Food Security

[talon]

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE5A909H20091110

There is no doubt that we are breeding ourselves out of food, and doing so rapidly. We have options if we are willing to adapt them. There are the obvious ones of reigning in our out-of-control breeding, of using less, and of devoting more space to edible foods. There are the expensive ones of using science and technology to create uber-productive seeds, perhaps at the expense of the health of both the plant and the consumer of the plant. There are the equally expensive ones of using science to artificially add vitamins and micronutrients to otherwise bland foods such as vats of yeast, tofu, or lab-cultured meats.

The difficulty lies in getting enough people to see the problem and encouraging them to follow through with actions that will provide the human race (and hopefully as many other species as possible) a good chance at long-term survival.

We've seen, over and over, what happens when a species out-breeds its food supply. It's not pretty. And it will happen to us in spite of science and technology struggling to artificially boost crop production as fast as they can. We have a reprieve because of our science and technology, but as things stand now, there is a very definite end in sight. Modern technology and science can only do so much and then we'll be well past the caution zone (where we are now) and deeply into the danger zone - a place we'll reach in just 2 or 3 generations.

And yet, humans are willfully blind to what our own uncontrolled breeding is doing to us, to other species, to the planet as a whole. We shrink from the mere thought of organizing and regulating our breeding and of delaying our deaths far beyond what is bearable through scare and shame tactics that go far beyond reasonable and moral.

We prefer empty grass lawns to fertile gardens so much that we have passed laws punishing people who try to grow food on their own property, or even more unreasonably, forcing people to grow grassy lawns in arid regions of the country where water is scarce and verdant lawns unnatural.

Some people are so far removed from their food sources they can't recognize the food in its raw form. A friend once was puzzled by a raw cabbage, wondering what kind of weird lettuce it was, and another couldn't connect cheese with cow, let alone goat, buffalo, or sheep. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing in and of itself, but I feel it is bad because I am innately a survivor. I take things down to their rawest component parts in order to re-assemble it into something useful, whether it's building a screen door or baking a cake or distilling ethanol for the car from a still I built from scratch. Maybe, if we go the fully scientific food route, they are better off not knowing how their food is sourced.

On the other hand, if it's determined that everyone should be growing some of what they eat, even something as simple as sprouts of leafy greens, then perhaps a little familiarity with raw foods might be a good thing to have.

I'm not sure how we're going to pull our fat out of this fire/ I have ideas, but they all require massive cooperation and some sacrifice on each person's part - and I can't see that happening until it's possibly too late to salvage the civilization we currently enjoy.

I am optimistic enough to believe that the human race will survive. I am pessimistic enough to believe it will survive in drastically changed circumstances at greatly reduced numbers. Whether disease or starvation accounts for the decimated population is beyond my forecasting abilities. However, I have taught my children and anyone else who cares to listen to me as many survival skills as I can, along with words of wisdom I've garnered along the way, pointing out role models and sterling examples of survival and self-sufficiency, and making sure they demonstrate their own skills. I want my descendents to be among the survivors.