It's no secret that the way we grow food and raise livestock around the world isn't sustainable. There are 3 main categories that this breaks into. The effect on climate change, the lack of food to support everyone on Earth, and the economic opportunity.
In regards to climate change, food systems alone contribute to 1/3 of global greenhouse emissions and are expected to contribute 2.7 degrees of temperature change by the end of the century. Not to mention as climate conditions grow worse over the years, the overall food yield from farmers will decrease. Switching to better food systems is estimated to turn a net carbon loss by 2040 and a decrease in global temperature by 1.5 degrees. In addition, 1.4 billion hectares will be saved from nitrogen surplus.
Moving on to starvation, the current path we're on will leave 640 million people underweight by 2050 while global obesity will increase by 70%. Experts are estimating that by 2050 switching to better food systems will save 174 million people from dying a premature death.
Economically speaking, making the switch to better food systems is a no-brainer. To start, the estimated cost to switch to a new system across the globe would be 0.2 - 0.4% of global GDP per year. This is nothing compared to the expected gain of $5-10 trillion per year. This would allow farm workers across the world to earn a sufficient income.
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-food-trillions-dollars-economic-benefits.html
5 comments:
How can governments and international organizations collaborate to facilitate the global transition to more sustainable food systems, considering the economic benefits and the potential to mitigate climate change?
The transition to better food systems can also be a great way to develop opportunities in different sectors, like technology, or research. This could potentially contribute to the development of new markets and industries, generating jobs and stimulating economic growth in certain regions.
What are some examples of better food systems?
People are taking their final stand on the issue, but with the economic, environmental and the moral arguments against our current food production methods and our food system becoming more apparent, I think its only a matter of time before we see major changes in our food systems.
It seems that the move to better food systems seems like the best course of action, however it will displace a lot of current workers which will make the transition very difficult. I also wonder what the new systems will look like in practice.
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