Many people say that there are simply too many people in the world to feed properly, but the real problem in feeding and supplying the world's population is extreme inefficiency. In actuality, there are more than enough resources available to sustain the world, and for a long time. But, those resources are not being developed or allocated well at all. There are many technologies available now that can severely reduce the environmental impact of industry, as well as produce significantly more of the things we need with significantly less impact on the earth. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the world is not using them. We mostly use the now relatively old, primitive technology because money talks, and it's still cheaper or more convenient for the world's producers to continue using it. Politics is the other big problem; people in impoverished countries live in desperately poor conditions with extremely corrupt governments, so even when they have plenty of resources available, they can't really access them or use them. There is no easy solution to this problem unfortunately, it's rooted in the very core of society. Corruption, short-sightedness, and inefficiency will always continue to happen in this world as long as the status quo remains. The real trick is to change the status quo.
It’s not that there is not food; the problem is that the distribution of food is unequal. People in “modern developed countries” throw away millions of uneaten burgers, vegetables, and so forth. Simply put its gluttony we eat with our eyes and not because we are hungry. I remember my mother telling me to eat everything on my plate because people in other countries did not have food and its true. If the world was a better place food would be shared equally between everyone not just the people who have more, eat more. Nature has to do its job there is no way that we can stop floods from happening in countries but what we can do is send the excess amount of food we do have over here and send it over there. We also need to diminish our dependency on oil because what is going to happen when the oil is gone, what else are we going to destroy. Instead of using oil let’s find another source that can be used while not depleting the world’s food source i.e. corn.
It’s not that there is not food; the problem is that the distribution of food is unequal. People in “modern developed countries” throw away millions of uneaten burgers, vegetables, and so forth. Simply put its gluttony we eat with our eyes and not because we are hungry. I remember my mother telling me to eat everything on my plate because people in other countries did not have food and its true. If the world was a better place food would be shared equally between everyone not just the people who have more, eat more. Nature has to do its job there is no way that we can stop floods from happening in countries but what we can do is send the excess amount of food we do have over here and send it over there. We also need to diminish our dependency on oil because what is going to happen when the oil is gone, what else are we going to destroy. Instead of using oil let’s find another source that can be used while not depleting the world’s food source i.e. corn.
Given that a vast majority of the world’s overpopulation is taking place in the poorest cities in the world, it’s safe to say overpopulation is occurring due to lack of education. Also with global warming changing the weather drastically, food is becoming less and less scarce. I believe the only solution for overpopulation is to educate people in third world countries about the effects of overpopulation and to provide them with free contraceptives. Which I believe is the main reason why these women have so many children. They are living in poverty so to buy contraceptives is a luxury to them. Now the most obvious solution for the over consumption of food in the US is to educate Americans on the effects that throwing away food has on people globally. How graphic and powerful these tobacco commercials have become, it’s opening the eyes of many smokers to the reality of smoking. So in my opinion the government should air these graphic and gruesome commercials on the scarcity of food, and the amount of people dying world wide due to lack of nourishment. Watching these commercials people will become more sympathetic towards wasting food, thus buying less food, equaling less production of it.
The world doesn't have infinite resources,we have over populated earth and will now have to pay the piper.It appears that the statement about technology being the death of us may well be valid. Take into consideration graft and political corruption and you have the spark for the inevetable solution for the thinning of the herd.Nature will attempt to re-establish a homeostatic balance, the problem today is that man has interfered with nature. Fret not however for the wrost is yet to come, greed will inevetably lead mankind into self distuction and sadly this may have already begun,Our economic crisis is but a taste of what is to come,I see this getting much worse before it gets better,in the end naturue will triumph. Alan
I believe that there is a lot of food in the world to sustain and feed everyone for a long time. But at the same time the reason why food prices are going high and some people aren’t able to get food is because food is just like oil. There is more food in certain areas of the world then there are in some. Just like oil, there is more oil in certain parts of the world then there is in some areas. Even though gas prices are through the roof; if you were to go to Venezuela right now you can buy a gallon of gasoline for $0.09 because a lot of oil is produced in that area. In developed countries it is difficult for there to be food scarce because they produce their own food. In the United States, Iowa, Idaho and Nebraska produce enough food to sustain the whole western hemisphere alone. The United States has a lot of food that one-third of its economy is the export of agriculture. What I’m trying to say is that the reason why people are starving and there is food scarce is because the distribution of food is corrupted and most underdeveloped countries can’t afford to buy food. Food companies don’t see themselves making profits in Sub Sahara Africa which is why the people there starve. How can the world be running out of food if there are more chickens and livestock in the world then there is humans?
To me, the problem is not the food production itself, although it might be scarcer and scarcer each day, but the distribution method: some getting so much and others so little. Of course this issue has to do with the social scale, but there’s a huge range between wealth and poverty , and I believe the entities responsible for each country should do something about it, for example providing essential needs to each individual, such as a meal, proper hygiene elements, a roof, medical assistance, etc. It’s easy to say that the world is over populated and that we should’ve done x instead of y, but we need to deal with the problems we are presented, and in this case it’s hunger. More than 13% of the world’s population do not get the amount of food to live decently, while first world countries consume and throw away as much as possible. I believe its time to set our eyes a little bit further than our stomach and for once think a little less about us and a little more about others. Jeronimo Gilardoni
well i may have the answer to our food production vs human population problems but you are going to overlook it because it is not a pleasant fact. The answer has occurred and is occurring as we sleep in our bed soundly. It is only three letters long, War. Yes, war is bad but like everything else this subject has it pros and cons. The cons are that people die, the economy can go down the drain, a revolution may start and so can a civil war, and chaos. Now the pros of war that no one ever is to look at it is population control, more employment, revolutions that can lead to greater governments, and in some cases the economy can be bolstered to bring life to the country, and many more. Sometime I wonder if we use the excuse of "war" just to control on how rapidly we are growing so we may stay as a stabled world. A little hint of the planning, the Chinese controlling on the birth rates of one child per family. I'm sorry if you may think this is offensive to any who may read this but if you look at it from a certain standing point, I can be right.
