Our population is currently at around 7.5 billion and “The world has added one billion people since 2005 and two billion since 1993.” It is predicted we will reach a population of 9.8 billion by 2050.  (United Nations, 2017).

According to Gimenez (2012), we Currently have enough food to feed 10 billion people and people starve because of greed. Furthermore, Edward O. Wilson (2002) also said that the earth can currently support 10 billion people in his book ‘The Future of Life’. However, neither of these sources linked back to any research or where they got their numbers. Alternatly, Waggoner (1996) says we should also consider and leave room for nature to survive, to do this we would need to drastically change our habits.

I believe (and I am not alone) that we can easily feed everyone on this planet with our current food productions. So why do people go hungry? Three main reasons Greed, Wastage, and poverty gaps. “The global volume of food wastage is estimated at 1.6 billion tonnes of ‘primary product equivalents.’ Total food wastage for the edible part of this amounts to 1.3 billion tonnes.” (Food wastage: Key facts and figures, n.d.). The average person eats 500kg per year (How Much Food Does the Average Person Eat per Year, 2013) so dividing that from the edible part of the food waste, that is enough to feed 2,600,000 people for a year.

The solution to wase food is up to you. How much food do you throw out or is left uneaten? how often do you overeat? If you own a business, how much food goes to waste there?

One solution to growing more food without destroying more forests is vertical farming.

With vertical farming, you can grow a lot more in a smaller land area. This has shown to be very effective when adding hydroponics and LED lighting. This video goes into the basics of the idea:

“The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.” -  Mahatma Gandhi

References: 

Food wastage: Key facts and figures. (n.d.). Retrieved 10 24, 2017, from Food and Agriculture  Organization of the United Nations:  http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/196402/icode/

Gimenez, E. H.  (2012, 02 05). We Already Grow Enough Food For 10 Billion People — and  Still Can’t End Hunger. Retrieved from The Huffington Post:  https://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-holt-gimenez/world-hunger_b_1463429.html

How Much Food  Does the Average Person Eat per Year. (2013). Retrieved 10 24,  2017, from A to Z of Brain, Mind and Learning:  http://health.learninginfo.org/how-much-food-average-person-eat-per-year.htm

United Nations,  D. o. (2017). World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, Key Findings and Advance Tables. New York: United Nations.

Waggoner, P. E.  (1996). How Much Land Can Ten Billion People Spare for Nature? Daedalus,  The Liberation of the Environment, 125(3), 73-93. Retrieved 10 23, 2017,  from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20027371

Wilson, E. O.  (2002). The Future of Life. Paw Prints.