Food is obviously something very close to our hearts. That's why food blogs and food critics exist. And we definitely aren't running out of it - I mean, there are new eateries opening up everyday, and it's still cheap.
Well, let's go back to the basics. If the world population is increasing, and everyone is eating food at the same rate, shouldn't it be running out?
It is. We are overharvesting (overshooting) from our food sources, which means that if we continue, they might disappear. And we are putting a strain on other resources needed to produce food, such as water and energy.
Well, let's go back to the basics. If the world population is increasing, and everyone is eating food at the same rate, shouldn't it be running out?
It is. We are overharvesting (overshooting) from our food sources, which means that if we continue, they might disappear. And we are putting a strain on other resources needed to produce food, such as water and energy.
Singapore has many pet names, and one of them is “garden city”.
Then we became a concrete jungle, where HDBs and office towers replaced Jelawi trees. What’s left behind is a carefully calculated inclusion of greenery here and there - bougainvilleas along overhead bridges, and neat trees lined up along the streets.
Even as our tree-planting campaigns continue, more trees are cut down in the name of development.
The rate of deforestation of the Amazon has increased by 28%, despite being the forest with the second lowest loss.
Singapore’s neighbour, Malaysia, has the highest forest loss rate at 14.4%. Even though new plantations were made, they cannot match up to natural forests in becoming homes for various animals, nor for storing carbon.
This means loss of habitat for animals, and a worsening of the climate change situation.
Short term, this is also the reason why people were selling N95 masks for 30 bucks in town.
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We used to be a dense jungle, with tigers (who are mistaken for lions), tropical birds and lots of different plants.
Then we became a concrete jungle, where HDBs and office towers replaced Jelawi trees. What’s left behind is a carefully calculated inclusion of greenery here and there - bougainvilleas along overhead bridges, and neat trees lined up along the streets.
Source: #
Even as our tree-planting campaigns continue, more trees are cut down in the name of development.
The rate of deforestation of the Amazon has increased by 28%, despite being the forest with the second lowest loss.
Singapore’s neighbour, Malaysia, has the highest forest loss rate at 14.4%. Even though new plantations were made, they cannot match up to natural forests in becoming homes for various animals, nor for storing carbon.
This means loss of habitat for animals, and a worsening of the climate change situation.
Short term, this is also the reason why people were selling N95 masks for 30 bucks in town.
Back
And we consume so much of it all the time, in the form of take-away boxes, water bottles, plastic bags, straws, and more.
All this plastic is being disposed of, when it should actually be recycled. Some of our waste is recycled locally, and some are treated by overseas plants.
However, some of our waste is sent overseas to be disposed of.
However, where is our trash going, and who is getting it?
Some waste, such as e-waste, is expensive to treat, and is thus shipped overseas to be dumped there. What is with all the dumping?
We work so hard to extract Mother Nature’s resources, and we sculpt it in factories and save up money to buy them in the form of products - and they all end up unwanted in the trash.
This will be obsolete in 2 years.
Is there any wonder our consumption is unsustainable, when the whole world is crying out for more and more new things?
We currently function as a river economy.
Resources get harvested, shaped, sold, and thrown away in a linear process. However, we should switch to a lake economy, where waste becomes a resource.
For example, this means that we should strive to restructure our economy into one in which the plastic making up chargers of old cellphones that we throw away can be recycled and used to construct plastic parts of the latest cellphone models.
This can only happen if we start pressuring businesses to begin producing sustainable stuff.
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Only 0.3% of the world’s water is usable. The rest can be used to solidify sandcastles on the beach.
We’ve already established that 70% of our usable water goes to agriculture.
The other 30%
More specifically, 10% is used by us, at home or in offices. 20% is used in the industry, to produce goods and services for us to consume. That tiny slice of the pie, however, is not enough to quench the thirst of everyone of Earth.
With agriculture and industry using up so much water at such unsustainable rates, it comes as no surprise that people are suffering from water shortages in developing countries, who don’t share the same luxury of a lie as we do.
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As you may have guessed, not all foodstuff uses the same energy to create too.
Have you ever wondered what’s up with the whole vegan craze thing? Ellen Degeneres, Anne Hathaway, even Mike Tyson have all switched to “rabbit food”.
You probably already know (totally not because of stereotyping hippies) that being vegan has something to do with saving the environment.
And now you’ll know why!
The ratio of energy input to caloric output for animal products is 50:1. The ratio for fruits and vegetables, however, is 2:1.
Food that has to be flown is worse. After all, transport eats up energy too, remember?
Everything is always in stock in the supermarket, but their carbon footprint across the globe is not the same.
Fruits and vegetables that are out of season have to be flown in. That’s why in the U.S., the ratio of fossil fuel energy and the energy we get from food is 10:1.
And that is definitely not sustainable when you consider how much food gets wasted, and how limited our energy sources are becoming.