From what I have read so far it seems as if many people are taking a socialistic point of view towards the idea of overpopulation and hunger as well as its relation to sustainability. For those of you I question whether you meant to illustrate your point in such a way and if not where it stemmed from. For to make things EQUAL as so many of you keep repeating, things could never be the way they are now. Our governmental structure would have to change entirely, wars would have to end, jealousy be forgotten, and everyone on a global scale would have to come together to work as one with the overall goal to improve world life. When I say world life I refer to the world’s population as an equal community where everyone’s contributions are equally divided amongst the people. This idea although to some might not even sound bad I question when it relates to a governing system overall. It might work in terms of sustainability in relation to food but what about for example an I-pod. Do none of you get I-pods until everyone in the world gets one? And if it’s done in sections, who gets their I-pods first? What makes them so special? We all work just as hard. They got it last time first too. The topic of a maximum sustainable population alone however has myriads of influential aspects any of which overlooked could be detrimental. For example access and abundance of fresh water has a huge impact on hunger and population. Considering that only three percent of the water on earth is fresh and that 70 percent of that water is inaccessible not to mention how much of the accessible fresh water is polluted. This leaves according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) very little usable fresh water on earth. Twenty percent of fresh surface water for example is in one lake, Lake Baikal in Alaska. People need around eight cups of water a day to survive. This and knowing that 1/3 of the world’s population already lives in what are considered water stressed countries one has to think about when we will run out. The earth is a closed ecosystem for the most part. That is to say at least that water is not being sent from planet Drip Drop when were running low. This alone places a potential cap on population numbers. In some places water has already become more expensive than soda. This for example is true in Mexico and India. Continued… -Christopher Jackson
It is hard or possibly even impossible to predict an exact number which represents the maximum population which the earth could sustain however I believe that there is such a number. With the world population today being estimated around 6.9 billion people and an annual population growth of around 1.2% (that’s a little more than 82 million people a year) including the 45+ (give or take 5 million depending on your source) some million people who die annually. These statistics of course change over time however they are true as of the time of this post and still illustrate an important pattern. This pattern is one of a continued immense world population growth. The last note I will add is one regarding quality of life versus quantity of life. What is better? To have 40billion people living miserably but living or 30 billion people living comfortably but we could possibly support more. For many of you who consider the world not over populated think about this. There are 195 countries in the world (192 in the United Nations). The United States is listed as having 179th highest population density with 83 people per mile. Not bad right? No overpopulation here. If we look at the city with the highest population density in the United States it would be the District of Columbia with 13,470 people per square mile. When placed in relation to the rest of the world however this number seems minuscule. For example the city of Macau in China which is listed as having the highest population density in the world at 48,003 people per square mile. Can you even imagine what those living conditions must be like? So now I’ll ask you again about quantity versus quality or life. Where would you prefer to live and how would living in those conditions affect you? -Christopher Jackson
Overpopulation is a common cause now these days. It may seem like we are running out of food because of how scarce our resources tend to be. However, the truth of the matter is that third world countries are not being taken care off properly by their government and their higher authorities. All of these promises and solutions that we may hear from many political governments, usually do not occur. There is so much food being made in the United States itself (By genetically modifying foods, cultivating more foods, and mixing all types of vegetables with fruits) These foods make our society consume a total of 4,000 calories per day, that means that we make over 4,000 calories of food per day, just to feed over 320 million people in the United States. Why can't this method be use in other parts of the world? These causes tend to be devastating; however, is not the people that are starving because they want to or because they can not make produce food, it is all because their government are weak and the only way they can show they have control, is by controlling the food of supply of their people. At the same time, making them think about what would happen if they did not have someone to look over their food or their benefits. This also causes issues within the society, the education, and the way we live. This problematic issue tends to affect everyone worldwide, not just the mass population in Africa or other poor third world countries.
There is no doubt that there is overpopulation around the world and the poorest countries are suffering its consequences. Not only because the population is growing so fast is that food is becoming scarce, but I also think this is a political problem. Global warming and the fuel boom are aggressively pushing the number of hungry even higher and it would get worst. In other countries basic food stuff prices are ridiculously rising, such as rice, cereals, cooking oil and sugar. There is definitely something to be done in order to stop this before it gets uncontrollable. I believed that one of the solutions is that all of these governments should get together and try to come with new ideas of producing their own crops in order to sustain its people. That way they don’t have to be depending of other countries supplies because we know that production and transportation costs and lately it have been driven up by the rising price of oil. However, this is not fair for those poor countries that cannot afford to buy this product just because the food companies know that they expend more in the process of exporting than making profit out of their goodies. That is why the government should act upon it and fast because this is going to get really ugly if the prices of food and oil raises.
