Will's Compost From The Good Food Revolution By Will Allen

The National Agro-Food policy has incorporated strategies that are in line with the nutritional aspects of the food system. The programs implemented under the policy include increased food production through optimization and sustainable land, development and upgrading agriculture infrastructure and increase the quality and safety of food by expanding the compliance of standard. Efforts have also been taken to strengthen human capital and to ensure sufficient skill labor force in the agricultural sector. This includes the use of modern technology and mechanization to reduce the dependency of manpower. The government also provides sector-based incentives to encourage the private sector to invest in the agriculture and agro-based industry.

The world we live in today is growing at an extremely fast pace. It seems to be that everyday there are more buildings being built, more concrete being poured, and more free land being destroyed. The cause of these events is the worlds’ population rate. Every day our population reaches an all-time high, every day we gain more mouths to feed, and every day we are losing ways to feed these mouths. Food insecurity has risen significantly along with the rise of our population. We must find ways to lower the food insecurity rate by finding new farming practices, making the public more aware of this issue, and doing more ourselves to make sure that we make a change to this problem.

With the seemingly unstoppable growth of the world’s population and a projected global population of nine billion by 2050, the matter of whether or not there will be enough food to support the world’s populace is brought into question (Parfitt, et al., 2010). However, amid the concern for an adequate food supply, there is an immense amount of food waste produced by the world, including the United States. In fact, “according to the Natural Resources Defense Council as much as 40 percent of all food produced in the United States never gets eaten and typically ends up in the landfills or goes unharvested in the field “(King, 2015).

Bloom, J. (2010). American wasteland: How America throws away nearly half of its food (and what we can do about it). Cambridge: Da Capo Press.

Through Finley's story, members had the opportunity to learn that urban farming is much deeper than a mere passion for gardening, it's about sustainability within our communities; creating a system that can uplift communities nationwide.

Throughout time, humans have pushed forward in every aspect in life in order to improve their living standards, wealth and most importantly the agricultural sector which is the base of every human race. Food is the basic requirement for any individual to stay alive and healthy. In an article by Tamsin McMahon, she states that over the past 60 years, the world population has grown from 2.5 billion to 7 billion while world hunger dropped from 40% down to 15% (McMahon T., July 2012). This shows that our agricultural advances through technology have helped control world hunger and decrease it by more than half, but this is a short-term solution if we want to consider the future generations that depend on our current actions toward the three main pillars of agriculture which are: Health and nutrition, Economy and sustainability all while considering the local small farms and corporate farms.

South Asia is one of the most densely populated regions of the world, where despite a slow growth, agriculture remains the backbone of rural economy as it employs one half to over 90 percent of the labor force. Both extensive and intensive policy measures for agriculture

The United States of America is arguably known as one of the most cultural and distinguished places around the world when dealing with food. There are so many contributions that give people this impression. People look at the United States as if it has the ideal method on how to deal with food, not knowing that the United States of America is quite wasteful. Although the United States of America has this awe-inspiring impression on people, you should not be fooled. America is a leading country for food waste, this is problematic because there are millions of people in this country that could use this food, and it is also harmful to the environment. In fact the United States of America ruins so much food it can fill up to seven hundred and thirty football stadiums. About as much as forty percent of food in America goes uneaten giving me the impression that America is wasteful when it comes to dealing with food.

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.

Our food system, agricultural system, and healthcare system involve many stakeholders which make any amount of positive change very difficult to accomplish, but this does not stop Michael Pollan from pursuing and envisioning a more sustainable way of living for all people. When he first began his work of health promotion it was during a time of food confusion and a national health crisis. He seized that moment and 25 years later his passion and purpose for his work is still evident. He continues to try and help others understand the connection between our health, the health of our nation, and the health of the environment. He supports the development of new farm policies that support local farmers rather than large industries such as the sugar industry. He also encourages people to think about how their daily lives of consumerism perpetuate our reliance on fossil fuels and the consequences that has on our environment (Oke, 2016). Although change occurs slowly and can sometimes feel nonexistent, I believe the work of Michael Pollan and others like him is making a

Food security is a basic human right, which is essential for life. It exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active lifestyle [Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), 1996]. Food insecurity at household level can be referred to not having sufficient food; experiencing hunger as a result of running out of food and being unable to afford more; eating a poor-quality diet as a result of limited food options; anxiety about acquiring food; or having to rely on food relief (Rychetnik et al, 2003). At community level, food security also depends on the availability and affordability of a variety of food items sold through retail and other food resources [United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 2015a]. The geographical areas where accessibility to affordable and healthy food (especially fresh fruits and

Pollan opens his article by describing the place of Urban Agriculture dating back to the nineteenth century, stating that, “Through the nineteenth century, vegetable gardens and farm animals were common features of city life in the United States.” In fact he goes on to say that over time agriculture died out in cities, and that now “a slow resurgence” has begun to restore agriculture in urban areas which he supports by describing the growth in many urban hubs. This technique of beginning with the history of Urban Agriculture allows Pollan to not only start with a broad and understandable aspect of the topic but also to introduce the reoccurring theme of urbanization to the article. The writer continues his introduction through the definition of the topic as a whole. Urban Agriculture as defined by Pollan is “a variety of economic and social activities related to food production, distribution, processing, eating, and disposal.” he follows this up by listing examples of Urban Agriculture in action all of which have the common

He advocates us to abandon these rural areas and allow the planet to take over these farmlands and return them to native environments. Instead, he educates us on the practical use of urban farming or, as he coined it, “vertical farming.” This refers to the growth of crops, usually without soil or natural light, in plots arranged vertically inside a building. In these controlled environments, farmers would no longer have to pray for rain or fear a bad harvest and this allows a year-round harvest for all crops so that nothing will ever be ‘out of season’ (3).

The concept of food security is dynamic, that is continuously incorporated new dimensions and levels of analysis overtime. This ongoing evolution of food security concept indicates the wider recognition of the difficulties of concept in different areas of research and public policy, for the reason that food security issue has long history starting from time when global food crisis take place in the first half of the 1970s (Clay, E. 2002).

Rural development has been discussed extensively in the literature by various writers from different disciplines. The universal objective of rural development is to improve the quality of life of rural people. This is facilitated upon a continuous process by government, non-governmental organizations (NGO) and different actors at the (inter) national, state and local levels. Without doubt, this involves how best to organize rural area resources and potentials (especially human and economic potentials) so as to achieve an increase in the overall standard of living of the rural community dwellers. According to Halwart et, al (2003), the idea is to sustain the growth of rural economies, improve rural community livelihood and to promote food security through the improvement of food supply, employment and income. This chapter is divided into four parts. Part one reviews some approaches to the application of agropolitan center strategy in rural physical planning in selected third world countries. Part two examines the basic theories that relate to the spatial organization of human settlements by some well known writers such as Friedman, Christaller and others. Part three relate these theories to the present research and part four looked at large scale agriculture and rural development in the context of aquaculture.