Supporting information
Have you ever wondered where the food on your plate comes from? The supermarket? That's probably true, but how did it get there in the first place? If you said 'farms', you're right (yay good for you!). Another word for the farming and food sector is Agriculture.
Even though hunger is still widespread in the world, we produce more than enough food to feed everyone. As the world population grows, there are more and more mouths to feed. Feeding the world is a big challenge and is becoming an even bigger one in the near future. But just making more food isn't the only way to solve this: we can all help to make a difference, for example by not throwing our food away.
Food waste
Currently, a lot of food is lost either somewhere in the production process or it gets thrown away by us, the consumers. In the picture below, you can see how much food in percentage gets wasted per food type:
Even though hunger is still widespread in the world, we produce more than enough food to feed everyone. As the world population grows, there are more and more mouths to feed. Feeding the world is a big challenge and is becoming an even bigger one in the near future. But just making more food isn't the only way to solve this: we can all help to make a difference, for example by not throwing our food away.
Food waste
Currently, a lot of food is lost either somewhere in the production process or it gets thrown away by us, the consumers. In the picture below, you can see how much food in percentage gets wasted per food type:
When you look at this picture you can see clearly what food type is wasted the most: almost half (!) of all the fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers harvested in the world end up wasted. All the food types combined gives an average of 1/3 of all the food we produce ending up in the garbage. In the video below, you can see for yourself what YOU can do to reduce food waste and simultaneously fight world hunger:
Agriculture vs Environment
Agriculture puts a lot of stress on the environment. Forests need to clear the way for crop fields, a process called deforestation which shrinkens ecosystems and reduces the global amount of woodland which is essential for cleaning the air we all breathe. More food is produced to meet the demand of society. In a way, the agricultural sector and society are in a sort of 'tug of war': on the one hand, we need more land for our food production, but on the other hand, we want to preserve the nature and wildlife on our planet.
In order to increase the amount of food produced in a shorter amount of time (also known as increasing the yield), farmers use soil fertilizers. These fertilizers help the plants to grow faster, working like a growing boost for crops. Fertilizers are partly made of a naturally occuring chemical substance called nitrogen. The problem with using fertilizers is that the excess nitrogen put in the soil ends up in the ground water, through which it ultimately ends up in the rivers, seas and oceans.
No biggie, right? Well, kinda: too much nitrogen entering the natural environment too fast is bad for life in the seas, as is happening now. The picture on the right shows the influence the agricultural sector has on several environmental factors: clearly, agriculture has the biggest influence on the nitrogen cycle, followed by the phosphorous cycle, biodiversity loss and change of land-use.
Agriculture puts a lot of stress on the environment. Forests need to clear the way for crop fields, a process called deforestation which shrinkens ecosystems and reduces the global amount of woodland which is essential for cleaning the air we all breathe. More food is produced to meet the demand of society. In a way, the agricultural sector and society are in a sort of 'tug of war': on the one hand, we need more land for our food production, but on the other hand, we want to preserve the nature and wildlife on our planet.
In order to increase the amount of food produced in a shorter amount of time (also known as increasing the yield), farmers use soil fertilizers. These fertilizers help the plants to grow faster, working like a growing boost for crops. Fertilizers are partly made of a naturally occuring chemical substance called nitrogen. The problem with using fertilizers is that the excess nitrogen put in the soil ends up in the ground water, through which it ultimately ends up in the rivers, seas and oceans.
No biggie, right? Well, kinda: too much nitrogen entering the natural environment too fast is bad for life in the seas, as is happening now. The picture on the right shows the influence the agricultural sector has on several environmental factors: clearly, agriculture has the biggest influence on the nitrogen cycle, followed by the phosphorous cycle, biodiversity loss and change of land-use.
Land use
In order to grow the food that society needs, you need land to grow it on. It's not just the food for us that we have to grow: there's also the plant-based food that we feed to our cattle. And then there is of course the fields in which the cattle lives. If you look at the picture below, you can get an idea how much of the world's land area is used for agriculture and its different assets.
In order to grow the food that society needs, you need land to grow it on. It's not just the food for us that we have to grow: there's also the plant-based food that we feed to our cattle. And then there is of course the fields in which the cattle lives. If you look at the picture below, you can get an idea how much of the world's land area is used for agriculture and its different assets.
Food consumption
Over the last 100 years, the type and amount of food we eat has changed quite a lot. This is partly because welfare in the world is increasing: people can now buy food products that cost a bit more like meat, fruit and vegetables. Population groups that used to have little money to buy food had a diet that consisted mainly out of starchy foods such as grains and root crops. With increasing welfare, this is now changing.
Over the last 100 years, the type and amount of food we eat has changed quite a lot. This is partly because welfare in the world is increasing: people can now buy food products that cost a bit more like meat, fruit and vegetables. Population groups that used to have little money to buy food had a diet that consisted mainly out of starchy foods such as grains and root crops. With increasing welfare, this is now changing.