Last Tuesday Tom Daschle wrote an article in Politico titled "We Shouldn't Forget the World's Food Gap." Should we not? Carrying capacity in it's simplest form is defined as the ability of a population to be sustained given a certain limitation of resources. It has long been a struggle for the world to keep up with exponential population growth. In fact, this effort has plagued man since the beginning of time.
Daschle states, "In order to feed a global population boom of 9 billion people by 2050, we will need to more than double our current levels of food production." He suggests that in order to do this "innovation will lie at the heart of the agricultural revolution" and that "scientific and technological innovation in agriculture" must be supported. While this makes people warm and fuzzy at the thought of saving millions from starvation, we should take a step back and look at the ramifications of doing so in an ill-advised or radical way.
The negative externalities that result from intensive agriculture have been well documented, the impact on the environment and those receiving "cheap" food is not favorable. "Food dumping" has also been blamed for an increase in poverty, i.e. "give a man a fish...." In addition, on the other side of the equation, to keep supporting exponential population growth the strain on the environment will also need to grow exponentially. Think about it, in order to clothe, shelter, feed and educate the population boom valuable resources will need to be pillaged.
This problem has already been dealt with in many developing countries e.g. China and their one child per family policy. The Chinese didn't do this because they are barbarians, they did so because it was necessary policy in order to keep population growth in line with the resources the country is able to provide. And take a guess as to where they are economically these days. I certainly don't want to see millions of people starve to death. But as the Glenn Fellows have learned on many occasions this quarter, forcing immediate, large changes can lead to costlier results than if they are allowed to occur incrementally.
I close with this question: In regards to carrying capacity and population growth, can the dog catch it's tail and still be able to stand? (Yes, feel free to refer to this as I do: the dog-tail paradigm.) Daschle closes by saying: "The challenges we face are daunting. But I remain confident that harnessing the innovation of our policymakers, scientists and farmers around the world will put us on track to feed the world and preserve its resources. Indeed, we have no other choice." And I agree. Will someone give me the opportunity to help solve this problem so that I don't starve? Seriously, I need a job.
To donate to world hunger relief efforts go here: http://www.wfp.org/
--Mike
I think the problem isn't a shortage of food, it's the allocation of it. What about developed countries like Japan and those in eastern Europe whose populations are aging? If they don't raise their birth rate their populations will be hurting. You should take Sociology 597-Social Institutions and Change.
ReplyDelete