In America we live in surplus, those who are able to get, always get more than what is needed, so can we say that there is not enough? Other poverty ridden places always have to suffer with so little and it never hits people in the U.S. unless they themselves find it hard to sustain subsistence or when the price of food goes up. It is not a doubt that there is overpopulation and due to environmental factors as well as manmade things, it is impeding on agricultural growth, but another thing is human greed. There are many more pivotal factors to this problem, but to me it is that we take more than is needed from every aspect of the economy. As soon as one thing gets too expensive, we seek out something that we can also feed off of and continue to suck up the previous resource. And even though this problem is a sustaining issue, we only seem to address it when the matter becomes too much to handle, and even if we point out all the problems, not much is done about it.
People complain that we are running out of resources. This is said and seen everywhere, but also we abuse and over use our resources. Water for an example, people in America especially don't realize how good they have it and they waste a lot of water for not reason, while people in other countries drink from polluted rivers. another reason why we are running out of resources is pollution. There is a cause and effect to everything. The cell phone signals cause bees to loose there way home and die. If all bees become extinct it will lead to some issues people don't pay attention to. 60% of the time, man kind control food agriculture, whether its business, chemicals, or pollution. Ryan Beharry
An increase in population is often overlooked by us, because it's such a slow moving process. We are beginning to see an industrialization in china as well. Where we used to see bikes lining the streets, there are now automobiles. This is going to inevitably effect the entire world, meaning oil prices, and the environment because of their huge population. This is an example of the effect one nation can have on the next. Also we have people living longer now with modern medicine, and that will also keep the population higher. It's easy to see the severity of letting the population get out of control can have on us worldly, and it could get to the point that even if every nation is rationed the bare minimum to survive, they still wouldn't be able to produce enough food and resources for everyone. That being said I think so much of it needs to stem from education and the responsibilities it should be teaching. The more people that are aware of current situations, the more effective they will be able to play their part in the resolution. We can't expect governments and economists to do this for us, we have to take our responsibility as individuals even when something is happening at such a huge scale. Patrick Crowley
Sometimes it’s so difficult to comprehend why everyone can’t have everything equally. Food is necessary factor for humans to live and daily its seen how this factor lacks in many third world countries. People die, become ill, and an infinite amount of other diseases arise with the lack of food. Seeing children malnourished and the conditions they live in allows me to ask myself why? In this world that we live in, providing every nation with an equal amount of resources can be possible, but since we have all of this power, greed of only obtaining everything for oneself, we forget that there are other people who are in need, and that require of our help. Sustainability can be accomplished, but it requires more than just putting into action ways that we can improve equality of necessary resources. It all depends on those who are willing to commit, have their voices heard, and fight for those who need of us. Now, there have been many theories to how humans are able to sustain themselves, even when there aren’t enough resources to supply the human population. Human kind has gotten to the extent of having a weak sustainability, why? Because according to environmental knowledge, humans have surpassed the dependency of allowing Mother Nature to produce all of these resources. Technology plays an important role in altering the ecosystem to supply our food needs. One example is hormones, nowadays; farms are able to have a fully grown chicken in a matter of a week, when usually it takes a baby chick to become a full adult chicken a few months. Now how can u explain that? Sustainability and equality in natural resources are both topics one can deeply discuss about, providing the pros and cons against why and how we can achieve a fair sustainability.
The lack of food and the rise of prices throughout the world has been an issue that has caught the attention of many. In less than 200 years the worlds population has increased from 1 billion to 7 billion and barely 38% of us lack adequate sanitation. As another fact we have that only 13% of us don't have clean drinking water. This shows us that there is a big problem throughout the planet on population distribution that goes together along with food distribution. Delivering good education to those scarce on it is an effective manner to convey that overpopulation is an issue we have to attend to. We haven't found a way to crop and harvest food in a cheap manner, so as we grow on population and not on crops, food will get more expensive due to its demand.
Population has increased in the past twenty years exponentially to the point where food has grown scarce in some countries.The worlds population surpasses the amount of food available for them, and this is not new. And countries who do have food enough for its inhabitants do not go about distribution in an effective way. Americans for example, have been recorded to throw away food such as burgers and dinner left overs in one year that can feed most villages in South Africa. If food was properly distributed all over the world then the hunger rate would diminish greatly. In regards to the natural causes such as droughts and what not the human race(as a whole) needs to become aware of our actions and the consequences it brings on the earth. If we had more self awareness of the earth beneath our feet we would have better weather conditions. Point is we need to start having better care of our earth and its people and it will do the same with us
Population has increased in the past twenty years exponentially to the point where food has grown scarce in some countries.The worlds population surpasses the amount of food available for them, and this is not new. And countries who do have food enough for its inhabitants do not go about distribution in an effective way. Americans for example, have been recorded to throw away food such as burgers and dinner left overs in one year that can feed most villages in South Africa. If food was properly distributed all over the world then the hunger rate would diminish greatly. In regards to the natural causes such as droughts and what not the human race(as a whole) needs to become aware of our actions and the consequences it brings on the earth. If we had more self awareness of the earth beneath our feet we would have better weather conditions. Point is we need to start having better care of our earth and its people and it will do the same with us
It’s easy to point fingers and blame others for all the problems in the world. The truth is all of us play a role in our world crises today. In America we eat twice as much and more than half of our population is suffering from obesity, while in Africa people are dying of hunger. In Haiti adults are selling mud cakes to children and trying to make a profit while we take our children to burger king. Can we justify any of it? Why is the world divided by region, religion, race, and culture? If you take a look in an ant colony there are no division. Everyone is truly equal and everyone is working for the colonies survival. Why can’t we help one another and rise together? Why consume more than we need to or even worse, throw away food? The solution is simple. It’s not a government or a nations fault for inadequate food supply. It’s our fault every single one of us.
The real problem here is the uneven distribution of wealth in this world. Developed countries live in excess wasting more resources than consuming them. What is left after this is a climate in crisis, starving nations, and war for domination of resources. In an ideal world, the government’s only focus should be to supply the basic necessities of its people, protect the environment and promote strong ties within each other. I believe that the core of the problem more than the increase of population, is the wasteful lifestyles lead by people living in affluent societies. The overconsumption of goods, and more importantly the disposable manner in which many view their “stuff”, is the main cause of why the world is slowly walking backwards.
The world hunger issue is not only one of ethics but also one of business. Even though several charities exist that attempt to ease the situation, the truth is there is still money to be made. A good solution to solve this issue would be to implement sustainable farming and teach other countries how to do the same. The problem arrises in a loss of income to big businesses. The way our current food industry is structured is for mass production of cheap consumable goods. There is no intrest in showing the public how to be self sufficient. Unless we set aside our differences and come together as a people this issue will continue to exist. We must stop looking solely at our wallets and focus on what really matters. We must stop thinking of each other as individuals and start thinking as one. Although solutions like sustainable farming may hurt us in the short run they will help us eliminate the problem in the long term.
Over population is a challenge in many ways but when it comes to feeding people but its not impossible. Its so easy to find restaurants that get rid of excess food every single day knowing that there are people out there dying of hunger. I honestly do not believe that the problem of starvation is over population but more of sympathy of others because like someone mentioned there are states found in the U.S that can sustain the whole western hemisphere alone with their productions. We cannot control weather changes or any natural causes that affects agriculture but I’m pretty sure if people cared enough they would find a way to help feed those in other countries. There is so much food produced some parts of the world why does it have to be so difficult to distribute it? I’m not saying overpopulation is okay but it should not be used as an excuse for greed when it comes to helping others survive.
Debates about the depletion and scarcity of essential resources for the well-being of the world population have been numerous, although a solution is difficult to reach. A rapidly increase in world population have been seen in the last two centuries. The concentration of resources in just a few countries of the world has generated a big problem for poor countries, enabling them the access to essential supplements like clean water, food, health and education. One solution would be to find the way to inform richest countries’ population about the situation in poorest countries up to the point they become so aware of it, that they give up part of their resources and donate them to the help with the necessities as well as of the development of these affected areas of the world. But that’s very unlikely to happen as humans become more selfish every day. The rich want to be richer, and the poor don’t have another option than being poorer. As oil price continuous to rise, so food price would. Through innovation and technology, we’ll have to find new energy sources and food production process so a great part of the population may survive to this century. World sustainability would be very difficult to reach although no impossible. We as students and future world leaders can always do something to have a better world! Ana Chaves
In this economy we are living in, more and more people are losing their jobs and some can't even provide the basic needs for their family, which include food and even shelter. Food is getting expensive and there is another problem that arises and that is the population that is increasing which is making the depends for food in HIGH demand. But the problem is not only the population, but the agriculture where the food is produce before is sold. Personally. I think people will get sicker, because the food now of these days is causing weight gain, seloma, etc. While healthier food is better for us, it is also the most expensive. There will come a time when we will be in food shortage, just like we were recently in low supply of water.
Debates about the depletion and scarcity of essential resources for the well-being of the world population have been numerous, although a solution is difficult to reach. A rapidly increase in world population have been seen in the last two centuries. The concentration of resources in just a few countries of the world has generated a big problem for poor countries being unable to access to essential supplements like clean water, food, health and education. One solution would be to find the way to inform richest countries’ population about the situation in poorest countries up to the point they become so aware of it, that they give up part of their resources and donate them to the help with the necessities as well as of the development of these affected areas of the world. But that’s very unlikely to happen as humans become more selfish every day. The rich want to be richer, and the poor don’t have another option than being poorer. As oil price continuous to rise, so food price would. Through innovation and technology, we’ll have to find new energy sources and food production process so a great part of the population may survive to this century. World sustainability would be very difficult to reach although no impossible. We as students and future world leaders can always do something to have a better world!
The recent rapid increase in human population over the past two centuries has raised concerns that humans are beginning to overpopulate the Earth, and that the planet may not be able to sustain present or larger numbers of inhabitants. The population has been growing continuously since the end of the Black Death, around the year 1400. As the world’s population increases, there will be a greater demand for food. We need to work together in order to solve a problem like that, through education great things can happen.
Unfortunately , this is the reality of today’s world. Most of us do not even think that, this problem exist. We wake up in the morning and can’t decide whether we will have cereal, eggs or oatmeal for breakfast, while others can’t decide whether they will have that single piece of bread in the morning or in the afternoon, since this is the only meal they can afford. It is sad to think that we live in the era of high technology, that we can explore the space and fly to the moon, but we are unable to feed all the people on earth. We need to become better people and start caring of others and maybe God will be mercy and will protect our planet from disasters.
Unfortunately , this is the reality of today’s world. Most of us do not even think that, this problem exist. We wake up in the morning and can’t decide whether we will have cereal, eggs or oatmeal for breakfast, while others can’t decide whether they will have that single piece of bread in the morning or in the afternoon, since this is the only meal they can afford. It is sad to think that we live in the era of high technology, that we can explore the space and fly to the moon, but we are unable to feed all the people on earth. We need to become better people and start caring of others and maybe God will be mercy and will protect our planet from disasters.
