Preview

Threats to Global Food Supplies

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
620 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Threats to Global Food Supplies
2nd Draft
There are many threats to global food supplies. Explain the problem, identity possible solutions, and assess the implications of implementing these solutions.

Because of the increasing world population and the growth of the environmental problems such as global warming and acid rain, global food supplies meet great challenges to feed so many people especially those in economically richer areas wasting foods. A series of problems following food supply shortage like the competition of land, water and energy are also existed. This essay will look into these problems, provide some possible solutions and evaluate them.

World population is a constant problem since 1900(Horiuchi, 1992) and it still grows at least in the next 40 years. There is a forecast that there will be 9.2 billion people in the world of 2050 predicted by the Royal Society (Black, 2010). How to prevent people from starving is a much more serious issue than the global financial crisis. The climate change caused by human activities is also damaging the food supply system. Environmental problems such as global warming or acid rain are changing the land and water for food production, making some of them not suitable to produce food.

The global food supply shortage is not the only problem happening now, there are many other ones. A larger population means people need more space to live and more water to drink, then ecosystem is disturbed by human beings in order to survive. Beneficial species are decreased, while harmful insects and animals spreading diseases are increasing, making chemical and genetic pollutions also increased. How to increase the yield production with less land, water and energy is really a serious challenge for the next generation.

Possible ways to solve those problems are globally discussed, such as finding more arable lands as the traditional way, using science like biotechnology, genetic technology to increase yields and



References: Horiuchi, S. (1992) Stagnation in the decline of the world population growth rate during the 1980s. Science (pp.257, 761-765). Slaght, J.(2012) Diet and sustainability key to feeding the world: A food security report. In J.Slaght and A.Pallant.(Eds.),Reading and Writing Source book(pp.28-29). University of Reading, England: Garnet Education. Slaght, J.(2012) dealing with the situation. In J.Slaght and A.Pallant.(Eds.),Reading and Writing Source book(pp.28-29). University of Reading, England: Garnet Education.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Tittle Jonathan Foley’s essay “Can We Feed the World and sustain the Planet?” provides an incredibly bold path forward for solving multiple problems today that will only get worse over the next several decades. World hunger, population growth and environmental pollution are threatening our inhabitable regions, consuming natural resources and our ability to feed future generations. Today, nearly one billion people around the world are suffer from hunger with many not knowing where or when they will have their next meal. Foley explains With one out of seven people falling victim to hunger today, feeding the world will only become more daunting when the global population grows to nearly 9 billion by 2050.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Food security exists when all people, at all time have physical and economical access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active healthy life. Food security is a basic human right and is achieved through three essential components: availability, access and utilisation - preparation and consumption of food and the biological capacity of an individuals to absorb and utilise nutrients in the food they eat -. Shocks due to economic failures and human induced as well as natural disasters create food shortages that affect the region's population. Indigenous Island food are rapidly being displaced by highly processed imported food due to the modernisation-globalization process. Changes…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Chapters 1 and 2 of “Full Planet, Empty Plates”, Lester Brown argues that the world population is increasing and food is becoming more scarce. I agree with both of Brown’s arguments because the increasing world population correlates with the growing scarcity of food. Chapter 1 discusses the rise in food prices and scarcity of food. While food is becoming more expensive and scarce, people are becoming more hungry. As people cultivate more land, the soil becomes depleted, and is then harder to grow crops.…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The world population is currently 7 billion people. By 2100, the world population is predicted to be up to 11 billion people. The question that comes to mind is, “How will we feed a growing population and continue to maintain sustainable food production, while keeping waste to a minimum and how will affect developed and developing countries?” World hunger affects about 795 million people, and the vast number of the hungry in the world live in developing countries, but it also affects developed countries as well. Two possible solutions to feeding the growing population is to teach about the importance of food security and to improve food aid for developing countries.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The food security is a potential crisis to the world in terms of food supplies and food safety while the global population is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050 (Black, 2010). This essay, first of all, willjust focus on the threats to global food supplies from two main aspects: the threats caused by the objective factors in a broad sense, and the challenges attributed to the subjective factors which closely related to the human behavior.After the analysis of the problems, a number of feasible solutions will be suggested with the implications which will be further discussed accordingly.…

