What are some of the problems associated with increasing the food supply?

Question

As the population expands we need to produce ever inceasing amounts of food, what are some of the drawbacks of doing this.

Answer 1

Current problems in food production that can only get worse.

Every year less and less farmers have to produce for an extra 70 million people ,on less and less arable land with less and less topsoil with decreasing water supplies.

Less farmers because more and more farmers sons are heading for the cities and getting better education to follow other routes in life.

Increasing demands because
World population has doubled in the last 50 years exceeding the growth of 4 million years (since we became homo Sapiens).


Less arable lands and less top soil, because Mono cultures ,aided by chemicals Exhaust and pollutes the soil .
Adding to this the effects of overgrazing has resulted in large scale desertification.

Each year billions of tons of topsoil are blown or washed away by storms.

To satisfy the growing demand farmers are cultivating unstable lands , too steep or dry to be sustainable.

In Mexico they are deforesting mountain slopes to grow maize(corn) and the plots become unproductive after 3 years ,the irrigation rots the roots left behind with in the soil and with the rains the resulting tunnels fill up with water ,the soil lifts and the whole lot slides down ,burying other land below with the debris and leaving behind naked bed rock which is impossible to recover --ever.

And now with the threat of rising seas low lying coastal arable are in danger of becoming flooded by salt water resulting in more land loss.

Further land loss because of erosions,due to deforestation and subsequent flooding s that have washed away the top soils in some areas and covered other lower locations with mud, burying crops

Crop loss due to climatic changes ,one degree rise in temperature results in 10% crop loss.

Granted in theory new areas become available ,due to climatic changes ,to grow crops that before could not grow there ,but to ^^shift ^^ or re-locate specific agriculture is easier said than done and cannot be instantaneous, this takes several years to implement

Less and less water supplies because farmers are now using oil drilling technology to pump deep carbon aquifers (which means that the moment irrigation ceases the place dries out and turns to desert.)

And more and more water is being polluted,and more and more people are using it ,Farming uses about 70% of all water supplies .
The pressure on potable water increases just about daily,so does the wasting it ,

Over the last half century,
Population growth & rising incomes have tripled world grain demand from 640 million tons to 1,855 million

In the near future the global farming community will not be able to feed every body ,food prices will continue to rise.In theory enough food is produced on a global scale to feed the world ,

but food prices continue to be manipulated by regulating production or available supplies by unscrupulous governments and companies .

And countries like China ,who have major water shortage and food production problems of their own ,but who have plenty of money,are buying grains at all cost outbidding local buyers.

Resulting in rising local costs ,for them a ton of corn means 1000 tons of water which they would need if they were to produce it themselves.

As if all this was not enough the production of ethanol is now added as a factor which is contributing to rising prices
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Answer 2

Resource supply is a natural mechanism of population control.
Increasing food supply, bring prices down, and gives a false sense that it will stay that way. This false sense of security, coupled with lower prices, makes raising a family more affordable, and gives false hope that it will stay that way, causing problems when it doesn't.

Increased production is generally responsible for increased chemical usage which ends up in water supply causing a myriad of problems, too numerous to discuss here.
Also aerosols from these chemicals cause health problems; respiratory, allergies, and in some cases greater risk of chemical related injuries.

Chemical pesticides do not differentiate between pests and beneficial insects in the area they are used. This creates an imbalance in the plant/animal relationship within the surrounding environment, causing a slow collapse of the delicate ecosystems that is important to all life.

Increased population as a result of increased resources, increases waste which becomes another problem that usually results in environmental damage.

All wastes, chemicals, and other substances not deposited by natural processes of stable ecosystems cause a shift in organisms that all ecosystems, and our entire environment is dependant upon....microoorganisms and fungi, which leads to shifts in the populations of higher organisms allowing invasive species to invade and outcompete other organisms disturbing and potenitlaly causing the disappearance of species that entire ecosystems depend on.

Answer 3

The food quality will decline because of the demand and supply theory are associated each other. Some of the drawbacks of doing this could lead the changes of genes in vegetable and fruit for producing more supplies and varieties, kroning of poultry animals in order to fulfill the goals of mass supply for meats.Otherwise, the food prices will go rocket high as demands are going larger and larger amounts.

Answer 4

The main thing it will cause is overpopulation. Which is fine as long as the increased food supply holds up, but falls apart as soon as a supply problem sets in.

In a sense, the agricultural revolution which began about ten thousand years ago, has been leading to a collision with this very problem over the subsequent millenia.

Answer 5

1. Land Use Clearing to increase area for agriculture growth.
2. Water pollution due to increase use of fertilizers and pesticides to increase yields.
3. soil degradation due to overproduction.
4. high yields in first few years and low yields afterwards.
5. only those areas could grow more and more food which have resources. a resource imbalance could lead to more conflicts.

Answer 6

to me it is a lack of knowledge of the general and overall public. we are using SO many chemicals, pesticides, and other things that harm our environment that it affects everything. i watched this episode on t.v. about the bee population taking an extreme hit and devistating drop! they are responsible for pollenating our crops and without them, our crops fail, we suffer and prices go up and people can't afford them. it is believed that the new pesticides and chemicals farmers use are causing viruses in the bees and they "forget" their purpose. pretty soon veggies and fruits will be rare for us. so, i think that everyone needs to get involved and aware of what we are doing to ourselves and our food supply. awareness!! gotta happen!!
another thing...some of these people out here having 4-6 kids and can't support them...and have no desire to try and support them--that's gotta stop! whatever happened to a limit or sterilization?? there are groups of people who meet in TX that have 15-18 kids to one family!! that's just too much. there has gotta be limits to things nowadays...that's the problem.

Answer 7

The ultimate drawback is that after we expend every effort to artificially maintain high levels of production - it will collapse.

Answer 8

Depletion of nutrients in the soil. Potential harm from the increased use of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides.