Feeding the nine billion
By Andrea Thomas on June 21, 2012 1 comment
How will we protect our land and water resources, and simultaneously, feed the world? By 2050, we expect the world’s population to increase by nearly two billion people, to nine billion.
How do we ensure that our planet is able to feed the nine billion, especially when hunger is already so prevalent? How do we empower small- and medium-sized farmers and also pursue innovations to boost food production without widespread harm to the environment?
Finding the solutions means that we have to break out of our silos and work together: NGOs, corporations, academia, government and of course, the many everyday people who are invested in a better future for our planet.
Andrea Thomas (Jeffrey MacMillan/For The Washington Post)
That’s why many of us gathered last week for the Washington Post Live forum: “The Future of Food: Food Security in the 21st Century.” You can read The Post’s special report on food security. It covers everything from food waste to poverty to healthier foods. One my favorite pieces poses some difficult questions.
I spoke as well about our healthier foods initiative. As a company with a global reach, we are doing a lot of thinking about the nine billion because we have the opportunity and the responsibility to make a difference.
One of our top suppliers, Unilever, shares our passion. Unilever CEO Paul Polman co-authored a fascinating piece for The Washington Post that puts what’s to come in clear focus. His opening:
Imagine all the food mankind has produced over the past 8,000 years. Now consider that we need to produce that same amount again — but in just the next 40 years if we are to feed our growing and hungry world.
Loading ...
Subscribe to The Green Room
1.
Dustin Stephens | July 5, 2012 at 4:57 pm
Aqauponics is the solution, in combination with high tech geothermal greenhouses. As soon as I have the proper funding i will build my own geothermal greenhouse, and grow vegetables through the use of Aqauponics with hopes to one day be a local supplier for walmart and other retail stores. This system provides year round growth at the same rate as hydroponics, with none of the chemical. The USDA has certified several aqauponics farms as organic, and aqauponics has the capabilty to produce more then 3 times the produce per acre, with a LOT less labor then standard soil farming, While at same time producing fish. This is not a new system or idea, but a relatively unnoticed one. And the ease with which this system can be maintained, harvested, and re-seeded may be the key to getting America’s youth interested in farming again. Another nice thing about this system, chemical pesticides absolutely cannot be used, because they would kill the fish. Only natural pesticides such as mix of garlic and mild soap can be used without disrupting the system which naturally maintains its own pH balance.