Meatification and the madness of the doubling narrative

oleh: Tony Weis

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: University of Waterloo 2015-09-01

Deskripsi

Since 2008, there has been an increasingly influential narrative that world crop production must (“sustainably”) double from current levels in order to feed over nine billion people by 2050 (FAO, 2009; Ray, Mueller, West, & Foley, 2013; Soil Association, 2010; Tilman, Balzer, Hill & Befort, 2011; UN, 2009), which has been enthusiastically embraced by large agro-input and agrifood corporations. Four prominent drivers feature in this doubling narrative: the magnitude of persistent hunger and malnourishment; further human population growth; expanded biofuel production; and expected dietary changes. At first glance, this conveys the appearance of a sober, objective assessment about the fact that there are many people hungry today, that there will soon be at least two billion more people, that more land is being devoted to biofuels given the limits to conventional fossil energy supplies, and that people with rising incomes will keep eating more animal products in line with past trends, what I have called the meatification of diets.