31 comments:
Many people say that there are simply too many people in the world to feed properly, but the real problem in feeding and supplying the world's population is extreme inefficiency. In actuality, there are more than enough resources available to sustain the world, and for a long time. But, those resources are not being developed or allocated well at all. There are many technologies available now that can severely reduce the environmental impact of industry, as well as produce significantly more of the things we need with significantly less impact on the earth. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the world is not using them. We mostly use the now relatively old, primitive technology because money talks, and it's still cheaper or more convenient for the world's producers to continue using it.
Politics is the other big problem; people in impoverished countries live in desperately poor conditions with extremely corrupt governments, so even when they have plenty of resources available, they can't really access them or use them.
There is no easy solution to this problem unfortunately, it's rooted in the very core of society. Corruption, short-sightedness, and inefficiency will always continue to happen in this world as long as the status quo remains.
The real trick is to change the status quo.
- Alexander Zaiarnyi
It’s not that there is not food; the problem is that the distribution of food is unequal. People in “modern developed countries” throw away millions of uneaten burgers, vegetables, and so forth. Simply put its gluttony we eat with our eyes and not because we are hungry. I remember my mother telling me to eat everything on my plate because people in other countries did not have food and its true. If the world was a better place food would be shared equally between everyone not just the people who have more, eat more. Nature has to do its job there is no way that we can stop floods from happening in countries but what we can do is send the excess amount of food we do have over here and send it over there. We also need to diminish our dependency on oil because what is going to happen when the oil is gone, what else are we going to destroy. Instead of using oil let’s find another source that can be used while not depleting the world’s food source i.e. corn.
It’s not that there is not food; the problem is that the distribution of food is unequal. People in “modern developed countries” throw away millions of uneaten burgers, vegetables, and so forth. Simply put its gluttony we eat with our eyes and not because we are hungry. I remember my mother telling me to eat everything on my plate because people in other countries did not have food and its true. If the world was a better place food would be shared equally between everyone not just the people who have more, eat more. Nature has to do its job there is no way that we can stop floods from happening in countries but what we can do is send the excess amount of food we do have over here and send it over there. We also need to diminish our dependency on oil because what is going to happen when the oil is gone, what else are we going to destroy. Instead of using oil let’s find another source that can be used while not depleting the world’s food source i.e. corn.
Given that a vast majority of the world’s overpopulation is taking place in the poorest cities in the world, it’s safe to say overpopulation is occurring due to lack of education. Also with global warming changing the weather drastically, food is becoming less and less scarce. I believe the only solution for overpopulation is to educate people in third world countries about the effects of overpopulation and to provide them with free contraceptives. Which I believe is the main reason why these women have so many children. They are living in poverty so to buy contraceptives is a luxury to them. Now the most obvious solution for the over consumption of food in the US is to educate Americans on the effects that throwing away food has on people globally. How graphic and powerful these tobacco commercials have become, it’s opening the eyes of many smokers to the reality of smoking. So in my opinion the government should air these graphic and gruesome commercials on the scarcity of food, and the amount of people dying world wide due to lack of nourishment. Watching these commercials people will become more sympathetic towards wasting food, thus buying less food, equaling less production of it.
--- Laura Galindo
The world doesn't have infinite resources,we have over populated earth and will now have to pay the piper.It appears that the statement about technology being the death of us may well be valid. Take into consideration graft and political corruption and you have the spark for the inevetable solution for the thinning of the herd.Nature will attempt to re-establish a homeostatic balance, the problem today is that man has interfered with nature. Fret not however for the wrost is yet to come, greed will inevetably lead mankind into self distuction and sadly this may have already begun,Our economic crisis is but a taste of what is to come,I see this getting much worse before it gets better,in the end naturue will triumph. Alan
I believe that there is a lot of food in the world to sustain and feed everyone for a long time. But at the same time the reason why food prices are going high and some people aren’t able to get food is because food is just like oil. There is more food in certain areas of the world then there are in some. Just like oil, there is more oil in certain parts of the world then there is in some areas. Even though gas prices are through the roof; if you were to go to Venezuela right now you can buy a gallon of gasoline for $0.09 because a lot of oil is produced in that area. In developed countries it is difficult for there to be food scarce because they produce their own food. In the United States, Iowa, Idaho and Nebraska produce enough food to sustain the whole western hemisphere alone. The United States has a lot of food that one-third of its economy is the export of agriculture. What I’m trying to say is that the reason why people are starving and there is food scarce is because the distribution of food is corrupted and most underdeveloped countries can’t afford to buy food. Food companies don’t see themselves making profits in Sub Sahara Africa which is why the people there starve. How can the world be running out of food if there are more chickens and livestock in the world then there is humans?
Donald Dominique Jr.
To me, the problem is not the food production itself, although it might be scarcer and scarcer each day, but the distribution method: some getting so much and others so little. Of course this issue has to do with the social scale, but there’s a huge range between wealth and poverty , and I believe the entities responsible for each country should do something about it, for example providing essential needs to each individual, such as a meal, proper hygiene elements, a roof, medical assistance, etc. It’s easy to say that the world is over populated and that we should’ve done x instead of y, but we need to deal with the problems we are presented, and in this case it’s hunger. More than 13% of the world’s population do not get the amount of food to live decently, while first world countries consume and throw away as much as possible. I believe its time to set our eyes a little bit further than our stomach and for once think a little less about us and a little more about others.
