S. omnivores, because so much vegetation is dedicated to livestock and poultry in the United States. (Harvard University sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson).
Orrrrr we become cannibals
I knew running fast was gunna benefit me someday.5 -
I don't have to be faster than them...just faster than you...lol
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Nahhh...all this will take care of itself. A massive solar flare, billions would starve. Anarchy. An extinction level asteroid? Hey isn't it about time for another Spanish flu outbreak? 70-90% of the world won't be able to outrun that. Doesn't matter. I have a luxury bunker complete with interdimentional portal and I'm takin' you with me...3
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slimgirljo15 wrote: »I image maybe a few hundred years from now we'll be sitting down to a plate of little white cubes, one will be roast chicken flavoured, another peas, another potato.. all synthetic.. yummy
Nah Jo, it will be more like Transformers as human-cyborgs will require large glowing cubes of energy for sustanence1 -
Hey MFP,
Let's also discuss this topic casually,
Given our rapid reproductive growth as a society and it's projection to hit over 10 billion population in "x" ammount of time, and the rate of deforestation and the slaughter of animals and the vicious cycle that society is handcuffed too, does food run out at some point?
It's a finite world we live in.
It's like that movie Infinity Wars where Thanos has to kill 50% of the universe so that the rest can continue to live.
Or like INTERSTELLAR where food sources stop growing completely and all that's left was corn
Although unrealistic .... food security may not be a concern for our generations but certainly in the years to come given our patterns of consumption will become an inevitability. Does the younger generations then realize the mistakes of our forefathers and transition gradually into more plant based nutrition sources and divert more towards reinforcing our agricultural industries (we are already seeing a growing movement towards vegan and vegetarian diets based primarily for morality but also couple with health benefits)
I myself eat both (plant and animal) but the question does make you think about it.
What are your thoughts about food scarcity
Many years ago, governments charged food scientists with the task of making calorie dense foods full of preservatives for the reason you stated.
Now we deal with an obesity epidemic in places like Africa.
Extreme poverty worldwide has been reduced 50%. It took 5 years, once the UN determined it was one of their goals.
For all the negativity about pesticides, non-organic farming produces larger yields, which is why they did it in the first instance.
There are two things to consider that isn't directly related, but may give some insight:
Chernobyl and glass beach, North Carolina.
After the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, the unihabitable land is thriving with wildlife 30 years later.
In North Carolina, a polluted beach that was a garbage dump had a clean up effort - the large applicances were removed, but the broken glass remained. The surf has smoothed over the glass over the years, turning it into jewlery quality stones covering the beach and creating a colorful landscape in the water which has attracted a large number of fish who now make glass beach their home. It is so beautiful, it is now a tourist attraction.
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