Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization (S 25)

This reading discusses some of the main problems that are involved in our current worldwide agricultural system. The biggest problem is food supply, and within that there are the smaller individual problems; lack of water, loss or topsoil and extremely high uses of ethanol oil (fuel for cars). The reading emphasizes the urgency of this problem by predicting how the next few years may play out worldwide. Many third world countries are already experiencing the effects of the lack of food (grain) currently available. The biggest and hardest problem for humans to conquer is the worldwide water shortage. Next humans are faced with the challenge of topsoil loss due to over farming certain areas, and not giving agricultural soils enough time to recover before the next crop is planted. Lastly the extremely high use of ethanol oil for fuels in cars is taking up a huge amount of resources that could be used for food production if we had a renewable energy system. The author states “plan B” which consists of; cutting back fuel emissions immensely, stabilizing the worlds population, the eradication of poverty and the restoration of solid, forests and aquifers as our only option for the future.

The demand for food is becoming much greater then the supply. With population rates increasing, and resources decreasing we as humans are setting ourselves up for disaster. Much like many of the worlds current global problems, we are running out of time to make our move before the problem becomes irreversible. Something needs to be done now. The effects of this worldwide food shortage will be apparent in every country due to the constant trade of food between all nations. The worst outcome of this food shortage is competition. Countries may be competing for food, competing to stay alive and that often leads to war. Countries have already started to try and make contracts with each other in order to help ensure that they will have enough food over the years to come. The worst effects can only be prevented if the world as a whole makes a movement towards using less fuel, and using better farming practices. Fuel reduction can be made by converting our energy system to a renewable one. Better farming practices include allowing water tables to replenish before draining them, this may mean that we eat grains that require less water for production. Also, farmers must learn to cherish topsoil by allowing for soil recovery in between crops and planting more trees to help prevent winds from carrying topsoil away. 

This map represents the soil degradation worldwide, as you can see the "stable soil" is very limited.