Sources:
Pimental, 1983; Gussow, 1991
Have you ever wondered what’s up with the whole vegan craze thing? Ellen Degeneres, Anne Hathaway, even Mike Tyson have all switched to “rabbit food”.
You probably already know (totally not because of stereotyping hippies) that being vegan has something to do with saving the environment.
And now you’ll know why!
Food that has to be flown is worse. After all, transport eats up energy too, remember?
Everything is always in stock in the supermarket, but their carbon footprint across the globe is not the same.
Fruits and vegetables that are out of season have to be flown in. That’s why in the U.S., the ratio of fossil fuel energy and the energy we get from food is 10:1.
And that is definitely not sustainable when you consider how much food gets wasted, and how limited our energy sources are becoming.
Sources:
Pimental, 1983; Gussow, 1991
Food and water are tied close together.
It’s not just because humans need to eat food and drink water to survive, as common sense suggests. It’s because our food needs water to survive. Say what?
Well, obviously plants and animals need water too. That’s why 70% of the world’s water usage goes to agriculture. That leaves 30% for us to use. Also, not all food is created equal. That means some foodstuff requires more water to produce than other foodstuff.
For example, 24,000 litres of water is needed to produce a single kilogram (kg) of chocolate.
If you buy 10 of Cadbury’s Winter Wonderland bars, you have already used the amount of water you need to drink healthily for 22 years. And since chocolate is so cheap, there is no reason why people need to think twice before indulging in a box of ferrero rocher (except for weight gain).
Ironically, a cup of coffee requires 140 litres of water to produce.
And with everyone buying a cup per day, it is no wonder that water shortages are happening. If you’re wondering “What sorcery is this!? What other lies have I been eating??”, you can go to waterfootprint to find out what other foodstuff is water-intensive and unsustainable. It gets worse from here, though. Oh, really, you say? Well, yarly.
Farmers are the ones who create food. Since they are in charge, you would think that they know how much water to use.
The answer is: No, they do waste it. A lot.
You see, the agriculture industry gets a lot of subsidies. That means water is cheaper for them, and they can use huge amounts of it at low prices. That’s fine because we need to eat to survive after all, right?
Well, in 2004, 1 billion litres of water (yes, you read that right), was wasted creating a surplus of food. Surplus, meaning, extra food that isn’t required by us (the people who are buying it).
Food wastage is obviously a well-known problem, but now you know we’re wasting vast amounts of water too. Helps you sleep better at night right?
Time to drop another bomb!
In agriculture, farmers dig ditches to allow all this water to flow to dry parts of land. This helps water the crops.
However, there are a lot of inefficient irrigation practices. Water is being wasted whilst it’s travelling to the crops.
For example in Pakistan, 30%-40% of water is wasted simply due to poor irrigation design.
Now I bet you’ll thrilled to hear that water is not the only thing needed (and over-consumed) in order to produce food. Let’s go into energy now.
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It’s not just because humans need to eat food and drink water to survive, as common sense suggests. It’s because our food needs water to survive. Say what?
Well, obviously plants and animals need water too. That’s why 70% of the world’s water usage goes to agriculture. That leaves 30% for us to use. Also, not all food is created equal. That means some foodstuff requires more water to produce than other foodstuff.
For example, 24,000 litres of water is needed to produce a single kilogram (kg) of chocolate.
If you buy 10 of Cadbury’s Winter Wonderland bars, you have already used the amount of water you need to drink healthily for 22 years. And since chocolate is so cheap, there is no reason why people need to think twice before indulging in a box of ferrero rocher (except for weight gain).
And with everyone buying a cup per day, it is no wonder that water shortages are happening. If you’re wondering “What sorcery is this!? What other lies have I been eating??”, you can go to waterfootprint to find out what other foodstuff is water-intensive and unsustainable. It gets worse from here, though. Oh, really, you say? Well, yarly.
Farmers are the ones who create food. Since they are in charge, you would think that they know how much water to use.
The answer is: No, they do waste it. A lot.
You see, the agriculture industry gets a lot of subsidies. That means water is cheaper for them, and they can use huge amounts of it at low prices. That’s fine because we need to eat to survive after all, right?
Well, in 2004, 1 billion litres of water (yes, you read that right), was wasted creating a surplus of food. Surplus, meaning, extra food that isn’t required by us (the people who are buying it).
Food wastage is obviously a well-known problem, but now you know we’re wasting vast amounts of water too. Helps you sleep better at night right?
Time to drop another bomb!
In agriculture, farmers dig ditches to allow all this water to flow to dry parts of land. This helps water the crops.
However, there are a lot of inefficient irrigation practices. Water is being wasted whilst it’s travelling to the crops.
For example in Pakistan, 30%-40% of water is wasted simply due to poor irrigation design.
Now I bet you’ll thrilled to hear that water is not the only thing needed (and over-consumed) in order to produce food. Let’s go into energy now.
Back