Introduction
Over the past 10,000 years world’s food production has undergone colossal changes and agriculture has played a central role on that process. The main focus and worries have always been centered on making improvements on food production to successfully feed an exponentially growing population. In 1779 Thomas Malthus refers to this problematic as “Famine seems to be the last, the most dreadful resource of nature. The power of population is so superior to the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great army of destruction; and often finish the dreadful …show more content…
Should success be still incomplete, gigantic inevitable famine stalks in the rear, and with one mighty blow levels the population with the food of the world”. Fortunately, the advances in agricultural and industrial processes have led into an era of abundant food for the current population, but as consequence ecosystem degradation, loss of natural resources and other environmental impacts have occurred. However, the access and distribution of world's food are unequally and about 9 million people die of hunger per year, and 800 million are undernourished (BIO Intelligence Service et al. 2011). The previously mentioned facts about the food cycle could be easily associated or compared to the evolution of other types of energies. For instance, if food is contrasted to fossil fuel-derived energy, the current period of food production could be equivalent to the stage when cheap oil was abundant. When trying to predict where our food system is headed next based on oil we could assess break point stage will be reached in a future. Hence, taking special care in food waste could be a possible solution to get later into the break point. As there are no solutions to decrease the amount of food wasted in the short term, alternatives to reuse or recycle this food waste need to be applied
Over the past 10,000 years world’s food production has undergone colossal changes and agriculture has played a central role on that process. The main focus and worries have always been centered on making improvements on food production to successfully feed an exponentially growing population. In 1779 Thomas Malthus refers to this problematic as “Famine seems to be the last, the most dreadful resource of nature. The power of population is so superior to the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great army of destruction; and often finish the dreadful …show more content…
Should success be still incomplete, gigantic inevitable famine stalks in the rear, and with one mighty blow levels the population with the food of the world”. Fortunately, the advances in agricultural and industrial processes have led into an era of abundant food for the current population, but as consequence ecosystem degradation, loss of natural resources and other environmental impacts have occurred. However, the access and distribution of world's food are unequally and about 9 million people die of hunger per year, and 800 million are undernourished (BIO Intelligence Service et al. 2011). The previously mentioned facts about the food cycle could be easily associated or compared to the evolution of other types of energies. For instance, if food is contrasted to fossil fuel-derived energy, the current period of food production could be equivalent to the stage when cheap oil was abundant. When trying to predict where our food system is headed next based on oil we could assess break point stage will be reached in a future. Hence, taking special care in food waste could be a possible solution to get later into the break point. As there are no solutions to decrease the amount of food wasted in the short term, alternatives to reuse or recycle this food waste need to be applied