Feeding the Hungry Feeding the planet is a tough job. Before we can make sure that the food we grow gets to everyone who is hungry, we first need to know how many people are hungry. Yet that number keeps changing. T e world’s


population is predicted to reach 9 billion people by 2050. To have enough food for everyone, experts predict we need to produce 70 percent more food than we are producing today. But how? Agriculture is already putting a strain on Earth’s resources. Consider this: Farming and food production


already suck up 70 percent of all the freshwater we use. Agriculture also contibutes to climate change and habitat loss. Tropical forests are cut down so fields can be planted. And farming is responsible for 30 to 35 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. When wasted food becomes part of the


problem, the situation seems dire. Producing food that no one eats wastes the water, fertilizer, pesticides, seeds, fuel, and land that are needed to grow it.


Fixing the Food Chain Is there a way out of this mess? T ere is. T ere are many ideas that may help fix the problem. In developing nations, for example, some aid organizations are giving farmers storage bins and multilayer grain sacks. T ese help keep food from spoiling. In the U.S., some fruit growers are working


with juice companies to develop products made from less-than-perfect-looking fruit. Other farms use technology to help them harvest at exactly the right time. One company in Georgia monitors its strawberries with temperature and humidity sensors. T e sensors tell the company the best times to harvest. Innovation is saving eggs, too. For years,


Walmart’s policy was to dump an entire carton of eggs if one egg was cracked. Now the company is testing a laser system to mark each egg with product information. Workers can easily substitute a broken egg with a new egg in the carton with the same specs. If used across the nation, this system could save five billion eggs a year.


Growing enough food puts a strain on other resources, such as freshwater. 20 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER


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