Food: Enough for Everyone
The issue about food and the rations that people get it in ha become a major world concern by world governments. In many countries, there exist scores of people who do not have access to enough food portions. Regardless of a nation’s supplies of food, the distribution of the food to reach all the people evenly becomes the main issue. Moreover, the distribution might be done well but the people might not have enough money to purchase the food and therefore both cases cause scarcity in food for the people affected. Several solutions have been formulated that include producing more food, scientifically producing super seeds that shall ensure the production of massive harvest in short periods.
The world is largely developing in terms of technology and it is quite difficult to imagine that this cannot solve the critical problem of food. Many nations take in more than is enough for their normal growth. With this kind of consumption, most people are not aware of the food crisis that is eating up the society all around them. It is believed that there are more than 800 million people in the world that are not well nourished (Nor, 2001). Moreover, 88 countries are unable to either import or produce enough food for their people. The question is whether the nations can produce enough food for the people, or if the food is evenly distributed to the people once produced. More questions include whether the solutions would be to produce stronger fertilizers, biochemically develop plants that would double or triple the harvests
Humanitarian and non-profit organizations around the world have been conducting forums world over seeking to better understand the problem and develop solutions to the current world food crisis in a meeting dubbed the World Food Summit. The Food and Agriculture Organization brought together world leaders to discuss the critical food problem. The organization says it is important to attack head-on, the problem of food insecurity, the world underdevelopment, and specifically development of rural areas and agriculture in particular. The forum formulated two possible definitions for the problem. One of the definitions by agricultural scientists was that there was uneven distribution of food and that the production of the super plants would solve it. Social scientists however say that the plants would not solve the problem and that the super plants would have possible harmful effects on the people (Rosenthal, 2011).
Another argument was raised by the World Bank that suggested that the world has the required resources to feed the people for years to come. They support the production of the super plants that shall be more disease resistant and produce more yields. The organization however questioned the sustainability of the farming processes that would involve high levels of scientific agricultural research. They also say that the plants might be helped by the pesticides and the scientists are advised to create pesticides that are less harmful to both humans and animals. Though there was a period where the world experienced good harvests in the eighties it was short lived since the numbers dropped steadily.
The prices of food are increasing while the population of the world is growing larger everyday. The supply is getting lower everyday and science is not likely to help reduce the problem soon enough. In Africa to be specific, the population is predicted to double in 25 years, yet the resources are said to be diminishing. The exploitation of the available resources is also not fruitful enough therefore the food problem there is predicted to become worse as the years go by. 33% of the population in the continent is said to be already undernourished at a point where the world is producing more than is enough to feed its entire population (Conway, 1999). Poverty is also seen as another major cause of hunger in the world. It is said that there could be enough food in the world but if the people do not have enough money to purchase it, hunger shall always remain a thorn in the world’s side.
One of the solutions for the problem of hunger is to redistribute the purchasing power to the people. Another question in the issue of food is about the food supplies. In about 2040, it is believed that there shall be about ten billion people in the world. Today, there are six billion people in the world and it is believed if the number was ten billion today, the world would still have enough food for all. The domestic animals in the world are believed to have quite a large proportion of the food in the world. This problem is said be possible to solve by doubling the amount of land dedicated to farming of crops. This number however should not affect the animal farming but it is meant to increase the food supplies to enable the world be able to feed the animals and the people alike. This eventually shall increase the crop and the meat in terms of food.
Several measures have been formulated in America to tackle the problem of food shortage. One of the measures is the issuing of food stamps by the government. Food stamps are actually vouchers that are issued to families with no food. The food stamps are issued on criteria of how much income a person receives. For instance a family that earns more than 22,000$ or more a year cannot receives food stamps (Lathan, 2002). Several sociologists have however complained that the requirements are too strict and leave some families without food. They argue that in times to come, half of the children population in the United States shall seek food stamps at some point in their lives. They also say that the restrictions for the food stamps do not get easier as the inflation goes up. The restrictions shall cause many families to go hungry since in the coming years, the inflationary forces shall have made the cost of living to increase drastically.
However, many people consider food stamps shameful and therefore not many use them even if the really need them. The sociologists suggest that social support systems that would be funded by international organizations would play a huge role in the fight against poverty in the world. This is because in coming years the global economic conditions shall make many families suffer due to lack of money. During the recession, many more families sought food stamps. Another problem causing world food shortages is the increasing use of foodstuffs to create bio fuels in the increasing campaign to develop green fuels. The increasing food prices are affecting the world food crisis by increasing it. Countries are therefore advised to cut back on their use of foodstuffs in the production of bio fuels. This is causing the increase in the food prices and evidently hunger.
The rising food prices are also causing political turmoil among other problems since the people are pressuring their governments to deliver on their promises to build and sustain good and strong economies. The good and strong economies shall then translate to good food prices and therefore reduce hunger. The declaration of human rights hands the right to standard living to everyone with adequate health and well-being for themselves and their families with all the basic human needs. Out of 41 countries in the world, 33 are from Africa and sub-Saharan Africa to be precise (The Futurist, 2010). Here 186 million people are not well nourished and most of the children are living with HIV. Life expectancy is reduced to ten to twenty years. It is rather ironical that in some countries the problem of obesity is quite prevalent and is related to people’s diets and eating habits.
There is a lot of wastage of food going on in the world especially in the developed countries while in other countries there is barely enough to feed the population. Governments are concentrating more on politics and the purchase of weapons than in the provision of basic needs for their families. There are many people becoming billionaires and millionaires in the world everyday while at the same time there are many more who live on less than a dollar a day. The situation in developing countries involves living in excesses while in underdeveloped countries the provision of necessities has been hardly achieved. This major problem contributes greatly to the problem of hunger and poor food distribution in the world.
It is evident that only 3500 calories are required by a normal human body a day to survive. The average consumption in the world today is over 35000 calories a day (Fornos, 1996). Hunger in the world is obviously unwanted in the world. However, most countries and world policies force it to occur due to their activities, forces of the economy and several political pressures and occurrences that are beyond the human control. These circumstances can be prevented if people work hard enough, there actually can be good distribution of food, and wealth in the world that shall ensure everyone has enough food rations for the years to come. Global hunger is not a problem that should be occurring up to today since it is evident that the world has enough food to feed everyone, its distribution and money distribution, as discussed in the paper are the main problems.
References
Conway, G. (1999). Food for all in the 21st Century. Social Research, Vol. 66, No. 1
Fornos, W. (1996). The food crisis won’t be solved without stabilizing world population focus of summit should go beyond simply producing more food. The Christian Science Monitor, pp.19-19. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/291240162?accountid=38797
Lathan, J. R. (2002). There’s enough food for everyone, but the poor can’t afford to buy it. Nature vol. 404.
Nor, S. M. (2001). We Can Have Enough Food. UN Chronicle pg. 44-46
Rosenthal, E. (2011). Rush to use crops as fuel raises food prices and hunger fears. New York Times, pp. A.1-A.1. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/860350927?accountid=38797
The Futurist. (2010). Demand Grows for Food Assistance: Outdated policies leave more people hungry. Pg 8-9
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