Academic-English-Diet-and-sustainability-key-to-fe

Text5aDietandsustainabilitykeytofeedingtheworld:AfoodsecurityreportOneofthegreatestproblemstheworldfacesisfoodsecurity.Starvation,malnutritionandassociatedhealthandwelfareproblemscanbestbeaddressedbyasystematicpolicyofeducationandresearch.Graveconcernsaboutfoodsecurityhavesurfacedforanumberofreasons.Firstly,therehasbeenapopulationexplosionAccordingtotheRoyalSociety,between1930and2010theworld'spopulationgrewfrom2billionto6.8billionnow,withaprojectedpeakof9billionby2050(Black,2010).Afurthermajorcauseforconcernistheimpactonfoodproductionofclimatechange,broughtaboutbyglobalwarming.Populationgrowthandclimatechangewillmeanthereisanincreasingshortageofwaterandoflandforfoodproduction,andthereforemorecompetitionfortheseresources.Whilethreatstoglobalfoodsecurityarenumerousandaffectbotheconomicallydevelopedandless-developedcountries,itisthepeopleofthelatterwhoarelikelytofeelthemostimpact.Vastnumberslackbasicfoodrequirements:atleast1billionpeopleareundernourishedand2billionsufferfrommicronutrientdeficiency.Conversely,1.2billionareoverweight.Anenvironmentalexampleoftheimpactoffoodproductionmismanagementonecosystems,andthewiderimplicationsofthis,canheclearlyseeninthecaseofdrasticdeclinesinbirdspecies.Forexample,inEuropeandNorthAmericapopulationsofspecialistbirdspecies-thosethatareadaptedtoliveinspecificenvironments-havefallenbyanestimated30%over40years.Thishasbeenattributedatleastpartiallytotheimpactoffarming,especiallywhenthisinvolvesasinglecroptypebeinggrownoveralargearea.Infact,astudybyStanfordUniversitybiologists(Sekercioglu,Daily&Ehrlich,2004)concludedthatby2100，10%ofallbirdspecieswerelikelytodisappearandanother15%couldbeonthebrinkofextinction.Thisdramaticlossisexpectedtohaveanegativeimpactonforestecosystemsandagricultureworldwide,andwarnedthatitmightevenencouragethespreadofhumandiseases.ThelatterpointissupportedbyreportsofadramaticfallinvulturenumbersinIndia,allowinganupsurgeinnumbersofratsandferaldogs,whichspreaddiseasesthataffecthumans(seeSwanetal.,2006;BirdLifeInternational,2008)，Thevulturepopulationcrashisattributedmainlytopoisoningbyhighconcentrationsofdiclofenac,adrugusedtotreatfarmanimals.Thebirdsingestthedrugwhentheyfeedontheanimals’carcasses.Thechallengesinvolvedinaddressingtheproblemoffoodsecurityarecomplex.Partofthesolutionisincreasingthepotentialoffoodyields,buttheapproachmustbesustainable.Producersandconsumersoffoodmustplayamajorroleinallthisandtakeresponsibilityintermsofchoosinghowfoodisproduced,usedandconsumed.Reducingtheamountofwasteinthefoodproductionsystemisoneapproachtoimprovingfoodsecurity.However,infuturethejourneyfromarmtoplatealsoneedstobeorganisedmoresystematicallyandglobally.Aparticularproblemareahereistheimportingintoeconomicallydevelopedcountriesofexoticfruitandvegetables.Thiscanhaveanegativeimpactonfoodsecurityintwoways.Firstly,importing(andespeciallyair-freighting)freshproducefromoverseaslocationscansignificantlyincreasethecarbonfootprintoffoodproduction,contributingtoglobalwarminganditsassociatedproblems。Secondly,ifgrowersinlesseconomicallydevelopedcountriesswitchtoproducingfruitandvegetablesforexport,thiscoulddisplacelocalstaplecrops,resultinginworseningdietsforwhatmaybeanalreadymalnourishedpopulation.Afurthersolutionistomanagecropproductiontoboostyieldsofsomecropsincountrieswithtemperateclimates.However,climatechangecouldalsocauseshiftsinseasonalpatternsthatputcropsoutofrhythmwiththeinsectsthatpollinatethem,orcouldincreasethelikelihoodofextremeweathereventsdamagingthedevelopingflowersthatareessentialforthecrop.Thereisastronglikelihoodthatdietswillincreasinglybedependentonanimalsourcesofprotein,butfarmersdonotnecessarilyadoptpracticesthatleadtothefulfilmentofpotentialyield.Helpingthembecomemoreefficientoffersafurthermeansofaddressingthefoodsecurityissue.Anintegrated，systemicapproachtotheproblemsoffoodsecurityhastobedeveloped.Thisincludesencouragingagri-foodresearch,withthemosttechnologicallyadvancedcountriesdirectingtheirattentionandresearchfocustowardsdealingwiththeproblem.Inaddition,aglobalapproachisneededandspecialistresearchinitiativeswillneedtohelpwithintegratingthefood-securityresearchundertakenbynon-specialistinstitutions.ReferencesBirdLifeInternational(2008;April30).Vulturecrisisdeepens.RetrievedOctober31,2011,from八ulturededines.htmlBeddington,J.(ed.)(2011).Foresightreport:Thefutureoffoodandfarming.Challengesandchoicesforglobalsustainability.London:GovernmentOfficeforScience.RetrievedDecember22,2011，from(2010,July12).GlobalpopulationstudylaunchedbyRoyalSociety.BBCNews.RetrievedDecember21,2011,from(2004).Ecosystemconsequencesofbirddeclines.ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences.101(52),18042-18047.Swan,G.,Naidoo,V,Cuthbert,R.,Green,R.E.,Pain,D.J.,Swarup,D.…&Wolter,K.(2006).RemovingthethreatofdiclofenactocriticallyendangeredAsianvultures.PLoSBiology.4(3),e66.Tif