Veggie diet looming for worlds population
Food prices continue to rise as drought affects crops and cattle in many parts of the world, including Panama, but for those who like their meat rare or well done, worse is in store.
Leading water scientists have issued one of the sternest warnings yet about global food supplies, saying the world's population may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages.
Humans derive about 20 per cent of their protein from animal products now, but this may need to drop to just 5 per cent to feed the extra 2 billion people expected to be alive by 2050, according to research by some of the world's leading water scientists.
''There will not be enough water available on current croplands to produce food for the expected 9 billion population in 2050 if we follow current trends and changes towards diets common in Western nations,'' the report by Malin Falkenmark and colleagues at the Stockholm International Water Institute said.
''There will be just enough water if the proportion of animal-based foods is limited to 5 per cent of total calories and considerable regional water deficits can be met by a … reliable system of food trade.''
Dire warnings of water scarcity limiting food production come as Oxfam and the United Nations prepare for a possible second global food crisis in five years. Prices for staples such as corn and wheat have risen nearly 50 per cent on international markets since June, triggered by severe droughts in the United States and Russia, and weak monsoon rains in Asia.
Oxfam has forecast the price spike will have a devastating impact in developing countries that rely heavily on food imports.
Adopting a vegetarian diet is one option to increase the amount of water available to grow more food, the scientists said. Animal protein-rich food consumes five to 10 times more water than a vegetarian diet. One-third of the world's arable land is used to grow crops to feed animals. Other options include eliminating waste and increasing trade between countries in food surplus and those in deficit.
''Nine hundred million people already go hungry and 2 billion people are malnourished in spite of the fact that per capita food production continues to increase,'' they said. ''With 70 per cent of all available water being in agriculture, growing more food to feed an additional 2 billion people by 2050 will place greater pressure on available water and land.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/vegetarian-diet-may-be-solution-to-impending-water-crisis-say-scientists-20120827-24wgs.html#ixzz24vXyhSCQ