    • 831 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I choose worldwide hunger to discuss for our Chapter 11 assignment. I initially when I hear the words ‘Global Nutrition’ my mind automatically veers toward hygiene, food safety, or dietary needs. After reviewal of our materials for the unit, I’ve learned that on a global scale many countries struggle with food shortages; lack of food and water can have detremential effects on those suffering from it.…

    • 229 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    This paper is a discussion of a debate between Julian L. Simon, author of The Ultimate Resource, and David Pimentel et al., authors of the article "Impact of Population Growth on Food Supplies and Environment". The debate centers on the question: "Will the World Be Able to Feed Itself in the Foreseeable Future?" I will summarize each side's argument, identify the key point over which they most basically disagree, and explain what I would like to know more about in order to arrive at my own position on the issue.…

    • 1200 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Food scarcity is a serious problem the world is facing right now. In the past decades they have been avoiding this issue, but now it may be the reason for the downfall of the human race. As a civilization we have failed to deal with all these environmental issues for example eroding soils, water tables, rising temperatures, etc. These issues lead to food production problems. Costs of food keep rising at the same time death rates rise. Everyday there are more and more low-income countries are affected by the rising food costs because of trade and grain prices. The prices of food keep increasing because of different problems in the manufacturing of the food. Together, we must try to help scientist come up with solutions to save our only planet, before it’s too late.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The average American takes for granted the aisles of food with loaded shelves in grocery stores around the country. Elsewhere in the world and in Africa specifically, access to food can be a struggle of life or death. The FDA defines food security as a condition that "exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (Food Security USDA). With this definition, food security is very difficult to find in Africa. Many people do not have the “sufficient, safe and nutritious food... for an active and healthy life.” Although food security in Africa from 1900 to the present varies significantly throughout the continent, the ongoing efforts to create food security, along with obstacles, have changed over time.…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The idea of feeding a population of 9 billion by the year 2050 is daunting. Consider the United Nations’ estimate that 1 billion people in the world today are hungry. The average number of malnourished people worldwide between 1990and 2006 is 850 million with the high point of 1.023 billion hungry people, reached in the 2008 crises. Before we can determine if we can feed 9 billion people in 2050, is it not a better question to ask: “Have we met the needs of our current population?” Increases in population growth, higher food prices due to increased demand, and rising poverty levels both in the US and internationally are all obstacles that need to be controlled.…

    • 1279 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Food Sustainability

    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Food sustainability, on a worldwide scale, has become an increasingly large issue thus making it important. Often linked with poverty, unsustainable food environments are most evident in third-world countries such as Haiti and…

    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dewbre, Joe. "Food Security." Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD Observer.278 (2010): 22-3. ProQuest. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.…

    • 1860 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Social Wicked Problem

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Food demand is becoming a major issue among nations, and is only set to continue in the coming years, with an estimated 50% increase by 2030 (Toroczkai, et al 2012). Over consumption in the developed world has become a real issue for poorer nations who are struggling to provide basic food provisions for their people, Richard Black identifies that major governments need to start acting sooner rather than later.…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    World Hunger

    • 1750 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Have you ever thought about how much food the world wastes and how this increases world hunger? It has been proven that of all the food produced for human consumption, over one-third of it is lost during a year and over the 35% of that would feed all the people who lack food in the world (Gunders). The planet is experiencing times of great frustration with this. While the birthrate increases approximately one percent every year, the food just does not get to all the people (Gunders). World hunger is an ancient problem in the world, in which Asia and Africa have been experiencing increasing alarming rates of starvation that demands a solution. World hunger is not due to a lack of food, but rather a disproportionate population distribution and an inadequate mismanagement of supplies.…

    • 1750 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Food Sustainability

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Some scientists argue that there is enough food to support the world population, but critics dispute this, particularly if sustainability is taken into account. Many others say that “global population growth will cause a food, water, and energy crisis by 2030”. (Chapman, Heald) Population growth is the main driving force of agricultural demand. “As world population doubled from 3 billion to 6 billion, daily Calorie consumption in poor countries increased from 1,932 to 2,650, and the percentage of people in those countries who were malnourished fell from 45% to 18%.” (Chapman, Heald) The more people there are the greater amount of food that is needed.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays