Resource Depletion, Deep Ecology and Alternative Hedonism « Philosophus Autodidactus. Yes, these passages (Hans Jonas and David Wiggins, not shown) do point to the precautionary principle, but I don’t think it is adequate to deal with or mitigate the doom that awaits us. Rather than giving more weight to the prognosis of doom, the prognosis is doom. First I will highlight a problem with the precautionary principle, then outline the reasons why imminent doom is upon us. I don’ think we can avoid a collapse of some kind given the empirical facts of the world, but there is a strategy we can employ to slow the process of collapse, or make it less abrupt, which I will discuss in the final section together with some ecological philosophy. The precautionary principle sounds very plausible, and I dare say it is common sense. But there is a potential problem – where do we draw the line of potential risk? In a sense, almost every new invention is a potential risk because we don’t know the long-term effects.
Now to the time-bomb we have set off. Like this: Like Loading... More Land Switching Into Human Food Production. October 04, 2009 More Land Switching Into Human Food Production Writing in Scientific American David Biello presents the case that Thomas Malthus might be right after all. MALTHUSIAN DILEMMA: How to feed a human population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 while also grappling with poverty as well as climate change, dead zones, biodiversity loss and other environmental ills?
These problems won't all be solved. Technological advances will feed more humans while more species go extinct. By 2050, the world will host nine billion people—and that's if population growth slows in much of the developing world. We are shifting more land into agricultural production and out-competing more species in the process. "Agriculture is the main driver of most ecological problems on the planet," said economist Jeffrey Sachs, Scientific American columnist and Earth Institute director.
I think 6.6 billion people are enough. Of course you think 6.6 billion is enough. 2.4 billion extra people, no more land: how will we feed the world in 2050? - Science - News. Food production will have to increase by between 70 and 100 per cent, while the area of land given over to agriculture will remain static, or even decrease as a result of land degradation and climate change. Meanwhile the global population is expected to rise from 6.8 billion at present to about 9.2 billion by mid-century. The Government-appointed advisers are expected to warn that "business as usual" in terms of food production is not an option if mass famine is to be avoided, and to refer to the need for a second "green revolution", following the one that helped to feed the extra 3 billion people who have been added to the global population over the past 50 years.
They will suggest that the public needs to be better convinced of the benefits of GM food, and will advocate an educational campaign to improve acceptance of what they see as one of a set of innovative technologies that can contribute to and improve food security in the coming century. Prosperity brings fresh challenges. Demise of the killer tomatoes. It was Paul Bongiorno, the veteran Ten Network political reporter who put me onto La Gina tomatoes. Not personally, of course. But he featured once in a weekend magazine bit I used to find oddly compelling, the shopping baskets of public figures.
Every week someone new would name a couple of products they always popped in their basket or trolley. For Bongiorno, it was La Gina’s peeled pomodori. He thought them more vibrant of hue, with a much greater density of taste than any comparable tinned tomato, and with a name like his I figured he had to know his stuff, so I gave them a try. Been buying them ever since. Or at least they did until recently when I found they seemed to have been replaced on the shelf of my local Woolies by another brand, with which neither I nor I suspect Mr Bongiorno would have much truck.
You mess with people’s food, even in little ways, and it angries up the blood. Advertisement The duopoly controls 80¢ in every dollar spent on groceries in this country. Fruit and vegetables 'lacking' in UK diets. 14 January 2012Last updated at 15:45 Britons eat, on average, less fruit and vegetables than many other European nations Britons are not eating enough fruit and vegetables despite nutritional advice being widely available, a study suggests. A review of eating habits in 19 EU countries put the UK in 14th place.
The analysis was carried out by the European Food Information Council (EUFIC). It says that on average, Britons eat 258g (9.1oz) of fruit and vegetables a day, compared with a European average of 386g (13.6oz). The UK average also falls short of the 400g (14.1oz) minimum consumption recommended by the World Health Organisation. Only four European countries met this target: Poland (577g), Italy (452g), Germany (442g) and Austria (413g). The EUFIC report said: "A majority of Europeans do not reach WHO recommendations on vegetables and fruit consumption. "Consumption varies, with higher intakes in southern compared to the northern regions. " Varying definitions. Overconsumption is costing us the earth and human happiness | Environment. If you really want to understand a country, a society, or even a civilization, don't turn to its national museums or government archives.
Head to the tip. According to Annie Leonard – former Greenpeace activist, unwavering optimist and waste obsessive – the tip is akin to society's secret journal. "Stuff" became a fascination for Leonard in her teens, choosing field trips to landfills while at university when she began to question how we came to build an economy based purely on resources. That was 20 years ago, and a lot has changed. In 2007, Leonard tried a novel medium – a YouTube video – to convey the message. Leonard has surprised many, though, by not actually being against stuff. Consumption can be good, she says. But consumerism is always bad, adding little to our wellbeing as well as being disastrous for the planet. "It turns out our stuff isn't making us any happier," she argues. Part of the problem, according to Leonard, is our confused sense of self.
UN: One Third of Food Produced for Human Consumption Is Uneaten. A new report suggests that some 1.3 billion metric tons of food in the world is lost (on the production side of the food supply chain) or wasted (on the consumption side) each year. That’s about one-third of total edibles produced for humans. It’s not the only jarring statistic in the study conducted by the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, on behalf of the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Consumers in industrialized nations waste nearly 222 million tons of food each year — virtually the equivalent of sub-Saharan Africa’s total net food production (230 million tonnes). And in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as South and Southeast Asia, individual consumers waste between 6-11 kg (13-24 lbs.) annually, while consumers in Europe and North America discard more than eight times as much: between 95-115 kg (209-254 lbs.).
(PHOTOS: What the World Eats) Among the causes of waste are all-you-can-eat buffets and buy-one-get-one-free deals. Another way to lessen waste?