[Originally published March 8, 2021]
Poverty and malnourishment are problems that have plagued the world for all of human history. Even with the great advances in technology and agricultural practices over the years, world hunger is still rampant today, with over a quarter of people worldwide suffering from food insecurity in 2018. With this in mind, it may come as a surprise to hear that we produce more than enough food to feed the almost 8 billion people on Earth. In fact, we grow enough food every year to feed about 10 billion people. So why is poverty still such a big issue?
The reality is that world hunger stems from a distribution issue – not a matter of scarcity. For one thing, populations in wealthier countries consume disproportionally more food than in poorer regions – that much should be obvious. But beyond that, there are still billions of pounds of food every year that never reaches the plate of a consumer. Food waste and the feeding of livestock takes up a significant portion of our world’s agricultural supply.
Let’s start with the more frustrating issue. Here in the United States, we waste up to 40% of our food supply! Some of this waste is unavoidable and even necessary – damaged or infected food that gets recalled from a supermarket, for example – but plenty more is entirely avoidable. At my Chipotle, we throw away hundreds of dollars of food every night. We might make a burrito wrong, or maybe someone doesn’t show up to pick up their order. Occasionally, an employee will offer to take it home. But nine times out of ten, the food goes straight into the trash. Restaurants aren’t the only culprits. Grocery stores throw out 43 billion pounds of food a year. This can arise from overstocked shelves, or simply a belief that “ugly” shaped fruits and vegetables aren’t worth putting up for sale. Whatever the reason, the massive amount of food wasted by businesses every year contributes greatly to a lack of food, even when more than enough is produced.
A more subtle, but still impactful factor is the amount of food needed to feed livestock. While some countries like India consume very low amounts of meat, others like the United States have disproportionally high meat diets. This uses up a lot of land – and a lot of food. Livestock require vast amounts of space. Of the 51 million square kilometers dedicated to agriculture, 77% is dedicated to livestock, in the form of grazing land or growing animal feed. Despite this, meat is only about 17% of our worldwide diet, meaning livestock take up a greatly disproportional amount of land. By reducing the amount of animals in our diet, more of that almost 40 million square kilometers of land can be used for feeding people.
So while hunger remains a large global issue, the foundation to stopping it has already been established. As the world population continues to increase, we will have to rethink the way we use our food. By 2050 there will be an estimated 10 billion mouths to feed, a number certainly unsustainable by today’s practices. But if we focus on reducing food waste and reducing meat intake – as hard as the latter might be – we may be able to someday eliminate poverty once and for all.
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