Who Will Feed China?

The three contingencies of Patel’s plan include changing the governing laws of agribusiness, improving the conditions of and supporting rural areas, and changing the role of eating in society. Before much progress can be made, the ways in which businesses are required to operate must change. Without any new legislations to stand in their way, nothing will alter the ways in which they operate or the ways they look to further solidify their dominance. Next, rural growers simply need more help. In current conditions, they barely scrape by due to the increasing demands from their purchasers and the decreasing amounts of compensation collected. Contrary to the original perception, crop subsidies, most associated with corn, provide no help to these smaller farmers. They can’t compete with the mass-growers and their enormous swathes of land. It drives the rural farmers out of those particular markets, and it often prevents them from growing crops their land is most suitable for. Finally, Pollan pushes the idea that there must be a revamp of the meaning of food to consumers. As it stands, people view eating as a task rather than an enjoyable experience. This leads the consumer to think little of the food, especially in ways Michael Pollan insist they must think about the food. This anti-cooking architecture of society is, nonetheless, a self-perpetuating cycle of

Nobody denies that the need for more food grows with the global population. Factory farms seem to be a solution to this problem since they produce mass quantities of food for cheap compared to their organic counterparts, which are forty-seven percent more expensive (Consumer Reports). The factory farming business, however, is not the best way to feed more people since it pollutes the environment. The factory

Throughout the book “Stuffed and Starved”, Raj Patel, the author, makes connections between the current state of the world food system, and the Malthusian and Rhodes dilemmas, the first, proposing that the world population is growing exponentially, but the resources to feed this growing population are finite, whereas the second suggests that hunger leads to unrest, hence as long as people are kept fed, they won't revolt. Patel sections the system and points out to the defects at all levels—starting from the fundamental unit—the seed, going broader touching upon redistributors, consumers, corporations, and, above all, governments and policies. The five major areas Patel criticizes I would like to emphasize are: prevalent selection of desirable

Many support agricultural modernization, as a solution Africa’s, and many other impoverished nations hunger problems. This would include the industrialization of their agricultural industry, using modern, genetically enhanced seeds, and fertilizer. Yet, some of the same groups that are promoting the organic movement in the United States are advocating against the globalization of modern industrial agricultural practices (Paarlberg 179). Those who support modernization of such nations argue that the current process in inefficient, and inadequate. They believe that globalization of the highly capitalized, science-intensive, agricultural system that has been developed in the West, is the answer to the worlds hunger problems. They also warn that if the West abandons its current practices, it may fall victim to famine due to inadequate production (Paarlberg 179). However, supporters of organic production point to the fact that each year, approximately ten million tons of chemical fertilizer are poured onto our corn

Thesis: Michael Pollan overlooks the many benefits of the current system of food production, which allows us to produce more food on less land than pre-industrial agriculture. His proposal that the nation switch to a local produce model is not economically feasible for the United States.

Astyk and Newton, in their essay: The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Go Hungry, explains that “around the world, industrial agriculture has consolidated land ownership into the hands of smaller and smaller populations” destroying local self-sufficiency (518). Individuals are no longer able to grow own fresh, healthy foods to feed their family. They now depend on industrially grown crops and processed foods loaded with chemicals for food. Additionally, because of the farm policy, farmers that continue to cultivate healthy produce like fruits and vegetables get little or no government support, thus the higher prices of fresh produce seen today at our grocery stores.

There is an idiom in China that says “People make food their Heaven”, which means everyone needs food to survive but also means people take comfort and pride in their food in many ways. However, nowadays, the position of food changes, and it seems not as important as before. Food production has become industrialized and plants have been grown with more problems. Most people didn’t realize this and they continued this process. Then, problems appeared like flooding. However, there are still some people feel the significance of the problems. Mark Bittman, bestselling cookbook author, journalist and television personality, gave a speech “What’s wrong with what we eat” to reveal why we are

Life today in 2014 is vastly different to the period 1500-1800 as described by Blainey (2000). Survival no longer hinges on hunting and gathering food. In fact many people today give little or no thought to food production. Instead, we drive to a supermarket and buy whatever we want to eat. We have access to many restaurants and fast food outlets, so we not only have ample food at our fingertips, we don’t even have to prepare it if we choose not to. Advancements in production and using machines in place of humans (Henslin, Possamai and Possamai-Inesedy 2011, p. 139) mean food is now farmed and produced on a much larger scale (Macionis and

Dr. Hao Jingfang works for the China Development Research Foundation which helps advance and promote economic development and social progress. She conducts research with an emphasis on rural poverty and presents recommendations to the government. Dr. Hao has witnessed and learned about China’s development over the last century, such as the Cultural Revolution-the birth of communist ideals- and capitalism. China transformed their system and has been ascending economically for the last several decades. Dr. Hao Jingfang had also witnessed its side effects: the excellent ever increasing gross domestic product(GDP) and the not so good effects of increased poverty. Another one of the of the not so spectacular side effects are how the wealth,

Science has had some major breakthroughs with regards to food production. This journal gives an insight into some of the largest changes that occurred in the food production industry from 1800 to what is predicted to occur in 2020. In the 1800’s scientists discovered that crop growth depends on photosynthesis to occur, thus forming mineral and nutrients for the growing plant. Irrigation systems only started being used 2000 years ago, which also helped to increase crop yield. This formed a relationship between Mediaeval Europe (monastic institutions) to the agricultural revolution period between 1450 to 2010, where it was concluded that households started to have a food surpluses. In the last decade, governments have funded an increasing amount

roughly constant and close to the levels that maximized per capita food consumption. To support these claims, Carr-Saunders offered evidence that in existing

The family farm, an absolute necessity to our economy and way of life, is quickly disappearing, and the world could care less. The family farm is our nation’s source of food, clothing, medicine, shelter, and companionship. According to the Association of Science - Technology Centers the agriculture industry will have to increase by 70% by 2050 to be able to continue feeding the world. Due to these current trends and trade talks with China, farmers are trading their pitchforks for briefcases because they simply cannot afford to keep their families afloat. Without the family farm where will we find these vital nutrients? The family farm is viewed as something so unimportant that the nation feels they can turn a blind eye and the farm will be

People have had trouble growing enough food since early in human history. “With a demographic

Daily life has, by all accounts, changed immensely since the beginning of the 19th Century. With the occurring of the industrial revolution, technology leapt forward in the greatest step since the ideas that came out of the great thinkers of the renaissance. The proof of just how much has changed, I believe, is shown most in just how much the world is affected by food. The text that I will use to assess this is the chapter ‘Dethroning the Harvest’ from Blainey’s ‘A Short History of the World’ and will be backed up by Crone’s ‘Pre-Industrial Societies: Anatomy of the Pre-Modern World’ among other sources.

     Population & Dietary changes- There will always be more people in need of food; this is especially so due to mothers working; now dining out and take-away has far proceeded home cooking.