Food availability evaluates the amount of food going through manufacturing and it's eventual distribution and consumption by the general public. There are several factors that the issue of food availability within the United States (and around the globe) depends upon. These varying factors are: efficiency, resilience, connectedness, coherence, and diversity (according to www.fao.org). The efficiency of a country's production of food relies on the skill of producers, and also the rate at which a nation can produce food. In terms of the factor of resilience, this means that a country can only produce as much as it can sustain from environmental hazards going on (if any), or the current state of it's economy during the point of food production (according to www.fao.org). Similarly, coherence is also an important factor in determining a nation's food availability. This involves how the people within a country contribute to providing enough food through contributing financially, but also caring about the needs of others as well. In short, all of these issues are crucial to developing a nation that can produce enough food and sustain it's availability for it's people.
It may not be known to some people, but the food being produced around the world is becoming less varied. What does this mean? Well, some types of food are becoming more common while others are becoming less common. For example, according to fao.org, in 2008 rice, wheat, and maize (corn) made up 90.1% of the global grain production. Out of these three grains, maize (corn) made up 33.4% of the global production of grains. This shouldn't come as a surprise though, as most products here in the United states have corn as an ingredient. To add to this, we are one of the world's biggest producers of corn. In fact, as of 2005, the United States produced 42% of the world's corn (according to www.soyatech.com). However, we were not the only nation (and still are not the only nation) that contributes to this spike in corn production. Other countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Canada trail right behind us (according to soyatech.com). To make matters worse, in 2050 the environment and consumption in general is going to change drastically. According to fao.org's prospects, our food production will equal our usage and there will be a 65% consumption increase from 2000-2050. Yeah, so not a positive looking situation in the future by any means.
After researching the basic definition of food availability and then looking into it's statistics across the globe, I was honestly shocked. It is crazy to learn that Americans eat 5 times as much as a person in India, in terms of food grains (according to statistics by the U.S Department of Agriculture). What is even more concerning is that by the time the year 2050 comes rolling along, India is expected to be the most populous country in the world. On a different note, the environment is coming to take a toll due to our unjust production methods and waste produced as a byproduct. For example, by 2050, marine fisheries will be 52% utilized, and 32% will be overused (according to fao.org). Given that there are about two billion tons of fish biomass in our oceans (according to phys.org), there are going to be immense problems faced given the detrimental statistics on marine fisheries. My biggest question is why the media isn't talking more about these issues. If things are as bad as researchers and scientists are saying then why are we not being exposed to what is going on? I understand that some people may not want to hear about the grim future, but there should at least be more advertisements of some sort to educate the general public about these issues. My opinions aside, there has to be something done about our food production, distribution, and methods around the world.
It may not be known to some people, but the food being produced around the world is becoming less varied. What does this mean? Well, some types of food are becoming more common while others are becoming less common. For example, according to fao.org, in 2008 rice, wheat, and maize (corn) made up 90.1% of the global grain production. Out of these three grains, maize (corn) made up 33.4% of the global production of grains. This shouldn't come as a surprise though, as most products here in the United states have corn as an ingredient. To add to this, we are one of the world's biggest producers of corn. In fact, as of 2005, the United States produced 42% of the world's corn (according to www.soyatech.com). However, we were not the only nation (and still are not the only nation) that contributes to this spike in corn production. Other countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Canada trail right behind us (according to soyatech.com). To make matters worse, in 2050 the environment and consumption in general is going to change drastically. According to fao.org's prospects, our food production will equal our usage and there will be a 65% consumption increase from 2000-2050. Yeah, so not a positive looking situation in the future by any means.
After researching the basic definition of food availability and then looking into it's statistics across the globe, I was honestly shocked. It is crazy to learn that Americans eat 5 times as much as a person in India, in terms of food grains (according to statistics by the U.S Department of Agriculture). What is even more concerning is that by the time the year 2050 comes rolling along, India is expected to be the most populous country in the world. On a different note, the environment is coming to take a toll due to our unjust production methods and waste produced as a byproduct. For example, by 2050, marine fisheries will be 52% utilized, and 32% will be overused (according to fao.org). Given that there are about two billion tons of fish biomass in our oceans (according to phys.org), there are going to be immense problems faced given the detrimental statistics on marine fisheries. My biggest question is why the media isn't talking more about these issues. If things are as bad as researchers and scientists are saying then why are we not being exposed to what is going on? I understand that some people may not want to hear about the grim future, but there should at least be more advertisements of some sort to educate the general public about these issues. My opinions aside, there has to be something done about our food production, distribution, and methods around the world.