The End of Food

The End of Food

Most people would believe that the major issues surrounding our food supply are safety and high costs.   Safety issues are a concern as evidenced by the outbreaks of salmonella in spinach (2006) and tomatoes and jalapeno peppers (2009).   Likewise the ever increasing cost of a trip to the grocery store is adversely affecting the population.   But these concerns pale in comparison to the threat to the world’s food supply.   The problem is not just the number of mouths to feed; it’s the quantity of food that each mouth consumes when there are no natural constraints.
“Until late in the twentieth century, the modern food system was celebrated as a monument to humanity’s greatest triumph. We were producing more food—more grain, more meat, more fruits and vegetables—than ever before, more cheaply than ever before, and with a degree of variety, safety, quality and convenience that preceding generations would have found bewildering, ” explains Paul Roberts in The End of Food.   One of Robert’s concerns is if modern agriculture will be able to keep up with and feed a growing world population?

In today's world, superabundance exists alongside global hunger. As of 2006 there were eight hundred million people on the planet who suffer from hunger.   Roberts states that the foods we eat are part of a global system, one made possible by international trade and transportation systems as well as advances in preservation technologies. He warns that this once promising and plentiful food system has become vulnerable, over-extended and inadequate to feed the world population.   “On nearly every level, we are reaching the end of what may one day be called the 'golden age' of food." Roberts grapples with the possible termination of food itself – but what would be its replacement?    
Roberts predicts that in the next forty years, as global populations continue to grow and agriculture is threatened by climate change, “demand for food will rise precipitously,” out-...