Instead of this seemingly obvious approach, we are running a race to the bottom in which quantity and variety of food, at any time of year, is seen as a human right in the globalized world. Our current economic model does not reward gains in consumption efficiency or resource conservation, but rather in production and purchasing effectiveness. Externalities are conveniently ignored and innovation stunted. As a result, we are stuck iteratively trying to maximize production efficiency rather than minimizing food waste along the supply chain.
A clear strategy to reduce the severity of climate change is to produce less and eat less. One way to do this is to price food correctly. Take meat, for example. It takes 2.5 thousand litres of water and 2.7 kilograms of CO2 to grow a kilogram of rice, but 15.5 thousand litres of water and 27 kilograms of CO2 to produce a kilogram of beef. Livestock uses more than 70% of global agricultural space yet is responsible for less than 20% of global calorie supply. These externalities and climate impacts are not priced into meat products, enabling developed countries to consume in excess of 100% extra protein than they require.
Governments need to urgently overhaul their agricultural policies with a view to self-sufficiency and account for the cost of externalities in the price of food products through appropriate economic interventions. If this were done, there is no doubt that we would see agribusinesses reduce their relentless expansion, distributors reduce transmission losses and consumers reduce plate-wastage.
The 50% metric of food increase should not be viewed as a target, but as a warning that we have not understood the opportunity to reimagine the entire agriculture and food production cycle to address the four existential challenges of our times: climate change, water crisis, biodiversity loss and the spread of global gluttony.
The adverse global consequences of increasing current food output by 50% in just 30 years need to be addressed. There is an obvious alternative: we need to produce and consume less food, while governments must take steps to ensure this through a focus on self-sufficiency and pricing the food supply chain correctly. The pandemic provides an opportunity to overhaul outdated approaches to feeding the world.
