Grønnere mat!

Posted on 2011/11/06 Updated on 2012/05/20

Er det mulig å brødfø verden samtidig som vi kutter klimautslippene
fra landbruket? (Landbruk står for så mye som 20-30 prosent av de globale klimautslippene).

Ja, sier en ny artikkel i Nature. De to store problemene er å sikre at
fattige folk har råd til mat og å redusere klimautslippene. Vi må
legge om til et mer bærekraftig jordbruk i rike land som Norge, bruke mindre sprøytemidler, kunstgjødsel og kraftfor, og aktivt støtte distriktsbosetting, kulturlandskap og biologisk mangfold. Samtidig må vi støtte kvinner og småbønder i fattige land. Og det er mulig å øke avlingene i fattige land vesentlig, på en bærekraftig måte, uten å dyrke opp nye åkere.

Her er noen høydepunkter fra artikkelen, oppsummert av Tom Laskawy:

So it’s nice to see an article in the preeminent science journal
Nature that tries to look at the big picture of world agriculture,
warts and all. The report was written by a team of international
scientists led by Dr. Jonathan Foley of the University of Minnesota’s
Institute of the Environment, and the goal was to address how our
current food system is failing to feed the world. And yes, that was
«is failing» –not «might fail in the future.» After all, any system
that leaves nearly 15 percent of the world’s population — and 50
million residents of the world’s richest country — hungry while
wasting an astounding amount of food can’t possibly be considered a
success.

On the bright side, Foley’s team of researchers concluded that we can
indeed produce enough food and do so in a way that both minimizes
environmental and climate damage while treating water as the precious
resource it is. We will, however, have to make a few adjustments to
our approach to agriculture. The to-do list is surprisingly short:
–       Close agricultural «yield gaps» — the difference between the most
and least productive regions — while minimizing farming’s
environmental footprint
–       Stop agricultural expansion into sensitive areas, such as rainforests
–       Stop wasting so much food
–       Eat less meat and put less food (i.e. ethanol) into our gas tanks.

With the tools currently at our disposal, we can reduce carbon
emissions to address climate change; we can create jobs to address
economic inequality; and, yes, we can «feed the world,» though the
better term is «feed ourselves.» What Foley and his team are really
telling us is that, as with the other challenges we face, the main
obstacles are political.

Les mer her: http://www.grist.org/food/2011-10-31-seven-billion-mouths-to-feed