According to the United Nations, the world’s population will rise to an estimated eight billion by 2024, and almost ten billion by 2050. This means that, in the future, there will be over two billion more people on this planet than today. All these people have to eat and providing sustainable food will become a very important task. Luckily, scientists may yet again provide us with a solution. I would like to discuss two developments regarding food technology.
Lab to table.
Over the past few years, scientists have made huge steps in the development of ‘lab-grown meat’. In 2013, a Dutch professor created the world’s first lab-grown hamburger without killing any animal. He used animal cells and grew them under controlled conditions to create his patty. Since then a lot of companies have focussed on commercializing this technology. Lab-grown meat might be a hit because it could improve animal treatment and reduce the impact that livestock meat production has on the environment.
Some scientists are skeptical, though. For example, it is unclear whether it is possible to set up an efficient, environmental friendly large-scale lab-grown meat production facility.
Genetically modified crops
Genetically modified crops are already a success story. By altering its DNA, these crops can become cheaper, resilient against diseases, grow bigger and faster, and all that with an improved nutrient profile. Companies who invest in this technology already make a lot of money.
It seems fair to assume that genetically modified crops will feed the world by 2050. However, it could be a little bit more difficult than that.
Many of the extra two billion people who will walk the earth by 2050 will be born in Africa. Most companies investing in genetic modification want to improve large cash crops, like corn and soy. These crops are not often cultivated in African countries. Most companies are not interested in improving ‘African’ crops because they are worried that they would make fewer profits. Thus, African countries might not benefit from genetically modified crops.
This is, of course, ridiculous because the potential for genetically modified crops is enormous and this technology could feed the world if it was made available for everyone. I wonder if that will ever be the case.
Food for thought
Which technologies do you think could help feed the world by 2050?
Would you care about the fact that your burger was made in a lab?
What is your opinion about the ethics of the genetical modification of food?
How would you make sure that everyone could benefit from genetically modified crops?
References
Cox, L. (2017, April 3) Feeding 8 billion. Retrieved September 2019 from Disruptionhub: https://disruptionhub.com/3292017-topical-blog-post-foodtech-feeding-8-billion/
Dormehl, L. (2019, April 22) Burgers are just the beginning: embracing the future of lab-grown everything. Retrieved September 2019 from Digitaltrends: (https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/is-lab-grown-meat-real-life-or-is-it-just-delicious-fantasy/
Al Jazeera (2019, June 23) UN: World population expected to rise to 9.7 billion in 2050. Retrieved September 2019 from Al Jazeera: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/world-population-expected-rise-97-billion-2050-190618085808201.html
United Nations (2019, June). World population prospects 2019: highlights. Retrieved September 2019 from United Nations: https://population.un.org/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2019_10KeyFindings.pdf
Chapman, W. (2019, July 10) Africa to lead world in population growth. Retrieved September 2019 from US News: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2019-07-10/africa-to-lead-world-in-population-growth
Diehl, P. (2018, December 23) How GMO’s can feed the world. Retrieved September 2019 from TheBalance:https://www.thebalance.com/can-genetically-modified-food-feed-the-world-375634
Very interesting post and topic!
I think when the demand of food is high enough companies will eventually invest or grow crops themselves in Africa. If there is enough demand, they will make their profits. It may take some time however.
I also think, why wouldn’t we want to eat meat that is made in a lab? If this is the solution to feed te world, even with 2 billion extra people, let’s do it. The most important thing is that we will have enough food and nobody will suffer from hunger.