Global Food Supply Near the Breaking Point

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0518-04.htm

BROOKLIN, Canada - The world is now eating more food than farmers grow, pushing global grain stocks to their lowest level in 30 years. Rising population, water shortages, climate change, and the growing costs of fossil fuel-based fertilisers point to a calamitous shortfall in the world's grain supplies in the near future, according to Canada's National Farmers Union (NFU).

Thirty years ago, the oceans were teeming with fish, but today more people rely on farmers to produce their food than ever before, says Stewart Wells, NFU's president.

In five of the last six years, global population ate significantly more grains than farmers produced.

And with the world's farmers unable to increase food production, policymakers must address the "massive challenges to the ability of humanity to continue to feed its growing numbers", Wells said in a statement.

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or sustainable agriculture.

Today's farmers use way too much fertilizer. The excess runs into streams and contributes to polution. Manure is also not the cure-all. Unless tecniques are used to prevent the loss of nutrients from runoff, it remains a problem.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to see the word "population" anywhere. But shouldn't it be in the title? And shouldn't we have a population forum? No, it's in energy/environment. Skinner!

There is no food shortage, there is overproduction.

Agriculture is one of the most petroleum-dependent industries. Farmers use machinery to plow the fields, sow the seeds, machinery to harvest the produce and trucks to bring it to market.

Farmers even use fertilizer made from oil. We EAT oil. If anything were to happen to oil (like Peak Oil) we're going to see massive starvation.

The world by itself can only sustain about 2 billion people. We currently passed the 6 1/2 billion mark. That means that 4 1/2 billion people are at risk. And according to this article, we can't even maintain the 6.5 billion hungry mouths to feed.

I think it's about time to start family planning on a serious level.