Here we go again...

[farmers_son]

Based on the Winnipeg Free Press news piece, the research was unique not in that it recommended people eat less beef but it was the first to combine food research with ecological consequences.

I am not a scientist but it is my view that acres in grass is actually good for the planet and to the extent that raising cattle encourages having acres remain in grass or even switched into grass from a monoculture use that is a good thing. If that view is correct then there appears to be a lot of work that needs to be done to get that message out to the world. Eating beef is good for the planet.

There is no doubt in my mind that agriculture is able to feed the worlds growing population to 2050 and beyond. The world production of food is presently suppressed by the still low profitability of agriculture. Make growing food profitable (yes it is more profitable than it was but still not as profitable as it has been) and global food production could easily double much less meet a 25% increase in population.

Corn for ethanol would be expected to be soon replaced with cellulosic ethanol which will largely come from grass.

This is a bit off topic but I think the real challenge of 2.1 billion more people within the next two generations is not how to feed them but what are they going to do? Feeding them is not the problem.

[grassfarmer]

"What are they going to do?"

Laze around, watch TV, play with their smart phones and eat crap made from high fructose corn syrup same as the rest of the population lol.

[per]

If this were an actual coffee shop the topic would be a moving target.

Technology has a way of interfering with peoples jobs. I suggested to my brother in law who has roots in the DR that we should ship a bunch of Bobcats and such down there to make construction a little more efficient. His reply was that for each Bobcat 10 guys with spades would become unemployed.

I am more worried about how they are going to pay for the food than whether we can grow it.

[farmers_son]

Re how they are paying for food...

Check out the FAO world food price index at:

http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/wfs-home/foodpricesindex/en/

and this link on beef prices

http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/est/COMM_MARKETS_MONITORING/Meat/Documents/TABLE_pricesandindices.pdf

It is interesting to note the price of beef has risen 240% in Brazil since 2002, 150% in the U.S.

To tie this in with the original post... people do not need to eat less meat in order to ensure there is enough food for everyone in the future. They just need to pay farmers/ranchers to produce it and we will.

That said, I am aware that even today millions of children are hungry. That is another topic and a big topic and I wish I had the answer.

[15444]

People seem to not realize that grains given to relieve hunger have not been paid for by the individual but by the donation of such product from the donor country.

No money = no food (other than what is given as charity)

Pretty simple. We have to pay (for inputs) as producers to feed our animals, so why is it so hard to understand that people should pay to eat.

This is just another push against capitalism by the young generation. Have the beef producer in one corner and the hungry person in the other corner and let them bid for the product. Highest bid always wins.

[grassfarmer]

How does the starving family in sub Saharan Africa that has been displaced by war or drought like we couldn't imagine pay for the food?
As f_s says that is a big issue and I don't claim to know the answer either. I'd like to see civilisation as a whole try a lot harder though as mildly increasing food prices in the developed world cause dramatic increases in the third world.
As for always being able to produce enough food if we were paid for it that kind of depends on Dr Ron Huber's assertions on glyphosate essentially sterilising soil and it's ability to grow crops over time being wrong. Maybe a wildcard to throw in but one that could have profound consequences if proven correct.

[per]

I don't think too many of us mind supporting the drought and war stricken Sub Sahara family. I would like the rest of the world step up to the plate so to speak and pay the real value of the food.

[grassfarmer]

So what is the "real value of food"? Are you talking about food at retail level or the commodities that farmers grow and sell?

[per]

Bit of a loaded question Gf but ultimately each in the chain need a profit. Of course I recognize the shorter the chain the easier that is.

[wilagro]

And nary a word about education and birth control or stupid religions that glorify having big families and Popes who preach about it being a sin to use contraceptives. And nary a word about countries governed by idiots who dispossess white farmers and turn the land over to ignoramuses who couldn't grow anything. And nary a word where the governments of some countries spend billions on standing armies while the majority of the people are close to starvation.