The global food crisis

With the many issues facing the world today, we often forget to pay attention to the long lingering problems, which may be the most critical of all. The growing world population and relatively stagnant growth in food production is predicted to threaten a long-term global food crisis that could have disastrous consequences.

We hear a lot about food shortages. Yet, there is enough food for everyone on the planet, however. According to the United Nations Food and Health Organization, if you divide all the food produced today equally by all the people in the world, we’d each be able to eat about 2,700 calories per day. So why is it that people are still going hungry, with an even larger crisis yet to come?

This looming crisis was explored in an event held by the Manitoba Alternative Food Research Alliance (MAFRA) with Dr. Evan Fraser (University of Guelph) at the University of Manitoba on Feb. 11, 2013. Fraser was interviewed by students and staff of the U of M as well as the general public regarding his video “Feeding Nine Billion” (feedingninebillion.com), which analyzes the causes and potential solutions of the impending global food crisis. Fraser identified a four-part framework to address how to feed a growing world population, which included technology, distribution, policy and regulation, and local food systems.

When asked about the importance and the efficacy of making change through government policy and regulation Fraser replied, “I have optimism that meeting full reform is possible but it’s a slow process [ . . . ] I have been back in Canada about two and half years now and my experience thus far has been that the corporate sector is very interested in these issues and is taking proactive steps, which have surprised me. Unsurprisingly the local food movement is energetic and vigorous and there is this amazing grassroots movement wherever I visit.”

“There are lots of food scientists working on appropriate technologies [ . . . ] I have very little good things to say about our regulatory process. I have been engaged in both provincial and federal policy-making in the last two years and I feel quite discouraged about the way I have invested my time and whether it has been at all fruitful. There is a huge stumbling block; I think that we have a great grassroots and a great community and good science but the policy and regulatory area is lagging pretty far behind and that’s sad to me.”

One member of the audience challenged Fraser on the lack of detail regarding food waste reduction as an important solution. Dr. Fraser responded that he had wrestled long and hard with putting food waste into his video, because it’s such a large topic.

“The British Society of Mechanical Engineers put a report out about three weeks – one month ago [ . . . ] They confirmed that about 50 per cent of food is wasted. In the developed world most food is wasted at the retail and consumer end.”

Fraser indicated that food distribution issues are a huge challenge needing much effort. While discussing distribution issues, Fraser alluded that there is much reform needed in this area as well.

“The USDA and United Nations have said that our current stores are going to be insufficient to buffer us from a big price bite if next year’s harvest proves bad [ . . . ] we have terrible distribution so although there technically is enough food, the people who need it the most don’t have to ability to command it.”

In Manitoba, a very serious distribution concern exists today. Dean Rennie from the U of M explained that a striking 3,720 kgs of fish are estimated to be thrown away as bycatch (caught unintentionally) daily in the Lake Winnipeg commercial fisheries. This number was retrieved from a survey where 21 per cent of fishers responded admitting the large amount of fish they throw away. The reason for this is because whitefish is sold for $1.50/kg and pickerel is sold for $4.00/kg. A limit is set on the number of fish that can be caught. It is not financially feasible for the fishermen to keep the whitefish and giving it away is illegal. Although it is illegal to throw away the fish as well, fishermen are finding they have no other choice but to do so. A campaign focused on helping develop local food systems and addressing distribution issues is being hampered by government regulations and inertia in the industry.

At our current rate of resource use, we are setting ourselves up for a major future crisis. Food waste at the domestic, retail, and industrial levels amount to an astonishing amount of wasted resources. Rising populations and our rich diets, which require a lot more resources than they used to, are increasing our demand for food. Scientists figure we’ll need 50 per cent more food by 2050. The rising demand is coming precisely at the same time as high energy prices and climate change are making food harder and more expensive to produce.

Fraser says in his video, “We have the solutions. All we need now is the will to act on them.”

The Manitoban