Ancient Problem Since ancient times, people have faced the challenge of producing food. T ey’ve always found solutions. T ey’ve used Earth’s natural resources to feed growing populations. Early people hunted animals and gathered


plants to feed their families. T en they learned how to use the land to grow food. When the land wasn’t right for farming,


This 3-D printer is printing food.


your turn to help feed the homeless at your community shelter. Now, you’ve got just a few hours to make a meal for dozens of people. No problem. You head to your kitchen, step


Y


up to your 3-D printer, and push a few buttons. Within seconds, the machine hums and whirs. It starts squirting out pizzas. Problem solved. Or, at least, someday in the


future, that’s how you may solve it. Most of us don’t have a 3-D food printer yet since they’ve just been invented. So far, they cannot print much. Soon, though, these printers will be able to make a variety of food. T e way the world grows and makes its food


is changing. T at’s because a lot of scientists, engineers, and farmers are thinking about food and how it’s made. Here’s why. Earth’s population is growing quickly.


Today, 7 billion people live on the planet. By 2050, there may be more than 9 billion people. To feed that many people, we’ll need to


produce 70 percent more food than we do now. T at’s a huge challenge. Machines that print pizzas may be part of the answer, but they can’t do the job alone. It may take a mix of old and new technologies to meet the challenge.


12 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER


people solved that problem, too. If it was too dry, or too wet, or too rugged, they changed the land. T ey built dams and cut down forests so they had space to grow more crops. With more food to eat, populations grew.


ou’ve got a problem. You forgot that it’s


The Right Steps T e ancient Inca are an example of a people who faced a great challenge growing food. T ey lived in the steep Andes Mountains in South America. Over time, they built a vast empire of 12 million people. T at’s a lot of mouths to feed. T e Incas farmed. T ey grew corn, potatoes,


and a grain called quinoa. Yet it was hard to grow crops on a mountain. When it rained, water rushed downhill and eroded the soil. T e water carried away the nutrients plants needed to grow—and sometimes the plants, too! To feed millions of people, the Incas had to


find a new way to grow food. So they invented terrace, or step, farming. T ey carved huge steps into the sides of mountains. T ey built stone walls to hold the steps in place. T is made flat places to plant crops. When flowing rainwater reached a terrace,


it slowed down and soaked into the soil. T e water helped crops grow. T e stone walls kept the dirt and plants from washing away. Terrace farming is a technology that’s still


helping to feed people today. In Asia, rice grows in terraced fields called paddies. In Spain and Italy, terrace farmers grow grapes and olives.


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