Feeding 9 Billion: The Switch to a Plant Based World
Thomas Malthus was an 18th century philosopher that recognized that the global population growing at an exponential rate was nothing but bad news. In his essay, he theorized that if the population continued to grow at an exponential rate and the production of food grew at a linear rate, we would eventually find the Earth at a shortage of food. Although, human intelligence has allowed for us to try and maximize food production and curb the rate of reproduction, it still may not be enough. In the next 32 years, the population of the world is expected to exceed nine billion people. The issue that man keep stumbling upon is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to feed every single mouth of the population in sufficient way. Albeit, nine billion individuals on the Earth is a daunting number, it isn’t to say it will be impossible to feed them. A viable way to achieve this goal would to be to switch the human population to a more plant based diet. In doing this, the population as a whole would become healthier and the Earth itself would benefit greatly.
The Earth is sick and it is painstakingly obvious that the humans residing here are at fault. Human impacts have grimly reduced global biodiversity and caused significant habitat loss and destruction for many species. By exploiting the Earth’s resources along side the combination of global climate change, human obliteration of the diversity and richness of the Earth has accelerated significantly. A lack of biodiversity creates environments where plants and animals are more susceptible to diseases. If for not the sake of the organisms on planet Earth, humans need to recognize the impacts this lack of diversity will have on their food and environments. It has been found that if diets were shifted away from meat, greenhouse gas emissions could be considerably lessened. Greenhouse gasses trap heat in the atmosphere causing the planet to become warmer, domestic livestock is one of the largest producers of the second most common greenhouse gas, methane. By altering our diets to a more plant based diet, we could save ourselves from the negative impacts that meat, especially red meat, has on our health. We would also have the capability to conserve and use the land in a more resourceful way
According to the United Nations, the Earth is currently producing enough food to feed 10 billion people, but only if those 10 billion live off a plant based diet. The issue is that one billion of the current seven billion is undernourished, while an additional one billion plus are malnourished. Conceptually, that would be the entire population of India and China combined that are either undernourished or malnourished. That number will continue to increase significantly as we reach nine billion if nothing is done in preparation to feed the masses. Food security is a leading cause of malnutrition. While there is no single solution to achieving food security for all people, helping farmers maximize their land could help greatly. The Earth only has a limited amount of space, and there just is not enough room animal agriculture. Arable land is the land that can be used to grow crops and in relation to food security we need to take advantage of every bit that we have. If diets continue to be centered around meat consumption, we are using the arable land to produce something that is less resource-intensive. The benefits of a plant based diet would be that we could reduce malnutrition by maximizing the use of arable land to provide food security.
If it wasn’t clear already, not only are plant based diets, like vegetarianism or veganism, much more healthier for humans, but they are also healthier for the Earth. A problem that does arise when feeding nine billion people is that we cannot produce enough food to keep up with the reproduction rate and population growth. Sustainable farming is an umbrella term for farming methods that leave a smaller environmental footprint and more profitable than standard farming. Plant based diets do not require nearly as many resources as animal based diets do, making them more sustainable and environmentally friendly. In order to keep up with the demand, a helpful tool is GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). GMOs allow for farmers to grow crops at a faster rate while also preserving the Earth. In relation to sustainable farming, GMOs are cost-efficient and productive. It is also found that by using GMOs we have the ability to grow more while using less resources and improving the conditions of the Earth. As aforementioned, biodiversity on Earth has significantly dropped but researchers have found that genetically modified organisms used in sustainable farming aid in preserving organisms in the ecosystem.
Although some scientists may say that switching the global population from a meat focused dieted to a predominantly plant based diet is unrealistic, it might be the only option if we are to continue living on this Earth. If the condition of the Earth is not helped, humans could be steering themselves right into a sixth mass extinction. In conclusion, humans should consider switching their diets to vegetarianism or veganism. Even by taking one or two days out of a person’s week where they do not eat any meat could help ensure that by 2050 we will have the resources to feed nine billion people. By shifting our diets to plant based we could start to retract and fix the negative impacts that humans have created. If action is not taken soon, our future generations will be impacted by our in ability to adapt.