Jeronimo Gilardoni
well i may have the answer to our food production vs human population problems but you are going to overlook it because it is not a pleasant fact. The answer has occurred and is occurring as we sleep in our bed soundly. It is only three letters long, War. Yes, war is bad but like everything else this subject has it pros and cons. The cons are that people die, the economy can go down the drain, a revolution may start and so can a civil war, and chaos. Now the pros of war that no one ever is to look at it is population control, more employment, revolutions that can lead to greater governments, and in some cases the economy can be bolstered to bring life to the country, and many more. Sometime I wonder if we use the excuse of "war" just to control on how rapidly we are growing so we may stay as a stabled world. A little hint of the planning, the Chinese controlling on the birth rates of one child per family. I'm sorry if you may think this is offensive to any who may read this but if you look at it from a certain standing point, I can be right.
From what I have read so far it seems as if many people are taking a socialistic point of view towards the idea of overpopulation and hunger as well as its relation to sustainability. For those of you I question whether you meant to illustrate your point in such a way and if not where it stemmed from. For to make things EQUAL as so many of you keep repeating, things could never be the way they are now. Our governmental structure would have to change entirely, wars would have to end, jealousy be forgotten, and everyone on a global scale would have to come together to work as one with the overall goal to improve world life. When I say world life I refer to the world’s population as an equal community where everyone’s contributions are equally divided amongst the people. This idea although to some might not even sound bad I question when it relates to a governing system overall. It might work in terms of sustainability in relation to food but what about for example an I-pod. Do none of you get I-pods until everyone in the world gets one? And if it’s done in sections, who gets their I-pods first? What makes them so special? We all work just as hard. They got it last time first too.
The topic of a maximum sustainable population alone however has myriads of influential aspects any of which overlooked could be detrimental. For example access and abundance of fresh water has a huge impact on hunger and population. Considering that only three percent of the water on earth is fresh and that 70 percent of that water is inaccessible not to mention how much of the accessible fresh water is polluted. This leaves according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) very little usable fresh water on earth. Twenty percent of fresh surface water for example is in one lake, Lake Baikal in Alaska. People need around eight cups of water a day to survive. This and knowing that 1/3 of the world’s population already lives in what are considered water stressed countries one has to think about when we will run out. The earth is a closed ecosystem for the most part. That is to say at least that water is not being sent from planet Drip Drop when were running low. This alone places a potential cap on population numbers. In some places water has already become more expensive than soda. This for example is true in Mexico and India.
Continued…
-Christopher Jackson
It is hard or possibly even impossible to predict an exact number which represents the maximum population which the earth could sustain however I believe that there is such a number. With the world population today being estimated around 6.9 billion people and an annual population growth of around 1.2% (that’s a little more than 82 million people a year) including the 45+ (give or take 5 million depending on your source) some million people who die annually. These statistics of course change over time however they are true as of the time of this post and still illustrate an important pattern. This pattern is one of a continued immense world population growth.
The last note I will add is one regarding quality of life versus quantity of life. What is better? To have 40billion people living miserably but living or 30 billion people living comfortably but we could possibly support more. For many of you who consider the world not over populated think about this. There are 195 countries in the world (192 in the United Nations). The United States is listed as having 179th highest population density with 83 people per mile. Not bad right? No overpopulation here. If we look at the city with the highest population density in the United States it would be the District of Columbia with 13,470 people per square mile. When placed in relation to the rest of the world however this number seems minuscule. For example the city of Macau in China which is listed as having the highest population density in the world at 48,003 people per square mile. Can you even imagine what those living conditions must be like? So now I’ll ask you again about quantity versus quality or life. Where would you prefer to live and how would living in those conditions affect you?
-Christopher Jackson
Overpopulation is a common cause now these days. It may seem like we are running out of food because of how scarce our resources tend to be. However, the truth of the matter is that third world countries are not being taken care off properly by their government and their higher authorities. All of these promises and solutions that we may hear from many political governments, usually do not occur. There is so much food being made in the United States itself (By genetically modifying foods, cultivating more foods, and mixing all types of vegetables with fruits) These foods make our society consume a total of 4,000 calories per day, that means that we make over 4,000 calories of food per day, just to feed over 320 million people in the United States. Why can't this method be use in other parts of the world? These causes tend to be devastating; however, is not the people that are starving because they want to or because they can not make produce food, it is all because their government are weak and the only way they can show they have control, is by controlling the food of supply of their people. At the same time, making them think about what would happen if they did not have someone to look over their food or their benefits. This also causes issues within the society, the education, and the way we live. This problematic issue tends to affect everyone worldwide, not just the mass population in Africa or other poor third world countries.
There is no doubt that there is overpopulation around the world and the poorest countries are suffering its consequences. Not only because the population is growing so fast is that food is becoming scarce, but I also think this is a political problem. Global warming and the fuel boom are aggressively pushing the number of hungry even higher and it would get worst. In other countries basic food stuff prices are ridiculously rising, such as rice, cereals, cooking oil and sugar. There is definitely something to be done in order to stop this before it gets uncontrollable. I believed that one of the solutions is that all of these governments should get together and try to come with new ideas of producing their own crops in order to sustain its people. That way they don’t have to be depending of other countries supplies because we know that production and transportation costs and lately it have been driven up by the rising price of oil. However, this is not fair for those poor countries that cannot afford to buy this product just because the food companies know that they expend more in the process of exporting than making profit out of their goodies. That is why the government should act upon it and fast because this is going to get really ugly if the prices of food and oil raises.
