Introduction
Because of efficiency considerations related to interest charges in the current economic environment, humanity is not thinking long term. As a consequence the following problems with our food supply are not solved:
- there is only food stored to feed humanity for a few months;
- the possibility of bees going extinct poses a real threat of famine and mass starvation;
- our food is not produced in an efficient way;
- our food is not produced in harmony with nature;
- some people have moral objections against hunting;
- the keeping of pets consumes a lot of food resources;
- humans keep animals that may spread dangerous diseases.
Only food stored is stored to feed humanity for a few months
Because interest is charged on money only minimal food supplies are stored. In 2007/2008 the stock to consumption ratio went below 20%, which means that less than 20% of the yearly consumption of the most important foods is in stock. Humanity has a food supply stocked for two months of consumption (see figure below).
Source: FAO
This poses a serious threat to human survival. If harvests are disappointing, famine is imminent. Because of bees going extinct and climate change, this is a realistic possibility. It makes sense to store food supplies for bad times, just like the Egyptians did after the advice Joseph has given them. If there was a holding tax on money, people would be inclined to store as much food as possible to avoid the tax.
Honeybees are going extinct
Honeybees are going extinct due to the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) which annihilates bee colonies rapidly on a massive scale. If honeybees are extinct, humanity will face the threat of a worldwide famine. Possible causes of CCD are:
- the use of pesticides and antibiotics;
- genetically modified crops with pest control characteristics;
- parasites like the Varroa mites and the Israel Acute Paralysis virus;
- climate change;
- monocultures on large areas of land;
- the practice of breeding bee queens and introducing them into a colony;
- bee rentals and migratory beekeeping resulting in environmental change related stress;
- the use of cell phones (see also: Telegraph - Mobile phones responsible for disappearance of honey bee).
Because this situation is urgent (see also: The Observer - Ecological apocalypse: Why are all the bees dying?, Prisonplanet.com - Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe), we cannot wait for science to come to a definite conclusion regarding the causes of CCD. Therefore the practices that are the most probable causes for bees going extinct must be restrained and possibly stopped. More effort should be put in researching the possible causes of CCD. The use of pesticides is the most probable cause that humans can influence. In Europe different countries have different policies for the use of pesticides and the percentages of bees dying in Europe differ widely per country.
Our food is not produced in an efficient way
If there is a threat of a worldwide famine then food production should be as efficient as possible to build food supplies. In that case inefficient food production methods can better be abandoned or restrained until sufficient food supplies are available to ensure the survival of mankind.
The following types of food production are inefficient:
- the production of meat;
- dairy produce;
- the production of crops needing large amounts of irrigation or fertilisers.
To produce 1 kilogram of meat, 7 kilograms of corn are needed. The production of meat is the most inefficient of all, using food supplies that could otherwise be used to feed humans (see also: Calgary Herald - Vegetarianism, curbing fossil fuel protects planet: U.N. study). A rising consumption of meat will lead to food scarcety. Because the Natural Financial System will spread wealth more evenly, more people will be able to buy meat and therefore reducing meat consumption per person should be the cornerstone of the world food policy for the future.
The keeping of cows and goats for producing milk is also inefficient, using land that could otherwise be used for growing crops. Sometimes the land will not allow the production of crops because of the climate. Those locations may be suited for the keeping of goats and cows. In other places the keeping of cows and goats for producing milk can better be reduced when there is a threat of famine, because milk and cheese are not necessities.
Crops needing large amounts of irrigation or fertilisers are also not very efficient. Furthermore those fertilisers contain phosphorus and supplies of phosphorus are running out in the coming decades (see also: Foreign Policy - Peak Phosphorus). The production of those crops can better be reduced as much as possible. Also the production of wine can better be curtailed on places that could be used for other crops.
Our food is not produced in harmony with nature
Introduction
The following practices in our food production are not in harmony with nature:
- genetic manipulation of crops and animals;
- factory farming;
- the use of pesticides;
- monocultures on large areas of land;
- the use of fertilisers;
- intensive land use that degrades the soil;
- industrial fishing methods.
Genetic manipulation of crops and animals
Even though genetic manipulation may have some benefits in specific situations, such as improving food production, it does pose a serious threat to Earth and humanity. Genetic manipulation will lead to uncontrollable plagues or diseases because at some point something will go wrong. Using calculus of probabilities, this is certain if you take a high number of experiments over a long timeframe (see also: Wikipedia - Murphy's law). Also genetically manipulated crops make farmers dependent on corporations and pose a health risk to consumers (see also: Women's Feature Service - Why GM crops are dangerous).
Genetic manipulation is already totally out of control. Scientists are now trying to breed humanimals (humans with animal genes or animals with human genes), making Adolf Hitler's genetic experiments look like child's play (see also: CBS News - Animal-human embryos questioned). The practice of genetic manipulation poses a severe threat to all life on Earth and should therefore be abandoned immediately and completely. All genetically altered crops and animals should be destroyed. However the practice of genetical selection is not harmful and can be helpful in avoiding diseases and improving crops.
