http://bruessard.com - Food for All

Listen to this article

FOOD FOR ALL

Humans live on a dynamic yet finite planet. For instance, it takes a distance of 40,075 kilometers (or 24,901 miles) to circumnavigate the Earth at its equator. On this finite Earth, the human population is growing. Not only is the human population growing but also it increasingly is becoming more urban, more connected, and more materialistic. If given a choice, I believe most humans would choose to live the good life.

Obviously, there is a conflict. The conflict is between the desire of a growing population to live the good life, on the one hand, and Earth's limited natural resources, on the other hand. How will a finite Earth continue to provide food, clothing, and shelter for this ever-growing human population and yet maintain a reasonable degree of environmental purity? How will there be Heaven on Earth for the growing population of humans given the Earth's limited resources and given the need to conserve its natural habitats and preserve its ecological balance? As has been noted by others, all other things being equal, the most immediate action that the human species could take to resolve this conflict is to slow its population growth rate.

Watch (Population Connection - "World Population")

Watch (Are We Pushing the Land Too Hard?)

NASA - How Hard Are We Pushing The Land?

Photo Credit:
Trent Schindler, Scientific Visualization Studio, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Watch (Water for Life)

As I mentioned on the "Final Frontier" page of this website, where "there's a will" [to attain that which can be likened to a Heaven-like existence for humans], then there's "a way". One way forward into the future involves astute land use planning. Another way forward involves tapping into the Sun. Humans have at their disposal the limitless supply of energy that shines from the Sun each day. Where it is feasible, the Sun's solar energy could be used to power human automobiles, homes, shops, factories, and so forth. Other sources of bountiful, clean energy include wind energy and water energy. Ultimately, it is going to take good, old-fashioned human ingenuity and resolve to arrest the myriad biological, sociological, and international problems that confront the human species.

To be sure, the food-for-all challenge is linked to the education-for-all challenge. For instance, the larger the pool of educated minds to study global problems such as feeding the world, then greater is the likelihood that more ideas and solutions will be forthcoming.

THE ECONOMICS AND POLITICS OF FOOD

The following video takes a different approach to food. It looks at the economics and politics of food production within the broader milieu of the free enterprise system:

Watch (Edible Education: The Politics of Food)

Watch (What is malnutrition?)

The beauty of a free society and free markets is this: Each individual in society has a choice about what type of lifestyle to lead and what type of career to pursue in life. In an open, free, tolerant, and permissive society such as the USA, citizens are free to say what they want, do what they want, and go where they want without governmental restrictions, interference, or constraints. Citizens are free to choose whether to foster productive or counterproductive lives. In a free society, if citizens choose to do so, then they are free to devote their lives to eating unhealthy foods. Citizens are free to engage in activities such as decadence, indolence, crassness, crime, and so forth. If they choose to do so, citizens are free to watch pornography all night, to play violent video games all day, to be vulgar and obscene both during the night and day, to abuse all kinds of substances, and so forth, without worrying about repercussions or sanctions from government authorities. In an open, free, tolerant, and permissive society such as the USA, citizens are completely free to do whatever they want so long as their exercise of freedom will does not adversely impact their fellow citizens. That is to say, for instance, even if you could afford to do so, your freedom to host loud parties in your apartment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with your guests throwing trash and debris on the lawn must be tempered by your neighbor's need for peace, quiet, and cleanliness, hence, the essence of being civil, courteous, and respectful of one's fellow humans in contemporary society. In deference to your neighbor, perhaps the responsible thing for you to do would be to limit the loud parties to once a week or once a month and to instruct your guests beforehand not to throw trash on the lawn. Unfortunately, in a free society, some citizens do choose to take their freedom to the negative extreme. [Recall the September 2012 incident in which one USA citizen used his freedom to say whatever he wants by choosing to upload an anti-Islam video to YouTube titled Innocence of Muslims. His upload of the video caused a global uproar and provoked anti-USA protests throughout the Islamic world. However, free citizens doing whatever they want to do is what happens in a free society such as the USA where nobody tells anybody else what to do albeit the motives of some societal members might be sinister such as the case with the anti-Islam video. Of the USA's 300 million citizens, it is to be expected that a few misguided or irresponsible citizens will emerge who are determined to cause misunderstanding, divisiveness, and distrust, say, by uploading hateful, hurtful, deceptive, and dishonest videos to YouTube. Shame on those individuals in society who promote hatred. Of the estimated over 100 million videos freely uploaded to YouTube, it is to be expected that a small percentage of those varied videos is going to offend others. It is worth noting that there are thousands of pro-Islam and pro-religion videos on YouTube, too. There are videos of the Quran on YouTube. Google generally does not censor its users from uploading provocative and controversial videos to its YouTube video service except special circumstances such as societal prohibitions against child pornography. The unfortunate reality is that some people like to do things such as uploading provocative content to the Internet for no other reason than watching the public's reaction to the shock value of that content. It also must be acknowledged that there simply are some mentally disturbed individuals in this world whose only interests seem to be spreading hatred and committing acts of evil; Adolf Hitler was a prime example of such an individual as there have been many less prominent individuals similar to Adolf Hitler in demeanor throughout human history and emanating from all societies and all walks of life. In the case of Adolf Hitler, rather than mental instability, some would argue that his condition most likely was a case of absolute power corrupting absolutely. In the final analysis, Adolf Hitler's condition probably was a combination of mental instability and absolute power corrupting absolutely.] The wider point is this: Whether political or economic freedom, much like the cases of democracy, self-governance, and self-discipline, in general, videos such as Edible Education: The Politics of Food seek to impress upon citizens that not only is it enough for there to be food for all [or freedom for all] but also it equally is as important for citizens to look past the hoopla and hype and choose to eat [or exercise that freedom] wisely and responsibly. The making of informed decisions by citizens is crucial to the longevity of a vibrant free society. One thing is certain, and it is this: Citizens cannot make informed decisions if too many of them are preoccupied with a lifestyle of substance abuse.

