The Environmental Food Crisis

pellini and Ceponis, 1984; Harvey, 1978; Kader, 2005). Kan- tor et al (1999) estimated the U.S. total retail, foodservice, and consumer food losses in 1995 to be 23% of fruits and 25% of vegetables. In addition, losses could amount to 25–50% of the total economic value because of reduced quality (Kader, 2005). Others estimate that up to 50% of the vegetables and fruits grown end as waste (Henningsson, 2004). Finally, substantial losses and wastage occur during retail and consumption due to product deterioration as well as to discarding of excess per- ishable products and unconsumed food. While the estimates therefore vary among sources, it is clear that food waste rep- resents a major potential, especially for use as animal feed, which, in turn, could release the use of cereals in animal feed for human consumption. In 2007, US$148 billion was invested in the renewable energy market, up 60% from the previous year. Recovering energy from agricultural wastes is becoming increasingly feasible at the industrial production level; investments in technology en- hancement of existing systems and innovation in new waste management systems is called for to support this expanding green economy.

Sustainable food supply

The discourse around food and agriculture that has dominated the past 60 years needs to be fundamentally re-thought over the next few years. New strategies are needed that respond to the daunting challenges posed by climate change mitigation and ad- aptation, water scarcity, the decline of petroleum-based energy, biodiversity loss, and persistent food insecurity in growing popu- lations. A narrowly-focused ‘seed and fertilizer’ revolution will not avert recurrent food crises under these conditions; current mod- els of intensive livestock production will be unaffordable; global and national food supply chains will need to be restructured in light of demographic shifts and increasing fuel costs. Future food production systems will not only depend on, but must contribute positively to , healthy ecosystems and resilient communities. Soils and vegetation in agricultural landscapes must be restored and managed in ways that not only achieve food security targets far more ambitious than those committed to under the Millennium Development Goals, but also provide watershed services and wildlife habitat, and sequester greenhouse gases.

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