~Joixen Lobo
In America we live in surplus, those who are able to get, always get more than what is needed, so can we say that there is not enough? Other poverty ridden places always have to suffer with so little and it never hits people in the U.S. unless they themselves find it hard to sustain subsistence or when the price of food goes up. It is not a doubt that there is overpopulation and due to environmental factors as well as manmade things, it is impeding on agricultural growth, but another thing is human greed. There are many more pivotal factors to this problem, but to me it is that we take more than is needed from every aspect of the economy. As soon as one thing gets too expensive, we seek out something that we can also feed off of and continue to suck up the previous resource. And even though this problem is a sustaining issue, we only seem to address it when the matter becomes too much to handle, and even if we point out all the problems, not much is done about it.
-Rachel Dorvil
People complain that we are running out of resources. This is said and seen everywhere, but also we abuse and over use our resources. Water for an example, people in America especially don't realize how good they have it and they waste a lot of water for not reason, while people in other countries drink from polluted rivers. another reason why we are running out of resources is pollution. There is a cause and effect to everything. The cell phone signals cause bees to loose there way home and die. If all bees become extinct it will lead to some issues people don't pay attention to. 60% of the time, man kind control food agriculture, whether its business, chemicals, or pollution.
Ryan Beharry
An increase in population is often overlooked by us, because it's such a slow moving process. We are beginning to see an industrialization in china as well. Where we used to see bikes lining the streets, there are now automobiles. This is going to inevitably effect the entire world, meaning oil prices, and the environment because of their huge population. This is an example of the effect one nation can have on the next. Also we have people living longer now with modern medicine, and that will also keep the population higher. It's easy to see the severity of letting the population get out of control can have on us worldly, and it could get to the point that even if every nation is rationed the bare minimum to survive, they still wouldn't be able to produce enough food and resources for everyone. That being said I think so much of it needs to stem from education and the responsibilities it should be teaching. The more people that are aware of current situations, the more effective they will be able to play their part in the resolution. We can't expect governments and economists to do this for us, we have to take our responsibility as individuals even when something is happening at such a huge scale.
Patrick Crowley
Sometimes it’s so difficult to comprehend why everyone can’t have everything equally. Food is necessary factor for humans to live and daily its seen how this factor lacks in many third world countries. People die, become ill, and an infinite amount of other diseases arise with the lack of food. Seeing children malnourished and the conditions they live in allows me to ask myself why? In this world that we live in, providing every nation with an equal amount of resources can be possible, but since we have all of this power, greed of only obtaining everything for oneself, we forget that there are other people who are in need, and that require of our help. Sustainability can be accomplished, but it requires more than just putting into action ways that we can improve equality of necessary resources. It all depends on those who are willing to commit, have their voices heard, and fight for those who need of us. Now, there have been many theories to how humans are able to sustain themselves, even when there aren’t enough resources to supply the human population. Human kind has gotten to the extent of having a weak sustainability, why? Because according to environmental knowledge, humans have surpassed the dependency of allowing Mother Nature to produce all of these resources. Technology plays an important role in altering the ecosystem to supply our food needs. One example is hormones, nowadays; farms are able to have a fully grown chicken in a matter of a week, when usually it takes a baby chick to become a full adult chicken a few months. Now how can u explain that? Sustainability and equality in natural resources are both topics one can deeply discuss about, providing the pros and cons against why and how we can achieve a fair sustainability.
Stephanie Chaparro
The lack of food and the rise of prices throughout the world has been an issue that has caught the attention of many. In less than 200 years the worlds population has increased from 1 billion to 7 billion and barely 38% of us lack adequate sanitation. As another fact we have that only 13% of us don't have clean drinking water. This shows us that there is a big problem throughout the planet on population distribution that goes together along with food distribution. Delivering good education to those scarce on it is an effective manner to convey that overpopulation is an issue we have to attend to. We haven't found a way to crop and harvest food in a cheap manner, so as we grow on population and not on crops, food will get more expensive due to its demand.
Population has increased in the past twenty years exponentially to the point where food has grown scarce in some countries.The worlds population surpasses the amount of food available for them, and this is not new. And countries who do have food enough for its inhabitants do not go about distribution in an effective way. Americans for example, have been recorded to throw away food such as burgers and dinner left overs in one year that can feed most villages in South Africa. If food was properly distributed all over the world then the hunger rate would diminish greatly. In regards to the natural causes such as droughts and what not the human race(as a whole) needs to become aware of our actions and the consequences it brings on the earth. If we had more self awareness of the earth beneath our feet we would have better weather conditions. Point is we need to start having better care of our earth and its people and it will do the same with us
Population has increased in the past twenty years exponentially to the point where food has grown scarce in some countries.The worlds population surpasses the amount of food available for them, and this is not new. And countries who do have food enough for its inhabitants do not go about distribution in an effective way. Americans for example, have been recorded to throw away food such as burgers and dinner left overs in one year that can feed most villages in South Africa. If food was properly distributed all over the world then the hunger rate would diminish greatly. In regards to the natural causes such as droughts and what not the human race(as a whole) needs to become aware of our actions and the consequences it brings on the earth. If we had more self awareness of the earth beneath our feet we would have better weather conditions. Point is we need to start having better care of our earth and its people and it will do the same with us
It’s easy to point fingers and blame others for all the problems in the world. The truth is all of us play a role in our world crises today. In America we eat twice as much and more than half of our population is suffering from obesity, while in Africa people are dying of hunger. In Haiti adults are selling mud cakes to children and trying to make a profit while we take our children to burger king. Can we justify any of it? Why is the world divided by region, religion, race, and culture? If you take a look in an ant colony there are no division. Everyone is truly equal and everyone is working for the colonies survival. Why can’t we help one another and rise together? Why consume more than we need to or even worse, throw away food? The solution is simple. It’s not a government or a nations fault for inadequate food supply. It’s our fault every single one of us.
