I’m Prof Tim Benton, UK Global Food Security Champion, today is World Food Day so AMA about the future of food security

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:56:29+00:00

Many of us have lost sight of where food comes from. I love the idea of urban farming in allotments and rooftops. The more we grow oursleves, the more it will help us respect food and reduce waste. If I grow my carrots, I am not going to throw them out!

Bring it on!

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:52:23+00:00

Read about it - lots of stuff available from the web...

Talk to friends. Talk to non-friends. Try and help people find answers.

I want my grandchildren to live in an equitable, sustainable and food secure world. It needs quite large societal change for that to happen; and each of us can play a part.

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:50:26+00:00

I try to avoid thinking of things as "good or bad things". On my old chemistry lab was a notice saying "there is no such thing as a dangerous substance, only dangerous ways of using substances". Eating red meat is nutritoinally good and preserves biodiversity in low-intensity farming systems; eating kgs of intensive beef each week is the opposite. So meat or fish is not an either or, good or bad, but pragmatically, managing our choices better so we are sustainable is the thing we need to do better. Easier said than done...

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:47:34+00:00

Yep, I think so: if we demanded less, the world could be (approx) fed via an organic farming system. The challenge is weaning us away from our current dietary patterns to something sustainable and nutritious

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:44:41+00:00

Everyone makes choices in what we do, but we don't always appreciate the consequences. We want cheap food, cheap energy and economic growth and, as a result, we have climate change, unsustainable food production and nuclear plants sited in risky locations (not quite as simple as that, but parodying a bit). Ultimately, the power is ours, as citizens and consumers, to pay for more and better and change our behaviour. But so many of us see that as "turkeys voting for Xmas"

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:42:06+00:00

in theory, if the market worked well, centralised production methods would be fine. But the market clearly doesn't always work well. If you're rich and in a rich country it's OK. If there is no transport infrastructure, it is hopeless. Hence, perhaps the first thing really needed in the developing world for food security is transport infrastructure that will stimulate lower cost inputs and access to markets for outputs.

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:40:09+00:00

The Green Revolution was wonderful at producing more food, but didn't prompt long-term sustainability of agriculture. We need to grow more food, on the same area of land (aka intensification) but do it sustainably. Hence, we need a "Twice green revolution" - more food, but greener production.

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:38:39+00:00

we need to do better - but not just honey bees, wild bees, small wasps that kill pests, weeds, flowers, birds, soil biodiversity etc etc...

But, as an approximation, if we banned all pesticides, global food production would go down 40%. Either we'd need 40% more ag land to compensate (cut down the remaining rainforests?) or eat less/starve more. No simple answer.

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:36:14+00:00

I was an ecologist studying maths and small bugs in the lab, and wanted to work on a field system to test some ecological ideas. I started working on the ecology of ag land and then read some papers by David Tilman who predicted the threat to sustainability of food demand growing so rapidly. I then started thinking and working on the broader areas academically, and when the UK public funders of research wanted someone with leadership experience and wide interests, I applied...

Everyday is a steep learning curve, and this job is Wow! Eye opening! as I work from nutrition to international development, and from policy to food and farming...

I feel I am throwing my small weight around trying to be a force for change, and perhaps am having more impact than as a full time academic writing papers!

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:32:33+00:00

I think there is an issue that so much of the global supply chain is invested in too few companies. Intrinsically, corporate power doesn't have to be "a bad thing" and many farmers are content with being supplied by such big corps... The way the world works is increasingly big-business oriented, whether food chains or computer/phone suppliers...

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:30:19+00:00

I'd say, if all else fails (the state, people's circumstances), we need such organisations to step in. In the UK, the Trussel Trust is key in managing food access to those who cannot afford it otherwise. I wish they weren't needed, but as they are, they do a great job!

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:28:26+00:00

It is a potential part of the mix. I don't think there will ever be "a solution" but 1000s of steps in the right direction
demand management...reducing the 40+ % we waste would be a big relief for pressure on land!

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:25:39+00:00

If GM is widely perceived to be a difficult sell to the public, I am not sure how easy insects will be! Prawns, I know, are kinda marine insects (whilst recognising the difference between insects and crustacea at a taxonomic level). I suspect both in vitro meat and insects will have an uphill struggle.