Factory farming
Keeping animals on an industrial scale is not in harmony with nature. Factory farm animals often are not kept in a situation that resembles their natural habitat. This affects the psyche of most animals in an unfavourable way. Often farm animals are kept in small spaces and are mutilated by castration or the amputation of tails. Some people treat pets in the same way. Birth control of animals can better be done as it is done with humans so animals are not mutilated and can still enjoy the pleasures of life.
Food for factory farm animals often is transported over long distances. Often there is a manure surplus at the site where the factory farms are located. This will degrade the soil at the site where the animal food is produced and poison the ground where the meat is produced. To keep animals in harmony with nature means that the food for the animals is produced locally and the manure is used locally. In this way the manure is fertilising the soil and not poisoning it. Factory farming may also be the main reason for the recent outbreaks of avian flu and swine flu (see also: F. William Engdahl - Flying Pigs, Tamiflu and Factory Farms).
The use of pesticides
The use of pesticides is not in harmony with nature, even though many pesticides used today are not as harmful as the pesticides used in the past. Harmful pesticides and pesticides of which it is not certain whether they are harmful or not, can better not be used any more.
The use of fertilisers
The use of fertilisers is harmful because the application of fertilisers is generally not done in harmony with nature. Fertilisers are introduced because the soil is degraded by factory farming and animal keeping which deprives the soil from nutrients. Because the manure is produced at another location than the soil that produces food crops, manure is often not used as a fertiliser. However the introduction of local Natural Money currencies will automatically solve this problem to a great extent because food will be produced locally where possible.
Monocultures on large areas of land
Monocultures on large areas of land may lead to catastrophic crop failures because parasites and diseases can spread more easily. Also this may harm the bees. Therefore the parcels of land can better be made smaller. If needed, humans should work the land instead of machines. The introduction of local Natural Money currencies will facilitate this because food will be produced locally where possible.
Some 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded by flooding or poor irrigation, with the rest lost to winds. Farming practices such as ploughing also damage soil, as does repeated planting in fields, which depletes the soil of nutrients (see also: The Guardian - Global food crisis looms as climate change and population growth strip fertile land).
Industrial fishing methods
Industrial fishing methods, such as bottom trawling, destroy sea life. Bottom trawling not only decimates stocks of popular fish, such as sole and plaice, but it also results in a large amount of bycatch, which is thrown back into the sea either dead or dying (see also: Greenpeace - Boulders against bottom trawling). Bottom trawling is also very fuel inefficient. Far more environmental friendly fishing methods do exist.
Hunting
Hunting is a method of obtaining food that is in harmony with nature if it is done in a sustainable way. Many animals in nature can be eaten by humans. Animals in nature have a better life than animals in a factory farm, so substituting meat produced in factory farms for meat obtained by hunting, will improve the life of animals in general.
Substituting meat produced in factory farms for meat obtained by hunting will also improve the food situation. The reduction of the number of animals kept in farms will reduce the consumption of food supplies that could otherwise be used to feed humans.
Pets
Meat eating pets like dogs and cats consume a lot of resources because meat is a type of food that is inefficiently produced. Therefore the keeping of dogs and cats may be harmful to other people.
It may be better to take a smaller pet or a pet that does not eat meat to improve the food situation. Less demand for meat will lower prices of meat and other foods, making food more affordable for poor people.
Danger of diseases spreading from animals to humans
Humans keep animals that may hold dangerous diseases. Especially large scale factory farms pose a health risk. As GRAIN, an agricultural organization reports, the rise of large-scale factory farms in North America has created the perfect breeding grounds for the emergence and spread of new highly-virulent strains of influenza. The pig faecal waste is at the centre of the problem. The GRAIN study notes that, because concentrated animal feeding operations tend to concentrate large numbers of animals close together, they are ideal breeding grounds for toxins and virulent pathogens (see also: www.grain.org - A food system that kills).
In 2003 Science magazine warned that swine flu was on a new evolutionary fast track due to the increasing size of factory farms and the widespread use of vaccines in these operations. The same applies for bird flu. Huge industrial factory farms with tens of thousands of chickens were the breeding ground for this disease. Furthermore the bird droppings create a toxic waste problem. Another highly infectious disease that is spread by the keeping of animals is Q-fever, which can be found in cattle, sheep and goats.
Especially the keeping of pigs is risky because pigs have much in common with humans. This makes it possible for diseases to spread from pigs to humans more easily than from any other type of animal. The similarity between humans and pigs makes scientists even consider to use pig organs for transplantation into humans (see also: BBC - Pig organs may be safe for humans). Transplanting pig organs into humans is not safe at all. Because pigs and humans have many common characteristics, the keeping of pigs should be considered a greater health risk than the keeping of other animals, even though swine flue did not turn out to be as dangerous as expected.
Many climate scientists think that there is climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels but a number of climate scientists have exagerated the problem (see also: Times Online - World misled over Himalayan glacier meltdown). Because the incomes of climate scientists sometimes depend on the existence of climate change, there is an incentive for doing this. Also business interests try to influence the debate by funding research (see also: Guardian - ExxonMobil continuing to fund climate sceptic groups, records show) so the incomes of some climate sceptics are also depending on them denying the problem. Therefore the scientific research on the subject is not always reliable.
Healthcare