Food shortages could force world into vegetarianism, warn scientists

[Tugela]

People won't stop eating meat. What will happen is that areas with manageable populations will not feel the need to feed those areas that couldn't be bothered managing their populations, and nature will run it's course.

The issue with populations in parts of the world with chronic food problems is that they live in areas that cannot sustain them. For example, areas around the sahara are gradually drying out, and that is not going to change (after all, what is now sand dunes and bone dry used to be a savannah with lakes and rivers 10000 years ago). Issues with hunger in those areas are not going to go away, and they are only going to get worse. The ony way for human populations to be sustainable in places like that is for numbers to reduce and reduce dramatically. Sending food for a year or two when there is an unexpected or unusual disaster is one thing, but when that disaster is a semi permanent state of affairs then you are not solving the problem.

The problem is not a diminishing food and water supply, it is an increasing population, and the countries that have that problem need to fix it (before nature fixes it for them). There are way too many people on the planet as it is, and suggesting that people stop eating meat so we can fit even more people in is just plain stupid.

 

[Tugela]

They also have lots of children because odds are some of them are going to die at a young age.

If they keep on having lots of children the odds are that most of them are going to die young.

 

[Ned Flanders]

Why on earth would you say that? Some vegetarians live happily to be 80,90,100

What is this obsession with the sufficient protein intake?

Anybody else noticed that it practically does not make a difference WHAT a group of people eats as long as they eat something? Inuit eat meat only, Chinese eat rice with rice, Indians eat hot and spicy.....

I think the whole thing is hogwash. What is bad for you is too much preservatives, supplements, and garbage, like pink slime in your MacDonalds sandwich.

People are free to eat whatever they want, and if it works for them great. Frankly, the more vegans the better from my selfish standpoint -If I run out of fish, fowl and four legged critters then I can eat them..... But, everything I have read suggests eating animal protein is better than most other sources, and eating grains seems to play havoc with a lot of people and their health.

 

[Fudd]

We should not wait for all the animals to be killed off for food before we all go vegetairan, we need to stop killing and consuming animals now. There are so many alternative to eating meat. There is tofu, falafels, artificial meat made from portbella mushrooms protiens from numerious plants.

We own it to future generations to not destroy all life on the planet just to stuff our fat faces.

 

[bcneil]

We should not wait for all the animals to be killed off for food before we all go vegetairan, we need to stop killing and consuming animals now. There are so many alternative to eating meat. There is tofu, falafels, artificial meat made from portbella mushrooms protiens from numerious plants.

We own it to future generations to not destroy all life on the planet just to stuff our fat faces.

You dont really understand the topic do you?
This isn't about people no longer eating meat so all the cows go off and live free in the wild.

Its about future water shortages making it uneconomic to raise animals for food. Due to the input costs going up.
Essential the number of animals bred will just be reduced, as there still will be meat eaters, it just might be more the wealthy.
With average people perhaps eating less meat than now, and people in developing countries likely not being able to afford meat at all.

There will be less farmed animals.........but they will still all be eventually eaten.

 

[westcoast555]

lol I guess we can work on finishing of those not already extinct? Maybe the millions of cats and dogs that are euthanized in Canada and the US could instead be fed to people who really want to keep meat as such a big part of their diet? Rats? 9Billion is a lot of people eating already dwindling population of wild animals (probably even more dwindling by 2050 as they're running out of places to live since we keep moving in and kicking them out...or killing them.)

Just sayin'...

We just need to get used to eating insects. Very high quality source of protein.

 

[Miss*Bijou]

Meh,i got my.338,.22 & 12 ga. so i'll have elk, grouse & duck coming out my ying yang oh & all the fish i could ever possibly eat.

Not if the whole town is depending on the same animals to support the current diet that is high in meat they now enjoy. They'll get hard to find real quick

We just need to get used to eating insects. Very high quality source of protein.

Now you're talking. lol

We can learn a thing or two about that from the chimpanzees...well, if they're not extinct by then, of course.


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[vancity_cowboy]

anybody interested in getting together for a perb bbq? i'm talkin' steaks, ribs, chops, and salmon - no potatoes and definitely no chicken. if it ain't red, it ain't allowed!

