Current population projections demand food production to increase by 70% by 2050 if we are to feed all humans. This means we either find sustainable solutions for producing the amount of needed food, or we continue down the unsustainable path of increasing climate change to feed new generations. Unsustainable food production is an issue that makes it readily apparent how society prioritizes short-term benefits over long-term solutions. We continuously choose to produce food for today without thinking about tomorrow. While there is a high demand for an abundance of nutritious food, is it worth the disastrous consequences it brings?
Current agricultural practices have consequences on multiple environmental systems ranging from contaminating water systems with chemicals, mass destruction of habitats due to deforestation, soil degradation and increasing severity of climate change on a global scale. Agro-industrialization allows for the mass production of food, which is an evidently positive aspect. However, due to the sheer power of new machinery, we have the capability to increase the speed and scale of our deforestation habits to allow for more agricultural land. This destruction of forests releases copious amounts of CO2 emissions, which largely contributes to climate change. These new stripped areas of land have allowed for crop production to begin, which starts a cycle of soil degradation. Many farming tactics strip the soil of its nutrients and cause it to be unusable. After using everything that area of land has to offer, corporations will move onto the next plot, starting the cycle all over again. With the growing need for more food, this vicious system will only intensify.
Urban planners are currently trying to find ways in which we can increase the food supply to meet current demands, although it seems that the concern towards environmental impact is still placed on the back burner. While 37% of Earth’s ice-free surface is utilized for agriculture, many scientists are finding solutions to prevent further land to be used. This entails employing high-yield crops and genetically modified organisms, which could produce the needed food at a higher rate. Although this may seem like a positive solution, it comes with detrimental consequences that are equivalent in severity to the problem we are trying to solve. The use of fertilizers has dramatically increased, causing runoff into nearby water systems which contaminate habitats and contributes to defaunation.
Agricultural practices are one of the greatest contributors to climate change. The mass amounts of greenhouse gases released each year are immeasurable. Current practices and some solutions that are being placed forward are not drastic enough to have a true impact on protecting our world. Solutions need not only be placed on the production of food but also the proceeding steps involving its assignment. Where the food goes, the distribution and how to reduce the amount of waste. The value of food waste in the U.S. was $161.6 billion. Clearly, we are producing enough food but not distributing it properly. This waste, both physical and monetary, is demonstrating how sustenance is not being evenly spread and shows that we do not need to increase food production, but rather create initiatives for food transportation and distribution.
There is no need to feed our future generations if they have no earth to live on. Initiatives are needed, but those that offer more problems than solutions are more harmful than helpful. There will not be a single fix that will solve all of our environmental issues entailing agriculture, but it is possible to create initiatives that span across multiple disciplines to reduce the problems of food production and distribution, which will aid in designing a realistic and sustainable future.