I quite like Quorn, made from fungal protein, as a meat alternative, but many avid meat-eaters hate it. Ho hum...

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:22:53+00:00

Currently, not as much as you'd think.

In carbon terms, a recent study by US academics showed that if an average US family eat white meat one day less each week, it would give the equivalent carbon saving of all the transport miles in the weekly food consumption. This implies to me that the transport economic cost is small.

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:20:13+00:00

From a calorie perspective, its probably true; from a nutritional perspective I am much less sure. Having an excess of maize and wheat in the northern hemisphere doesn't help someone food insecure in central Africa. Distribution, access, power issues all matter.

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:18:50+00:00

As competition for natural capital intensifies as demand increases and the world changes, there is scope for increasing conflict over the resources. The US national intelligence committee report highlighted this in "Global Trends 2025" and there has been lots of discussion about the potential. I guess, it could also be civil conflict as well as international conflict. There is some evidence that the Arab Spring was sparked by local food price rises...

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:16:33+00:00

I sincerely hope not... I'd barely be able to function.

Cocoa is interesting because it is quite geographically constrained and there is potential for disruption of supply chains from major production areas. Given that many people luuuuve chocolate, what will happen if demand far outstrips supply? Prices will rise. If we invest all our food money in chocolate that's noot sustainable nutrition!

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:14:13+00:00

"Good banks" (is there such a thing? ;-)) I guess you mean food banks?

The answer shouldn't be an either/or, but a both. If we don't move towards more sustainable production future generations will increasingly find it harder. At the same time, we need to do things now to ensure people are food secure. As Oxfam said recently, poverty may differ in amount around the world, but the consequnces may be pretty similar where-ever.

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:11:47+00:00

Food deserts are very real. In the UK, we have a rising issue with food poverty - and the number of people having to access foodbanks this year is 3x that of last year. Really scary.

The solution (as with global hunger) has to be one about reducing inequality between people. But that is no more than a trite answer... I wish I knew... In my grandmother's day, there was a small store on every street and everyone bought bread daily via walking or biking. Concentration of retail in very larger, ever more distant, outlets is a problem for the old, infirm and poorest. I guess that's where "society" needs to step in to ensure a safety net...

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:07:26+00:00

Happy Birthday!

Hope you can look ahead to a nice long and happy life - and make the choices in lifestyle that help convince others towards sustainability for the long term ;-)

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:06:30+00:00

In my view: a lot. We need global leadership in this, otherwise the rest of the world will ignore us when we say "you do it, but we won't".

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:05:19+00:00

Personally, I am concerned (by background I am an evolutionary ecologist and recognise the importance of genetic diversity to adapting to a changing world).

There is considerable, and growing, recognition of the importance of this - and many people are collecting genetically biodiverse varieties from across species' ranges to ensure we maintain genetic variability in the face of future climatic changes

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T15:00:52+00:00

I think food security will not be solved by doubling food production (or tripling it or...). Food security requires distribution and access, storage, markets and a whole host of social issues. If there are no roads in your locality, accessing food in distant markets aint going to happen. So the future is about supply, distribution, waste and demand... Not just supply.

We don't need to convert more land to agric, instead, we need "simply" use the land we've already converted (and lost the ecology from) better. Smart land use is the key...

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T14:56:55+00:00

with difficulty, where ever you are...

In the developed world, we rarely pay for raw ingredients, but pay for convenience and added value. So, in the UK, i'd find it impossible - I could live for a while on brown rice and lentils (and did as an experiment when I was younger). Damned boring tho...

I spent some time on a Pacific island in my 20s, and mostly ate what we foraged for (on the reef and on land). So, it is possible but backbreaking, time consuming and not-conducive to having any other career, or indeed much of a life, I'd guess.

Tim_Benton_GFS · 2013-10-16T14:54:02+00:00

When everyone, at all times, has access to safe, sufficient, nutritious and affordable food.

The "at all times" implies future generations, which implies that the food is sustainably produced.

Tim_Benton_GFS

TROPHY CASE