For the most part in developed countries there is a never worry to when the last meal will hit the table. Developed countries seem to have this an ignorant sense of invincibility when it comes to the growing and producing of agriculture. The consequence of over pumping, global warming or the production of pollution are not taking as seriously as they should be according to author Lester R. Brown. Brown writer of Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food and scarcity. He believes that we are in a transition from an age of abundance and surplus to one of scarcity. It is no doubt that food is a necessity to human survival but how are we supposed to continue to produce food when we abuse the earth. The past gives us a guideline into what the future has instore for us. Looking into the past it is inevitable that things would eventually crumble. In most historical cases such as the stock market crash we are able to create something that benefits all citizens but then selfishness steps we try to milk everything to its last drop and there are consequences. In relation the the Industrial revolution boom we got the stock market crash. Is the food market crash what’s left in store for us if we fix the issues at hand? During the Stock Market Crash, people took a financial hit, but in this issue animals, humans and the entire earth is self would take a hit. While for the most part we do not start to look at issues till they personally start affecting us, farmers are the first to see how this is bad for the environment and their businesses. In a sense we are moving from riches to rags. Three main issues Brown discusses is the rate at which the population is growing, more people means more food needs to be produced, which means more over cropping and over pumping and other acts of that nature. Lastly global warming is one of those things that some people believe in and some people don’t which does not make much sense when we have full proof that climates are getting higher but this is another thing that we have to control in order to continue growing agriculture and sustaining life on earth.
All things alive will eventually die, as seen with past civilization their end came due to food shortages. Brown believes that food is the weak link and will be the reason, life will not be able to be sustained. The earth is a living organism, and just like human bodies if the right things are not put into it; and treated properly its life expectancy will shorten. To take a closer look, Brown focuses on population growth. “When this period of food abundance began, the world had 2.5 billion people. Today it has 7 billion” (Brown, 5). There is a rapid growth within the human population which means there are more mouths to feed and on the bright side people are moving up the food chain or is it? With wealth comes appetite, “in some countries [they] live high on the food chain but use relatively little grain to feed animals” (Brown, 30). This means that, as people move up the socioeconomic ladder they will want better quality food or more of. This becomes a problem when we are already at a state of scarcity, so more people demanding more will add on to the issue. For every cause there is an effect, with more mouths to feed we need to grow more food, meaning more soil eroding, depleting aquifers and rising tempetures which are all seen first-hand by farmers. “Brown list three environmental issues “One, aquifers are being depleted and irrigation wells are starting to go dry in 18 countries that together contain half the world’s people. Two, in some of the more agriculturally advanced countries, rice and wheat yield per acre, which have been rising steadily for several decades, are beginning to plateau. And three, the earth’s temperature is rising, threatening to disrupt world agriculture in scary ways” (Brown, 11). These three issues not only affect the earth but will eventually personally effect each and every one of earth inhabitants. Before this there were precautions being taken to prevent these issues such as idled U.S. crop land and large stocks of grain, but these were not successful due to our mass productions, which cause grains stocks to become dangerously low. Due to this food prices are reached the roof and its taking almost more than half of consumer’s income just to fund essential foods. Countries like India are now planning foodless days in the hopes of being able to turn these issues around, and with most world crisis children will be the ones to suffer the most. Overfishing, overgrazing, overcutting, overflowing, and over pumping have been the agricultural outcome of our growing populations. “The bottom line is that it is becoming much more difficult for the world’s farmers to keep up with the world’s rapidly growing demand for grain” (Brown, 14). If we continue to go the route we are going, we ultimately won’t be able to sustain life on Earth anymore. If we cannot grow anymore food, people or even animals cannot eat but the issue is not only about eating our earth itself will not be able to live. Brown “expect[s] that with the next poor harvest, food prices will soar, hunger will intensify, and food unrest will spread. We are entering a time of chronic food scarcity, one that is leading to intense competition for control of land and water resources—in short, a new geopolitics of food” (Brown, 14). Not only will our land have suffered a detrimental amount of damage it will me irreversible and we will essentially be fighting over resources just to stay alive, talk about survival of the fittest. Brown suggest multiple things that we can start doing to start saving our earth. For one thing we can stabilize earth’s population, China has had success with this due to their one child a family policy. This policy states that each family cannot birth more than one child. China created this act when their economy was plummeting and it was getting hard for the government to care of all citizens.
By stabilizing climates and conserving things like soil we can take steps in the right direction. “If the United States could totally transform its industry- al economy in a matter of months in 1942, then certainly it can lead the world in restructuring the energy economy, stabilizing population, and rebuilding world grain stocks” (Brown, 122). This change will only come if everyone starts working together for the greater good. Earth is home to all its inhabitants and effects every single one so educating those who may not know or understand the harmful effects of the world literally running out of food is one of the best things anyone can do. Resources are being concentrated by the top one percent at the expense of every one at the bottom if we do not start making changes eventually the top one percent won’t have anything to live off of either. In my opinion is one of those things that are inevitable such as racism or any other inequality issue, but there are steps to take to lessen the problem. In America we have a serious obesity issue, we tend to over eat but instead of filling our stomach to the brim we can slow down and eat only we is absolutely necessary for our daily diet. All these issues are essentially ones we created and now it’s time for us to clean up our mess before it is too late. Brown quotes “We all need to select an issue and go to work on it. Find some friends who share your concern and get to work” (Brown, 123). For the most part we look at hunger issues in third world countries as sad but do nothing in order to help them, we think someone will eventually help them it is inhumane to know about suffering and allow it to continue happening. We have normalized world hungry to the point where its old news. Taking “initiatives do not constitute a menu from which to pick and choose. We need to take all these actions simultaneously [and] reinforce each other. We will not likely be able to stabilize population unless we eradicate [things like] poverty (Brown 123). So, educate yourself on world hunger, and things like global warming to better understand how what we do on earth affects every aspect of it.