Nine billion people in greenhouse Earth: food for thought
According to the UN Population Fund, the world population doubled between 1800 and 1927, doubled again from two to four billion from 1927 to 1974 and will go from four to eight billion by 2025.
The population began doubling at faster rates primarily because of immunisations and advances in healthcare.
As a result, says the World Bank, “The world needs to produce at least 50 per cent more food to feed 9 billion people by 2050. But climate change could cut crop yields by more than 25 per cent.”
The world will look quite different by that time. It will be against the law to discard anything edible or to let any food spoil, with fines or imprisonment for offenders.
Governments will have special agencies to reallocate discarded or spoiling foods while strictly rationing the rest. Using any foods in unauthorised barter or trade will be illegal.
The time is not far away when money in the bank will not necessarily mean food on the table.
Guy Baker
