Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Face It, We All Aren't Going to Become Vegetarians


This is an interesting write up on the state on food security in Britain by George Monbiot. He argues that we need to take some urgent measures and as the header suggests explains the impracticality of the Utopian vegetarian dream! In your face PETA... I only kid, it's quite a informative read. Dig in..

Thanks for an interesting read Shubha!


Following is an excerpt from the same:


Never mind the economic crisis. Focus for a moment on a more urgent threat: the great food recession that is sweeping the world faster than the credit crunch.


You have probably seen the figures by now: The price of rice has risen by three-quarters in the past year, that of wheat by 130 percent. There are food crises in 37 countries. One hundred million people, according to the World Bank, could be pushed into deeper poverty by the high prices. But I'll bet you have missed the most telling statistic. At 2.1 billion tons, last year's global grain harvest broke all records. It beat the previous year's by almost 5 percent. The crisis, in other words, has begun before world food supplies are hit by climate change.


If hunger can strike now, what will happen if harvests decline?


There is plenty of food. It is just not reaching human stomachs. Of the 2.13 billion tons likely to be consumed this year, only 1.01 billion, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), will feed people.


Article link:

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