Future of Food
by Imogen Jones
Future of food was a documentary which explained how we might have to change our eating habits because of the current economic problems, and showed how many people have already had to change the ways in which they eat and grow their food. It explained the reasons for this were inflation, climate change and how much imported food we receive. Two decades ago we imported 20% of our food, and now it’s almost doubled. It was statistics like these that were good for reinforcing the points made in the programme.. The demand for food is rising and it was explained that because of the cost of oil and climate change, poorer countries have had to change their farming methods to meet the demand for food.
For example, in Delhi, they have had to start drilling deeper into the ground to get water to irrigate the crops. But as a result of this, the water is of a poorer quality, and many farmers have huge debts. There is a scarcity of water, because the water the table is dropping by 1m a year, and over 1 billion people don’t have safe water.
Oil, is something that is also in scarcity. Again, the programme used statistics to show the magnitude of oil we use for things. It showed us the Cuban diet, how it is now less fatty and contains much less oil. It was a good example, because it was interesting to see how these issues are actually affecting people and how they are managing to live on this diet. It really has an impact because it makes you think that we could be living like this if we don’t start controlling and looking after our resources.
Another problem that was discussed was climate change, and how it is affecting farmers. This was a good topic to discuss because it is relevant to everyone. Sometimes people living in the UK think climate change won’t affect them but the footage of the 3rd failed harvest in a row reminds us that it is now affecting our food.
In conclusion, the programme was interesting and helpful in seeing some of the real economic issues.
Future of Food
by Daniel McWilliams
Future Food is a three-part series, presented by the well known news reporter George Alagiah, which focuses on the economic factors which revolve around the food we eat. The first part of the series looks at food in relation to oil.
The first place that is visited is India. India has the fastest growing population in the world. In 2006 India imported 6 billion tons of wheat. This is becoming a problem as wheat production has been declining for a decade. This is not helped by the water disappearance in India which is ending agriculture. Farmers are trying to counter this by digging deeper for water, this however has its drawbacks as the water drawn from deeper in the ground doesn’t have the same nutrients as if it were taken from close to the land. Some statistics about water are given. 130ml of water is needed to produce 1gm of lettuce. 15l of water is needed for 1gm lamb and 1gm of rice requires 3.4l of water.
The program then moves on to Cuba where there is a food crisis. Oil imports into Cuba have fallen by 50%. Oil was used for tractors, transport, cooking, fertilizers, pesticides storage of food and food packaging. The range of foods available in Cuba has fallen due to the lack of oil and people have reverted back to subsistance farming (growing what they require themselves). Government rations offer only the basics. After the oil shock, calorie consumptions fell by 1/3 to dangerous levels. The Cuban diet has changed through lack of oil. One Cuban scientist/farmer has started to use animals to plow his fields, feed them scraps and eat them when they can no longer work. He has also started mixing the crops in his fields as he says that this is more efficient. This will produce 25X more food by not using oil but more farm labourers would be needed.
In Britain, farmers have become oil dependant and this could escalate from a shortage of fuel to a shortage of food. In turn this would lead to a sharp increase in food prices. It was said that climate change is a bigger threat than a shortage of oil. We in Britain have had failed crops for the last 3 years. In 2007 Britain had to ration rice as there was a scarcity. Food is moving up the political agenda. Families have had to make cutbacks. A nutritionist said that we consume 6.5kg of sugar a year, 2kg of salt and we eat half the fruit we should. In Mexico, obesity rates rose by 110% in the last 10 years. The traditional Mexican diet was very healthy but that was changed when fast foods were introduced into the streets and these foods are pile with hidden fats, sugars and salts.