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3.6.1.2 Food and the environment Typeit
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As the world population grows, more and more food has to be produced to meet the needs of billions of people. Currently (January 2020) there are about 7.7 billion people living on Earth, and the United Nations predicts the number will grow to 11 billion by 2100.
The more people there are, the more food is needed – but the area and resources we have on Earth are limited. Food production and require a lot of resources, such as water and . These processes also generate a lot of waste and pollution. Intensive farming and can lead to extinction of animal and plant species and to exhaustion. For these reasons, the idea of sustainable food is becoming more and more important. The point of sustainable food is to use the available resources only to an extent that does not overexploit them and allows them to be replenished. The main principles of sustainability are: reducing and packaging, reducing meat and dairy to limit gases released into the atmosphere, buying locally and seasonally, choosing Fairtrade, carrying out sustainable fishing.
Food can be transported even from very distant countries by trains, lorries, ships and . To work, these means of transport need a lot of energy – from either carbon, petrol or . Combustion engines burn the fuel, producing dust, exhaust gases and carbon dioxide. They contribute to general air pollution and heavy metal pollution of the air and ground (especially near main roads and motorways). An important effect of rising global transportation (and consumption of fuels) is global warming and climate change. This is because large amounts of greenhouse gases are produced during production and transportation of foods. Greenhouse gases include water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. They are also produced in large amounts by households (e.g. when heating the house and using electricity) and transport of people (e.g. buses and cars). All the greenhouse gases produced as a result of someone’s actions are called their carbon . Buying locally reduces the need for transportation of produce, and, therefore, is a good way of limiting your carbon footprint. It also reduces food – the distance which food has to travel from field to plate.
Food waste is, in general terms, all the food that is rotten, spoiled or wasted, and is thrown away. A number of policies exist to prevent food waste: recycling, first in first out, storage conditions, and redistribution. Furthermore, the population can reduce food waste in the home by: planning ahead and only buying the food you need for the week, freezing leftovers which can be consumed at a later date, using leftovers and serving that are going to be eaten, rather than larger portions that will go to waste and in the bin.