If you are one of the few who are extremely conscious and concerned about the future of this world, you might know that it has been predicted that there will be more people than the food needed to sustain them by the year 2050.

But now, Sara Menker, founder and chief executive of Gro Intelligence – an agricultural data technology company – announced that as early as 2027, “the world could be facing a 214 trillion calorie deficit,” reports Quartz.

What she means is that instead of using mass and weight to estimate the longevity of our food supply, Sara uses nutritional value:

“Why do we talk of food in terms of weight?” Menker asked recently at the second TEDGlobal event in Arusha, Tanzania.

“Because it’s easy. But what we care about in food is nutritional value. Not all foods are created equal even if they weigh the same.”

She argues that if you look at the nutritional value of current food production instead, global food security is already more tenuous than we think.

Further, population and economic growth in China, India, and African countries will exacerbate this trend, as they continue to grow as net importers of food.

The year 2023, Menker says, is the crossover point, when we will no longer be able to produce enough food to feed a growing population.

Menker and her business partner, Nemo Semret:

But 2023 holds more milestones in store.

It’s slated to be the year that the populations of China, India and Africa will combine to make up over half the world’s population:

Africa already has to import food, and by 2023, India, which currently doesn’t import food, will have to start. In China, population growth will eventually level off, but overall calorie intake in the country will continue to increase through the early 2020s, Menker says.

In recent years, people in China have begun to add more and more meat—and especially red meat—a very high-calorie food to their diets. Menker predicts that more and more in China will demand this sort of high-calorie diet.

And, even if all the food surplus from countries in Europe, North and South America is solely exported to those three continents, it will still not be enough to cover everyone’s nutritional requirements.

Yet another reason to stop reproducing and start growing your own veggies. Grass is such a waste of space.

Menker started Gro Intelligence in 2015 to “provide individuals, governments, and businesses insights into agriculture, tracking data from weather patterns to pricing dynamics”, and she suggested a few solutions to the oncoming crisis:

• reform the agricultural industries in Africa and India by changing how farmers farm;
• change how people buy and consume food;
• decrease food waste;
• improve infrastructure and;
• increase farm yields exponentially.

“For the first time ever, the most critical tool[s] for success in the industry—data and knowledge—[are] becoming cheaper by the day. And very soon, it won’t matter how much money you own, to make optimal decisions and maximize probability of success in reaching your intended goal,” Menker said.

“We have the solution. We just need to act on it.”

Sounds a little like Okja. Let’s just hope she doesn’t go creating massive pigs to sustain us.

[source:qz]