Global Food Security and Supply
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Wayne Martindale. 2015. Global Security and Food Supply. Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 978 1 118 69932 4
Malthus might have written about a time long past but his Essay on the Principle of Population published in 1798, still has a power to engage. The idea that, unchecked or unaided, population will always outstrip food supply is one of the fundamental tenets of population ecology but, some some reason, it never seems to apply to us. Malthus, in an age of finite supply, was more aware of the issue, but current food production methods have culled us into a sense of false security (especially in the wealthier nations). Increasingly, there are calls for land to be used for conservation, agriculture, biomass supply for energy – the list is getting longer, but the supply of usable land isn’t. Although Malthus’ work has been criticized the idea of finite supply is still one that needs to be addressed.
What we’ve seen in the last 20 years or so is the notion that lack of basic human requirements (food, water) will lead now, not to death but to instability within the population. Global food is just that and populations with too little are aware of this. Further, even those with a good current supply are considering if this is going to remain. The issue arises of how we might best address this state of affairs. Traditional responses have argued for increased production. We have seen many examples of that, from the less heralded increase in production in Africa to the more widely known “Green Revolution“. Admittedly, the latter is greater than the former but the notion of a starving Africa is far from true. Whilst there is a preponderance of arguments calling for the increase in food production, there are now some texts calling for security. The idea of food is still central but the focus is getting and maintaining supplies which is a far greater remit.
The aim of this text is to look at food, not so much as a basic necessity, but as a question of logistics. There is much to recommend this approach because it removes the biology of supply and treats the issue of getting the supply to the demand. This is not unreasonable because most estimates suggest that there is enough food to give everyone a decent level of nutrition. If there is still malnutrition and people going hungry, it must be a question of supply. Such ideas form the basis of the opening chapter which also considers exactly what the supply chain is and how it interacts with a range of key components such as economics and biotechnology. This provides us with a framework, but that only gets us so far. The question is not how it moves but how much moves and how accurate our data are (as well as our projections into the future). From these points, Martindale moves in two key directions. In the first direction, he considers the biology of food working from plant nutrients through to photosynthesis and thence to a consideration of how agriculture can grow and sustain a food supply chain. The second direction is lengthy discussion on the sociological side of food security. This is a far more complex business. It involves trade, policy, economics, sustainability and the more usual areas of food movement and storage. It is clear that these aspects are inter-related but also extremely complex. almost any change will create changes elsewhere. It’s this complexity that leads the author towards the final conclusion – that food supply be seen as a wider picture of life cycle assessment. In this solution, we see food as a way of feeding people as well as being considered for its carbon impact and sustainable production method. If we also take this as a question of logistics, then the recently developed concept of “food miles” is worth considering. In this, the basic argument is that food should be grown as close as possible to the place of consumption, not least to minimise logistics. A final conclusion sums up the key messages from the book and points out the issues still to be resolved.
The perspective developed here is relatively little written about compared to the vast literature on agriculture. However, it provides an alternative way in to discussing the issue and forces the reader to think not just about what to eat but what is the most “effective” (cost?, ecological?) method to use. As a text it is free of logistics jargon, putting a clear case backed by numerous references. As an issue between social and ecological systems, it makes the reader re-think their consumption and the impact of their daily food. This is a critical issue which time will only make more so. The author is to be congratulated for bringing such ideas together for discussion. The book deserves a wide readership.