 

[CJ Tylers]

well, I imagine the meat supply would go further if some people didn't demand large meat portions at every meal. Heck, there are alot of folks out there who have large steaks on a regular basis...great for business, not so great for sustainability.

 

[kenchorney]

Canada is probably the last place this will become an issue. We have more available land and water than any other country. If anything a world wide food shortage makes Canada a much more prosperous nation. Is it right to cash in on the needs of others, no, but will it happen, of course it will, it already is. We can't use all of the food we produce now and export a massive amount grain.

 

[CJ Tylers]

Well, yes and no... if it comes down to it, and nations are starving (nations that "matter" in the international eyes, rather than the lip service we pay to the current starving nations), it can be ruled that our resources provide a basic human right to food and water by the appropriate international bodies. Once that happens, good luck with making a profit.

Best to ensure it never gets to that stage...

 

[kenchorney]

Well, yes and no... if it comes down to it, and nations are starving (nations that "matter" in the international eyes, rather than the lip service we pay to the current starving nations), it can be ruled that our resources provide a basic human right to food and water by the appropriate international bodies. Once that happens, good luck with making a profit.

Best to ensure it never gets to that stage...

Agreed, but I really doubt it will ever come to that. Most of this is just scare mongering from the extremists, we've been hearing the same thing about world wide famine etc etc since the 70's.

 

[CJ Tylers]

Well, extremist or no, the devestation of the rain forests for cattle farming is a rather sad truth...

 

[kenchorney]

Well, extremist or no, the devestation of the rain forests for cattle farming is a rather sad truth...

I never said it wasn't.

 

[CJ Tylers]

Sorry, I didn't really make my point there. The problem is that things that the wild extremists ranted about back then are now coming to the fore front. Yes, they were off by 30-40 years, but it is slowly happening. With burgeoning populations that are now starting to expect a much higher standard of living, we will see unpredecented change within our life time. These are developing nations that represent over half of the worlds population...the damage done so far has been inflicted by a minority of the world population.

That, I think, is the problem at hand. We can still change things, but it's going to take some serious effort.

 

[kenchorney]

Hey I'm not saying there is not an issue.

What I am saying is that this particular subject is BS. There will always be some form of meat raised for consumption, just because things are bad doesn't mean that everyone will be come a vegan, never in a million years will that happen. People have always had chickens, goats, sheep etc.

The point of my original post was that Canada will be the last place on earth that this will affect, we will be producing beef and pork for ourselves and exporting to other rich counties for generations.

 

[westcoast555]

Well, yes and no... if it comes down to it, and nations are starving (nations that "matter" in the international eyes, rather than the lip service we pay to the current starving nations), it can be ruled that our resources provide a basic human right to food and water by the appropriate international bodies. Once that happens, good luck with making a profit.

Best to ensure it never gets to that stage...

Are you kidding? NO WAY that is going to happen. International bodies.. right.

 

[Miss*Bijou]

Are you kidding? NO WAY that is going to happen. International bodies.. right.

That's how wars are started! Fighting over natural resources... water being necessary to live and all, means it won't be pretty. But on the way there - yes, lots of people are and will make huge profits on the back of the poorest. And by people, I mean corporations - of course.

 

[CJ Tylers]

Are you kidding? NO WAY that is going to happen. International bodies.. right.

Actually, no. I'm not kidding. The need hasn't been great enough, yet, for that to occur... but I believe there has already been some talk of doing just that, a few years back...although it was pertaining solely to our water. Anything else is, of course, an extrapolation on the idea.

 

[Tugela]

We should not wait for all the animals to be killed off for food before we all go vegetairan, we need to stop killing and consuming animals now. There are so many alternative to eating meat. There is tofu, falafels, artificial meat made from portbella mushrooms protiens from numerious plants.

We own it to future generations to not destroy all life on the planet just to stuff our fat faces.

If we all go Vegan so we can fit more people on the planet, their will be no place for your animals, because they consume resources that could otherwise be used to raise a few billion more illiterate subsistance peasants.