There’s a population crisis all right. But probably not the one you think

[GliderGuider]

This ties in with one of my personal hobbyhorses.

There’s a population crisis all right. But probably not the one you think

If we want to reduce our impacts this century, the paper concludes, it is consumption we must address. Population growth is outpaced by the growth in our consumption of almost all resources. There is enough to meet everyone’s need, even in a world of 10 billion people. There is not enough to meet everyone’s greed, even in a world of 2 billion people.

So let’s turn to a population crisis over which we do have some influence. I’m talking about the growth in livestock numbers. Human numbers are rising at roughly 1.2% a year, while livestock numbers are rising at around 2.4% a year. By 2050 the world’s living systems will have to support about 120m tonnes of extra humans, and 400m tonnes of extra farm animals.

Raising these animals already uses three-quarters of the world’s agricultural land. A third of our cereal crops are used to feed livestock: this may rise to roughly half by 2050. More people will starve as a result, because the poor rely mainly on grain for their subsistence, and diverting it to livestock raises the price. And now the grain that farm animals consume is being supplemented by oil crops, particularly soya, for which the forests and savannahs of South America are being cleared at shocking rates.

This might seem counter-intuitive, but were we to eat soya rather than meat, the clearance of natural vegetation required to supply us with the same amount of protein would decline by 94%. Producing protein from chickens requires three times as much land as protein from soybeans. Pork needs nine times, beef 32 times.

And a reprise of my graphic of the situation:

[eppur_se_muova]

1. "Hooved locusts", in Jeremy Rifkin's phrase.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122381.Beyond_Beef

[hunter]

11. That's a John Muir phrase, about sheep in the Sierra.

Sometimes I want to beat Jeremy Rifkin with a stick.

[eppur_se_muova]

14. He may have been quoting Muir, for all I can remember ...

I just remember it was the title of a chapter in his book which I read back in the Nineties.

[villager]

2. And yet few here question their voracious consumption of industrially-produced food

...or how supporting the corporations that make it serves to undermine the progressive values many putatively espouse

[zalinda]

3. Unfortunately

most of the food given out at food pantries across the country are industrially-produced. Poor people have very little choice in the matter.

Z

[villager]

5. Good point, though I was thinking of how people who have "food dollars" choose to use them

In other words, the choices made by those spending on food -- and propping up those corporations...

[GliderGuider]

4. Those of us who do question it largely lack the ability or funds to change the situation. nt

[villager]

6. Other than our personal choices, yes. But interesting how, outside certain subs here, the very

....thought or discussion of it tends to get shouted down, steak-and-beef as a birthright for the American diet, et al....

[GliderGuider]

7. We also face a problem with the human metabolism.

A lot of people, of which I am one, can only operate properly on a diet that consists mainly of animal fats and proteins. Eating a really healthy vegetarian diet that avoids most grains and root starches is both difficult and expensive, so people tend to fall back to Twinkies and Coke.

It's ironic that I, of all people, have to live on a diet that contains about 600 grams of meat a day. It's not my birthright so much as my death-avoidance strategy...

I try to eat very fatty meats, which means I'm probably getting about 100 gm of protein on an average day. I'm in ketosis all the time, so any excess protein is being converted to glucose through gluconeogenesis.

I'm two years into this diet, I've lost 50 lb, my BP and blood lipids have come back down to normal, my acid reflux has vanished, I no longer retain fluid in my legs and feet, and my moods don't swing and crash any more. Whatever I'm doing sure isn't hurting my body. My conscience is another matter, though.

Between 20% and 30% of the population suffers from this problem, defined as metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. Many people (I'm one) think that diets chronically high in starches (i.e. sugars) are the main culprit.

[villager]

8. Those are good points, so another question is --how to deliver animal protein in a "sustainable" way

...for the number of humans who need that diet?

Feed lots aren't the answer -- so what is?

[GliderGuider]

9. The short answer is, we can't.

The number of humans is massively unsustainable, so their dietary needs are even more so. That is, if we we're trying to preserve an intact biosphere - which is impossible anyway because of the damage we've already inflicted on it.

There is no good answer to the conundrum of the human presence on this planet.

[sue4e3]

12. essentially atkins , I have the same thing and I hate it

and I have very little choice if I eat carbs my legs swell and a whole host of other things come on very quickly. I am constantly trying to figure out a diet that coincides with my needs and my feeling about what my part is in the environment. it's a weakness of mine

[sue4e3]

13. I recently cut most meat ,and most sugar

I tried eating only whole foods it's not as good but not the worst, very close to a vegetarian atkins diet . It's difficult but duable

[Ghost Dog]

10. One reason why I chose to live on this island

in this archipielago - good locally-produced non-industrial food and generally clean environment. But not possible for most of our population. And much of the local economy depends on tourists jetting to & fro...

Political corruption prevents, so far, renewable energy development, where we have huge solar, wind, wave, geothermal potential. We need economic system change.