Issues: Scarcity vs. Distribution
Some confusion exists regarding the relationship of scarcity and distribution to the causes of hunger. This section will explain (1) why scarcity is a critical issue for global food security, (2) how scarcity is intensified by animal agriculture, and (3) the ways in which scarcity and distribution are connected.
Summary of the Debate
While some organizations, like the Worldwatch Institute and Earth Policy Institute, are concerned with the availability of future food supplies, others believe the issue is distribution, not scarcity. They assert that there is sufficient food to feed the world and that the issue is redistribution* (or economic development) so that everyone receives enough of the available resources.
When phrased this way, it appears to be an either/or situation--either scarcity or distribution causes hunger. This section will explain why both matter and will detail (1) why scarcity is a critical issue for global food security, (2) how scarcity is intensified by animal agriculture, and (3) the ways in which scarcity and distribution are connected.
Why Scarcity is a Critical Issue for Global Food Security
At the global level, there is currently enough food available to feed the world's population, so the problem appears to be distribution, not scarcity. But we do not have a food surplus as many believe. For years we have consumed more food than we produce, decreasing our national grain reserves (Worldwatch).
Producing enough food for the global population is not only a current concern, but one which will become increasingly complex and difficult for the following reasons:
- Increases in global population
- Increases in meat and dairy consumption (which consume more resources)
- Decreases in arable land, potable water and related environmental resources
Meeting the increased demand for food due to population increases is a concern in itself, but the impact is much greater than just feeding more people.
The impact of current trends on food security are increased exponentially because most of the population growth is happening in the low- and middle-income countries, where per capita meat and dairy consumption is also on the rise. Thus, we have an already large starting base of five billion people, who have high population growth and who are eating more animal products.
How Scarcity is Intensified by Animal Agriculture
During the middle and late 1900s , an animal-centered, Western-style diet was consumed by only a small percentage of the global population (predominantly in the US and Western Europe), while most of the world consumed a plant-centered diet, in many cases using meat and dairy only as condiments. We were able to meet the demand for food because relatively few people ate animal-centered diets.
Animals are inefficient converters of food resources (i.e., they consume much more food than they produce and they use much greater quantities of environmental resources). As more people consume more animal products, global food and environmental resources will be pushed beyond the Earth's capacity. These problems are exacerbated by decreases in arable land, scarcity of potable water, and environmental pollution more generally.
While many experts recognize the impending food scarcity caused by increased meat and dairy consumption, most stop short of seeking a reduction. The International Food Policy Research Institute in conjunction with the FAO and International Livestock Research Institute issued the report Livestock to 2020 (see Resources section). This report warns that the global meat demand will double by the year 2020. They assert that one of the most pressing issues in global food security will be our ability to meet the increasing demand for food, especially food of animal origin stemming from the increasingly populous and financially improving developing world. Specifically they state:
The demand-driven Livestock Revolution is one of the largest structural shifts to ever affect food markets in developing countries and how it is handled is crucial for future growth prospects in developing country agriculture, for food security and the livelihoods of the rural poor, and for environmental sustainability (4).
Like many others, however, instead of calling for policies to reduce meat consumption, they assert that meat consumption is demand-driven, and that we should focus on how to best meet the increasing demand.
[I]t is unwise to think that the Livestock Revolution will somehow go away in response to moral suasion by well-meaning development partners. It is a structural phenomenon that is here to stay. How bad or how good it will be for the populations of developing countries is intricately bound up with how countries choose to approach the Livestock Revolution (65).
To meet increased global food and meat demand, advocates such as IFPRI promote population control (to reduce numbers) and biotechnology (to increase output), but they do not promote eating lower on the "food chain" because they take it as a demand-driven "given."
WFW argues against this logic. While meat consumption may be demand-driven in an economic sense, the demand is socially-constructed and can be redirected with targeted government policies and education campaigns. We advocate a move in this direction. We advocate reducing meat and dairy consumption within the industrialized world and not promoting it elsewhere.
Reducing meat consumption is not a panacea, but it is a critical and common sense component of a sustainable food system.
The Ways in which Scarcity and Distribution are Connected
Scarcity and distribution are related concerns. Scarcity not only matters as an issue on its own, it also increases disparities in distribution, negating the distribution-not-scarcity model.
As supplies decrease, prices increase and those with financial resources bid food away from the poor. This happens with primary foods (the wealthy eat first), and this happens with the consumption of so-called "luxury" foods, such as resource-intensive meat and dairy. Grain, soy and other commodities are fed to animals to produce meat for the industrialized world, while the hungry lack the financial means to compete.
Even in times of famine, some countries export grain to be used as animal feed. Increased food supply allows for more equitable distribution. Conversely, decreased supply increases problems with distribution, even while sufficient food technically exists. Increased animal agriculture, thus, exacerbates both scarcity and distribution. This is especially true of the intensive animal agriculture, which dominates global meat production. (The distinctions between intensive and small-scale subsistence farming will be drawn out in future sections.)
*Varying Definitions: What is Distribution?
Some organizations vary in their definition of distribution. The Hunger Project, for example, when asked in the FAQ section of their website:
Isn't hunger just a question of distribution?
They reply:
No. Almost every location on earth can produce enough food for its population. Even Bangladesh is self-sufficient in food production. The challenge is that people cannot earn enough to buy the food that is available.
The Hunger Project defines distribution as having sufficient resources within a specific geographic region. Distribution, however, should be concerned with distribution to individuals.
As such, The Hunger Project example would still be a problem of distribution, just within a specified geographic region. Likewise, the issue of poverty or having enough money to purchase the food does not negate the issue of distribution or the impacts of scarcity. Prioritizing economic ability to pay over an individual's need is a value judgment, which results in maldistribution.
Other Issues: Global Warming
Click here for United Nations Global Warming Report
Livestock Causes More Greenhouse Gases Than Automobiles
