Cultivar_3_Alimentação sustentável e saudávell

A indústria alimentar e produção alimentar sustentável 29 Population Growth Versus Limitation of Resources Predicting the future is not something that any of us would like to chance, but we do know some things for sure and we must prepare ourselves accordingly. We know that by 2050 the world population will reach some 9 billion, compared to the current 7.3 billion. While the world population grows by 60-65 million every year, our natural resources are declining. Climate change is one of the reasons for this; generating many risk-multiplying and unpredictable effects, and therefore imposing further constraints on the production of resources. Food security is naturally affected by climate change, and so too are prices. As a consequence, the food we will produce needs to be produced in a sustainable manner, to preserve our scarce resources. And it still needs to be healthy, safe and nutritious. And affordable. Clearly the challenge of balancing reduced resources with a growing population is one we all have to face and public policies will need to take it into account. For the food and drink industry, the challenge is even more crucial as not only do we have a responsibility to produce enough quality food for all, but we also need to ensure that our resources are preserved and that we can still rely on safe, high-quality and affordable raw materials. * * * In 1798, the English thinker Malthus argued in his famous Essay on the principle of population that there was “no longer sufficient land in the world to feed a rapidly growing world population, threatening poverty and famine”. Fortunately, the XIXth century saw the agro-industrial revolution completely transform the economies of Europe and North America, and his fears proved unfounded. Could it be that almost 220 years later, we are back to the same point? We are facing increasing environmental deterioration which, in turn, leads to a more and more vulnerable supply of food. Higher resource productivity is needed and all the means we can develop to ensure it should be put to good use. Like many , I believe that over the next 20 years, we need to put resources at the heart of our policies and business strategies. We need to educate ourselves, consumers and businesses alike, to prepare for and live with the future constraints imposed by the scarcity of resources. Fighting the right battles is also how we are going to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted last September by the United Nations. The Goals are part of the UN’s new sustainable agenda and call upon governments, the private sector, civil society and individuals to do their part for the future of the planet. The 17 SDGs touch upon all aspects of sustainability and some specific goals are of direct relevance to the food and drink industry; Goal 12: Sustainable Consumption is one of them. The Fight Against Food Waste A first obvious step towards sustainable consumption is to counter the current food waste habits. It is a known fact that about one third of food for human consumption is lost or wasted globally every year. This also means that all the resources put into the production are also lost, such as water and fuel, which are also scarce resources. Not taking into account the greenhouse emissions associated with the production of the food that is wasted. We are therefore talking about missing a major opportunity to feed the growing world population, and the subsequent negative economic consequences along the food chain. There is a hierarchy in food waste. When it is not possible to re-direct food waste to feed people (in another form, etc.), we must consider whether it is fit to feed livestock. It could also be considered as suitable raw material for other industries (detergents, plastics, cosmetics, inks, etc.) or recovery (by transforming it into fertilisers or compost or renewable energy). Or finally, as a last resort, it could be incinerated or sent to landfill.