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Page added on December 16, 2016
Expert warns it takes 200 gallons of water to feed one person
- Expert says ‘human jawbone is the most destructive implement on the planet’
- One meal requires over 200 gallons (800L) of water, 22 pounds (10kg) of topsoil
- Food production must double within the next 50 years to meet the world’s needs
As humanity continues to grow at a staggering rate, the resources needed to feed the global population are becoming ever scarcer, experts warn.
A single meal requires over 200 gallons (800L) of water and a loss of roughly 22 pounds (10kg) of topsoil, and food production must double within the next 50 years to meet the world’s needs.
This is according to Julian Cribb, author of ‘Surviving the 21st Century,’ who warns that humans must ‘reinvent’ the way we get our food – or risk famine, war, and mass migration.
A single meal requires over 200 gallons (800L) of water and a loss of roughly 22 pounds (10kg) of topsoil, and food production must double within the next 50 years to meet the world’s needs
Cribb revealed the grim predictions during an international soil science conference in Queenstown, New Zealand today.
His book, ‘Surviving the 21st Century,’ presents evidence for the ten greatest threats to humanity, and the ways we can combat them.
It’s published by leading science publisher Springer International.
’10 kilos of topsoil, 800 litres of water, 1.3 litres of diesel, .03g of pesticide and 3.5 kilos of carbon dioxide – that’s what it takes to deliver one meal, for just one person,’ says Cribb.
‘When you multiply it by 7 to 10 billion people each eating around a thousand meals a year, you can see why food is fast becoming the challenge of our age.
‘The human jawbone is now by far the most destructive implement on the planet.
‘It’s wrecking soil and water, clearing forests, emptying oceans of fish and destroying wildlife as never before – but fewer people realize it because of long industrial food-chains that hide the damage from them.’
According to Cribb, the world is currently losing roughly 75 billion tonnes of soil each year, and the problem is getting worse.
In the last 40 years alone, it’s thought that we’ve lost a third of the world’s soil.
The author also points to water shortage as a looming threat, with a recent study from the UN warning that global water demand could exceed supply by 40 percent by the 2030s.
To prevent negative effects on the climate and the risk of famine in megacities, he says food production will largely have to move indoors, and into the cities, through these methods
‘Governments and consumers fail to grasp that scarcities of soil, water, oil, nutrients, technology, fish, and finance are now acting in sync – and are being amplified by climate shocks,’ Cribb said.
‘Together they pose a major threat to world food security – and to world peace.
‘These are the drivers of dramatic change in what and how the world eats, where it comes from, and how it is produced.’
Cribb says the next few decades will bring a boom in local food production, including cultivation of new crops, recycling of water and nutrients in cities, urban agriculture, the use of soil microbial activity, and carbon farming.
Along with this, he says there will be a rise in soil-less aquaponics systems and biocultures, protected cropping, and algae farming.
Julian Cribb, author of ‘Surviving the 21st Century,’ warns that humans must ‘reinvent’ the way we get our food – or risk famines, wars and mass migration
To prevent negative effects on the climate and the risk of famine in megacities, he says food production will largely have to move indoors, and into the cities, through these methods.
‘All this sounds like a big threat – and it is. But only if we are unprepared for it,’ Cribb said.
‘Reinventing food will in fact create vast new industries, jobs, and opportunities for communities around the world – and the smart ones will be leaders in this, The Age of Food.
‘Furthermore, by transferring the bulk of food production to cities we can reverse the 6th Extinction by rewilding up to 24 million sq kms of the planet under the wise stewardship of farmers and indigenous peoples.
‘Food is one of the most creative acts which humans perform. How well we do it will define the future of our civilization.’