The following videos represent testatments of human ingenuity. Humans really can realize Heaven on Earth. Humans possess the knowledge to erect the equivalent of Heaven on Earth, but they do not seem to possess the resolve to do so.

THE GOOD LIFE, FOOD FOR ALL, AND THE PRESENT

Stevie Wonder - "Outside My Window"

Watch (EcoPrinciple 1: Smart Design)

Watch (6,000 lbs of Food on 1/10th Acre)

Watch (Green Gold - Documentary by John D. Liu)

Watch (Climate Smart Agriculture)

Watch (GIO Water: Overview)

THE GOOD LIFE, FOOD FOR ALL, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

Watch (Oceana: How Saving the Oceans Can Feed the World)

Watch (This Farm of the Future Uses No Soil and 95% Less Water)

Watch (Portable Farms Aquaponics)

Watch (The Secrets of Growing Giant Vegetables)

World's Greenest Homes: Swiss Solar House

Watch (China Is Building The World's Most Futuristic City)

Watch (Smart Grid: Green Revolution )

Stevie Wonder - "Tree"

The above videos remind me of an ancient Chinese proverb that says, "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." And, so it is with education for all. For instance, from education, among other things, flows the knowledge to provide food for all. From knowledge, among other things, flows the wisdom to avoid human self-destruction. From wisdom hopefully comes the resolve for humans, among other things, to tackle the sociological, biological, and international problems they face (such as ending human poverty, starvation, disease, misery, blight, abuse, corruption, crime, hatred, violence, torture, murder, war, ecological despoliation sans replenishment of renewable natural resources, environmental pollution, and so forth). Sometimes all it takes is a few wise men and women with a concise plan to teach the masses how swords can be turned into plowshares, how deserts can be made to bloom, or how stones can be turned into bread.

Watch (Forests and Climate Change - A Convenient Truth?)

Watch (Miracle Planet)

Additional Links for Food for All [With A View Towards Growing Your Own Food]:

FLATTER THIS SITE:

SEARCH THIS SITE:

Intellectual Property Disclosures: All videos and songs (as well as many of the images) referenced or spotlighted throughout this website are the legal and intellectual properties of others. All content and opinions on this website (bruessard.com) are those of the author (Edward Bruessard) exclusively and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the contributors, creators, owners, and distributors of these referenced videos, songs, and images. The author holds no legal interest or financial stake in any of these referenced videos, songs, and images. The contributors, creators, owners, and distributors of these referenced videos, songs, and images played no role at all regarding the appearance of said videos, songs, and images throughout this website; they had no clue that this website would be spotlighting their works.