[dohboi]

http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw/

[ralfy]

To add to what Dohboi and others have written, we need to look at oil and other requirements for food production in light of food security. For example, one article points out that around a thousand tons of fresh water is needed to produce one ton of grains, that various food products in countries like the U.S. have to travel thousands of kilometers to reach consumers, usually through a JIT system where trucks and other forms of transport have to roll all the time, allowing for only around two weeks or so of food and even medical supplies for various towns and cities, etc.

[Graeme]

Climate change, severe weather affecting food prices and availability

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') severe drought in the U.S. this summer has food prices on the rise, with prices expected to increase as much as 4 per cent next year, according to a recent projection by CIBC. While that's only half the increase caused by the 2008 food crisis, it's double the national average. And with Canada only recently climbing out of a recession, the increase is particularly bad timing for lower-income families.

Food security experts currently working on the U.N.'s Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are warning of impacts beyond the U.S. drought, though.

"It has not been properly recognized yet that we are dealing with a food system here. There is a whole chain that is also going to be affected by climate change," said Dr. John Porter, a Professor of Agricultural Systems Ecology at the University of Copenhagen.


Even with a global population now in excess of 7 billion, population growth hasn't exceeded food production yet. However, as Porter points out, food production currently has three mouths to feed: people, biofuels and animals. "In my view we can have two out of those three and not all three," he said.
His suggestion: Switch to a more vegetarian diet.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')
The 2018 Global Report on Food Crises provides the latest estimates of severe hunger in the world. An estimated 124 million people in 51 countries are currently facing Crisis food insecurity or worse (the equivalent of IPC/CH Phase 3 or above). Conflict and insecurity continued to be the primary drivers of food insecurity in 18 countries, where almost 74 million food-insecure people remain in need of urgent assistance. Last year’s report identified 108 million people in Crisis food security or worse across 48 countries. A comparison of the 45 countries included in both editions of the report reveals an increase of 11 million people – an 11 percent rise – in the number of food-insecure people across the world who require urgent humanitarian action. Now in its third edition, the report is not a UN-owned publication but rather a public good, for