Croplands around the world produced enough calories in 2020 to meet global food needs, but only half of that output was available and suitable for people to eat, a new study finds.
As more crops are grown for livestock feed and biofuels rather than food for people, the food system becomes “less efficient over time,” says Project Drawdown researcher Paul West, one of the authors. Published in Environmental Research: Food Systems in March, the study warns that the growing gap between what is produced and what people actually eat has major implications for food security, land use and climate change, especially as demand for meat continues to rise.
Researchers from Project Drawdown and the University of Minnesota found that although global calorie production of 50 different crops rose by 24 percent from 2010 to 2020, the calories consumed by people eating these crops grew by just 15 percent.
In the study, calories are used as a standard measure of energy derived from crops to track how it moves through the food system and how much of that energy ends up as human food, livestock feed or nonfood uses, like biofuels, fuels made from plants and other organic materials. Their data shows that a growing share of crops is being funneled into livestock feed and nonfood uses, which increased by 31 percent and 36 percent in 2020, respectively.
“We already farm an area about the size of South America, and most of the best farmlands around the world are already used,” West says. “Any kind of expansion into new areas comes at the expense of loss of habitat, and you’re moving into areas that aren’t as fertile to grow crops.”
Researchers stress that cutting meat — especially beef — and reducing biofuel production could significantly increase the amount of food available for people while easing pressure on land, ecosystems and water resources.
Click here to see more...