Thanks for your reply to my question. (Richard Bowen's reply - also sent to
all of SANet - was appreciated too, although the figures quoted are for
"agricultural" imports and exports and thus not specifically food - for
example, they must include tobacco and cotton.)
My concern is that sources of food are shrinking at the same time the number
of people needing food is growing - both nationwide and worldwide. I am
trying to build a campaign to make people aware of the problem - and of
solutions.
The common wisdom in America is that because of the wonders of modern
agriculture the U.S. is feeding the world, but reportedly there are 35 Million
people right here in America that are actually or borderline hungry.
Meanwhile we add 2.5 Million people each year, and lose 1 Million acres of
prime farmland to development. I'm still looking for reliable data on how
many tons of topsoil are being lost, how many thousand acres of working
farmland are having the life choked out of them by chemicals and heavy
equipment, and how many millions of gallons of underground water reservoirs
are being sucked dry for irrigation.
One can argue, and many do, that it's simply a matter of distribution, that
there's plenty of food to go around the world. In theory, distribution
problems could be solved overnight. I do not believe we can replace lost
farms, lost topsoil, lost ecologies, lost aquifers as quickly. Meanwhile
world population is expected to grow by the equivalent of two Chinas in the
next 25 years.
I believe healthy food is essential not just to human bodies but to our minds
and souls. The organic movement seeks to restore health to our food supply
and to its sources. How can we restore health to sources that are no longer
there? There is no cure for corpses.
Wishing you all the best,
Betty Gras
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