I am an agriculturist (UP Los Baños ’65) and I am unhappy with what I am reading. The originator of “World Food Day,” which is the Food & Agriculture Organization(FAO), is 75 years old (almost as old as I am at 81) – why is it that we have gargantuan food problems worldwide? In other words, the FAO has failed in its self-assigned global goal! Theme of the Day: “Our actions are our future” – Our actions since 75 years ago are now our (future) today.
What are the realities? According to AMP Global Youth[1] (16 August 2019, “The Top 5 Problems With The Global Food System,” ampglobalyouth.org), these are the most pressing worldwide difficulties:
(1) increased biofuel production
(2) Limited food access
(3) Unsustainable agricultural practices
(4) Lack of farmer and workers’ rights
(5) Food waste.
#1: “Increased biofuel production” – I don’t think that applies in my country, the Philippines. Or, it’s not #1 anyway.
#2: “Limited food access” – This should not be listed here. Limited access implies adequate supply, even over-supply.
#3: I would put this as #1: “Unsustainable agricultural practices.” UAPs. These UAPs waste natural resources such as soils as well as unnatural resources such as fertilizers and pesticides. With the use of UAPs, these happen:
(1) Natural soil fertility is depleted, because it is not replenished naturally. All the more UAPs are needed!
(2) Artificial fertilizers make unhealthy soils.
(3) Unhealthy food crops grow out of unhealthy soils.
(4) We consumers eat unnaturally unhealthy foods! What else is new?
AMP Global Youth says, “Ultimately, change can only take place once there is a social pressure to democratize the food system, and return the control to individuals and communities.” That is saying that actually, the #1 world food problem is “Lack of farmer and workers’ rights”! I must disagree.
How do we replenish soil fertility naturally?
Farming with nature. No, not “nature farming” or “natural farming” or “organic farming” – I subscribe to “trash farming” as described and employed by American gentleman farmer Edward H Faulkner as detailed in his books Plowman’s Folly (1943) andSoil Development (1952). Over the years, I have written many times about trash farming; the first time I wrote about it was 13 years ago – “2nd Red Revolution! Red Nuts Grow On Badlands[2]” (16 December 2008, Creative Thinkering, Blogspot.com). Among other things, I said there that “one could build a rich soil from a poor one by continuously incorporating crop refuse into the topsoil, along with minimizing cultivation, thereby simulating the natural cycle of death and life of organisms, something the plowman has either ignored or rejected.”
If you deprive the soil of its natural goodness, and prevent it from returning that itself, you are denying the soil what it next denies you – wealth of health from the food you grow on it!@517
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