March 31, 2011, by brzjch

Food Glorious Food

The Foresight report entitled ‘The Future of Food and Farming’ was published in February 2011. The aim of the project was to examine the pressures to be placed on the global food system over the next 40 years and determine what needs to be achieved in order to feed the world’s population, predicted to rise to 9 billion, sustainably and equitably. Over 400 leading experts, from countries around the world contributed to the exercise.

The overarching conclusions from the report are:

• More food must be produced in a sustainable way using existing (including GM) and new technologies. This will require a major investment in scientific research and the consideration of competing risks including the costs of not implementing a new technology.
• Demand for resource-intensive food must be managed.
• Waste must be reduced to a minimum in all aspects of food production, processing, and consumption.
• The political and economic governance of the food system must be improved to enhance productivity and sustainability

The authors have generated an excellent report which is well argued and informative. Their overall message is that ‘doing nothing is not an option’. For those interested in Global Food Security it is an important document to read and, most appropriately to digest. The report can be found at: http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/foresight/docs/food-and-farming/11-546-future-of-food-and-farming-report.pdf

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