We Need to Feed the World

We Need to Feed the World

The video presented is by Louise Fresco titled “We Need to Feed the World.” Fresco prepares bread as she engages her audience in understanding different perspectives of food production and consumption patterns across the world (Fresco, 2009). According to Fresco, agriculture plays an essential role in economic development. In her view, a significant number of populations, especially in a developed country, rely on agricultural products for food. Besides, she argues that many families earn their daily living through agriculture. Fresco argues that in recent decades, people have become less concerned regarding where the food they consume comes from, depicting a sacrifice to the detriment of agriculture.

Land reforms carried out in developed countries, and the developing world presents different consequences. Some of the implications suggested by Fresco include the destruction of the landscape and the devastation of biodiversity. This specifically relates to the large-scale farming advanced by different countries. Fresco provides the difference between industrial and subsistence agriculture (Fresco, 2009). She presents that subsistence farming aims at feeding an individual farmer and his or her family while industrial farming is commercial. Further, Fresco shows that the speculation that the land prices have increased due to urbanization should be reacted to by considering agriculture as a science and making maximum use of limited land spaces for domestic production.

The current agricultural production mechanisms often lead to soil degradation, primarily through the use of fertilizers. Fresco suggests going back to traditional farming methods practices in most village set-ups and other local food production mechanisms. Moreover, Fresco indicates that the use of sound science in production can assist in minimizing the dissertation, deforestation, and excessive sea exploitation. Finally, Fresco ends her presentation by challenging her audience to think about the farmer who has produced the bread they are about to consume.

Reference

Fresco, L. (2009). We Need to Feed the World. TED 2009. Retrieved from: https://www.ted.com/talks/louise_fresco_on_feeding_the_whole_world/transcript?source=twitter&#t-440968