Why some of our favorite foods are at risk of extinction
In short: Popularity doesn't guarantee availability. Some of the world's most sought-after foods are considered 'unfarmable,' making them vulnerable to extinction. As our global population climbs toward 9.7 billion, the race to feed the world is colliding with shrinking arable land and a changing climate.
The challenge of feeding a growing population is a race against geography and climate. While Earth contains 29% land, much of that is uninhabitable due to mountains, deserts, or permafrost. Currently, only about 50 million square kilometers is used for farming. However, as the global population heads toward an estimated 9.7 billion, the demand for food is skyrocketing, requiring farmers to potentially double the current food supply within the next 30 years. This scarcity is exacerbated by the fact that meat is an incredibly inefficient food source. While Americans consume more meat than almost any other nation, the land required to sustain this diet is vast.
Climate change is actively shrinking the map of where we can grow food. Every 1°C increase in temperature could lead to significant yield drops: wheat by 6%, maize by 7%, and rice by 3%. This environmental pressure is compounded by soil degradation, which has already caused billions of acres of farmland to be abandoned. In regions like China, pollution has become a critical issue, with 19% of agricultural soil categorized as polluted.
To combat these trends, scientists and farmers are looking toward restoration. One method involves leaving land fallow or using cover crops like legumes, which use root bacteria to fix nitrogen into the soil. Other strategies include using specific plants for remediation; for instance, the willow shrub can effectively extract cadmium from the soil. Successful proactive restoration efforts might restore 400 million acres for farming, providing an additional 9.5 billion tons of food by 2050.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Why Are These Foods Unfarmable?
- Also: How Can We Farm Our Unfarmable Land?
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