12 Comments on "Expert warns it takes 200 gallons of water to feed one person"
Dredd on Fri, 16th Dec 2016 1:44 pm
“Cribb says the next few decades will bring a boom in local food production”
“By volume, more than 95 percent of U.S. international trade moves through the nation’s ports and harbors” (Why Sea Level Rise May Be The Greatest Threat To Civilization – 5).
curlyq3 on Fri, 16th Dec 2016 4:52 pm
Howdy Peak Oilers, the author states “that humans must ‘reinvent’ the way we get our food – or risk famine, war, and mass migration.” Humanity has never concerned itself with the consequences of it’s collective behavior. The risk of famine, war, and mass migration is a natural part of the human experience.
curlyq3
Hubert on Fri, 16th Dec 2016 5:17 pm
All countries must make an effort to reduce it’s population, especially the countries that are stealing the most from the poor.
makati1 on Fri, 16th Dec 2016 5:59 pm
Another dreamer full of techno fixes that will never happen. His stats for food growing are close, but he uses a lot of “assumptions” in his fairy tale. No mention of energy realities, economic realities, timeline needed, or scale. Another denier in drag shoveling bullshit to the gullible masses in bulk.
Sissyfuss on Fri, 16th Dec 2016 11:04 pm
His reasonings are based on the false assumption that we naked apes are a rational breed capable of working together en masse. Not gonna happen.
Midnight Oil on Sat, 17th Dec 2016 7:51 am
Thought one cup of coffee required 200 gallons of water!? Let’s face it, those bottom feeders will have an edge in the bottleneck. As Jesus said…meek will inherit the earth.
As a matter of fact, read an account of Stalingrad in WWII. Surprisingly, the German prisoners after the defeat and capture who survived were the scrawny, ruts that required minimum calories to keep going.
That leaves out about 95% of all American coach potatoes.
There will be justice after all.
Danny on Sat, 17th Dec 2016 10:56 am
But the average american can survive nine months only on reserves?
Sissyfuss on Sat, 17th Dec 2016 12:46 pm
“How humans will eat in the future.” Very infrequently.
penury on Sat, 17th Dec 2016 6:29 pm
I presume he is talking about upper middle class Americans. How much of that water is black or gray? As a youth I was the water supplier for the house. There were five people in the house, Trust me two ten gallon pails was about the most that I carried in most days. Okay the cow used about fifty gallons a day, the horse went through about twenty five and I never tried to track the sheep, but I think the author is including rain during growing.
makati1 on Sat, 17th Dec 2016 6:55 pm
“…the total amount of water needed – to produce ONE POUND of beef is 1,799 gallons of water; one pound of pork takes 576 gallons of water. As a comparison, the water footprint of soybeans is 216 gallons; corn is 108 gallons.”
“To be clear, raising a beef cow takes more resources because a typical beef cow in the US eats thousands of pounds of the above-listed corn and soybeans during its lifetime. Of course, the cultivation of field crops that are eventually fed to beef cattle require huge amounts of water, fertilizers, fuel to power farm machinery, land for farm fields and so forth. It all adds up.”
“The second reason for meat production’s great resource intensity is due to its immense scale. Globally, there is a projected “food animal” population of over 20 billion, more than twice that of the current seven billion humans the planet carries”
https://foodtank.com/news/2013/12/why-meat-eats-resources/
A lot of future vegetarians, I think.
Kenz300 on Sun, 18th Dec 2016 5:33 am
Too many people demand too many resources.
Maybe the problem is unsustainable population growth.
Cloggie on Sun, 18th Dec 2016 5:41 am
10 kilos of topsoil, 800 litres of water, 1.3 litres of diesel, .03g of pesticide and 3.5 kilos of carbon dioxide – that’s what it takes to deliver one meal, for just one person,’ says Cribb.
Diesel was invented by, you guessed it, Rudolf Diesel, in 1892.
We should embrace 1892 as the new date of the dawn of mankind, as per the Daily Mail. Because, you see, without diesel no food.
Where would we be without the Daily Mail in our daily mail.
Too many people demand too many resources.
I would swear that I heard that one once or twice before.