-Rezba karim
The real problem here is the uneven distribution of wealth in this world. Developed countries live in excess wasting more resources than consuming them. What is left after this is a climate in crisis, starving nations, and war for domination of resources. In an ideal world, the government’s only focus should be to supply the basic necessities of its people, protect the environment and promote strong ties within each other.
I believe that the core of the problem more than the increase of population, is the wasteful lifestyles lead by people living in affluent societies. The overconsumption of goods, and more importantly the disposable manner in which many view their “stuff”, is the main cause of why the world is slowly walking backwards.
The world hunger issue is not only one of ethics but also one of business. Even though several charities exist that attempt to ease the situation, the truth is there is still money to be made. A good solution to solve this issue would be to implement sustainable farming and teach other countries how to do the same. The problem arrises in a loss of income to big businesses. The way our current food industry is structured is for mass production of cheap consumable goods. There is no intrest in showing the public how to be self sufficient. Unless we set aside our differences and come together as a people this issue will continue to exist. We must stop looking solely at our wallets and focus on what really matters. We must stop thinking of each other as individuals and start thinking as one. Although solutions like sustainable farming may hurt us in the short run they will help us eliminate the problem in the long term.
Over population is a challenge in many ways but when it comes to feeding people but its not impossible. Its so easy to find restaurants that get rid of excess food every single day knowing that there are people out there dying of hunger. I honestly do not believe that the problem of starvation is over population but more of sympathy of others because like someone mentioned there are states found in the U.S that can sustain the whole western hemisphere alone with their productions. We cannot control weather changes or any natural causes that affects agriculture but I’m pretty sure if people cared enough they would find a way to help feed those in other countries. There is so much food produced some parts of the world why does it have to be so difficult to distribute it? I’m not saying overpopulation is okay but it should not be used as an excuse for greed when it comes to helping others survive.
-Etil Diaz
Debates about the depletion and scarcity of essential resources for the well-being of the world population have been numerous, although a solution is difficult to reach. A rapidly increase in world population have been seen in the last two centuries. The concentration of resources in just a few countries of the world has generated a big problem for poor countries, enabling them the access to essential supplements like clean water, food, health and education. One solution would be to find the way to inform richest countries’ population about the situation in poorest countries up to the point they become so aware of it, that they give up part of their resources and donate them to the help with the necessities as well as of the development of these affected areas of the world. But that’s very unlikely to happen as humans become more selfish every day. The rich want to be richer, and the poor don’t have another option than being poorer. As oil price continuous to rise, so food price would. Through innovation and technology, we’ll have to find new energy sources and food production process so a great part of the population may survive to this century. World sustainability would be very difficult to reach although no impossible. We as students and future world leaders can always do something to have a better world!
Ana Chaves
In this economy we are living in, more and more people are losing their jobs and some can't even provide the basic needs for their family, which include food and even shelter.
Food is getting expensive and there is another problem that arises and that is the population that is increasing which is making the depends for food in HIGH demand. But the problem is not only the population, but the agriculture where the food is produce before is sold.
Personally. I think people will get sicker, because the food now of these days is causing weight gain, seloma, etc. While healthier food is better for us, it is also the most expensive. There will come a time when we will be in food shortage, just like we were recently in low supply of water.
Fenza Fleurgin
Debates about the depletion and scarcity of essential resources for the well-being of the world population have been numerous, although a solution is difficult to reach. A rapidly increase in world population have been seen in the last two centuries. The concentration of resources in just a few countries of the world has generated a big problem for poor countries being unable to access to essential supplements like clean water, food, health and education. One solution would be to find the way to inform richest countries’ population about the situation in poorest countries up to the point they become so aware of it, that they give up part of their resources and donate them to the help with the necessities as well as of the development of these affected areas of the world. But that’s very unlikely to happen as humans become more selfish every day. The rich want to be richer, and the poor don’t have another option than being poorer. As oil price continuous to rise, so food price would. Through innovation and technology, we’ll have to find new energy sources and food production process so a great part of the population may survive to this century. World sustainability would be very difficult to reach although no impossible. We as students and future world leaders can always do something to have a better world!
The recent rapid increase in human population over the past two centuries has raised concerns that humans are beginning to overpopulate the Earth, and that the planet may not be able to sustain present or larger numbers of inhabitants. The population has been growing continuously since the end of the Black Death, around the year 1400. As the world’s population increases, there will be a greater demand for food. We need to work together in order to solve a problem like that, through education great things can happen.
Marie Michelle Leveille
Unfortunately , this is the reality of today’s world. Most of us do not even think that, this problem exist.
We wake up in the morning and can’t decide whether we will have cereal, eggs or oatmeal for breakfast, while others can’t decide whether they will have that single piece of bread in the morning or in the afternoon, since this is the only meal they can afford. It is sad to think that we live in the era of high technology, that we can explore the space and fly to the moon, but we are unable to feed all the people on earth. We need to become better people and start caring of others and maybe God will be mercy and will protect our planet from disasters.
Unfortunately , this is the reality of today’s world. Most of us do not even think that, this problem exist.
We wake up in the morning and can’t decide whether we will have cereal, eggs or oatmeal for breakfast, while others can’t decide whether they will have that single piece of bread in the morning or in the afternoon, since this is the only meal they can afford. It is sad to think that we live in the era of high technology, that we can explore the space and fly to the moon, but we are unable to feed all the people on earth. We need to become better people and start caring of others and maybe God will be mercy and will protect our planet from disasters.
Eugeniu Timofti
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