Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
of the Food and Agriculture Organization; informed the directions of inter-govern-
mental negotiations on trade and assistance pakages; and led relatively educated
consumers to hange their diets quite dramatically (Scrinis, 2008; Dixon, 2009). At
times, nutrition science has prematurely recommended nutrient intakes with insuf-
ficient consideration of the possible dangers of over-consuming, including the FAO's
'protein crisis' of the 1950s, later called a 'protein fiasco' (Cannon, 2005). We are
not proposing that people had any understanding that the foods whih formed the
staple hunter-gatherer diet were generally nutritious in comparison to today's diet.
However, we suggest that this widespread nutritional ignorance has unwittingly
conditioned the global population to accept, with litle question, the mass-produced
food to whih so many people are now accustomed.
Climate hange, food yields and nutrient quality
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates, perhaps optimistically
(Butler, 2010), that in 2050 there will be more than sufficient calorific energy in the
global food supply (3050 kcal per person per day), although at the same time the
agency notes that the world will by then need 70 to 100 per cent more food than
today. (It is unclear if these food data are adjusted to exclude crops grown for ethanol
and other forms of bio-energy, suh as maize, soy, sugar and palm oil grown (Butler,
2009)). This unarguably reflects an understanding of a distinction between possibilit-
ies for dietary energy and quality. What it also reflects, however, is an expectation of
a 'business-as-usual' approah, in whih the recent trend of landless farms and the
intensification of animal production - relying on fossil fuel-intensive land clearing
and feed shipping - will continue.
Analysts working within the climate hange and agriculture ield already argue
that dietary quality is deteriorating, without considering the additional complexities
of hanged food processing. hey are further concerned that bio-physical resources
will reah critical thresholds. Climate hange is anticipated to afect all aspects of
food security: food yields, availability, quality, access and utilization values (Butler,
2010; Edwards
et al
., 2011). Most worrying is the fact that grain yields are growing at
slower rates. Of all grain crops, rice yields are increasing the most slowly - whih is
of particular significance given rice is a staple for about one third of the world pop-
ulation. In the case of maize, muh yield increase is being diverted to ethanol pro-
duction, in an unsustainable atempt to supplement petroleum supplies and mitigate
greenhouse gas emissions. As we write, the world is again experiencing record food
