Vegetarian Diet Advised in Anticipation of World Food Shortage
When carrots don't work, underlying sticks are sometimes allowed to show. Years of encouraging people to eat a balanced diet and maintain a healthy lifestyle have not produced overwhelmingly positive results. By way of letting the stick peek out, a report on the future of food security in the U.K. has suggested that "the British people face wartime rations and a vegetarian diet in the event of a world food shortage," according to a report in The Times.
Much of the U.K.'s cereal production is used as animal feed. The Times points to a worst-way scenario drawn up by the government in which "cereal crops would be used to feed the nation and ensure that each person received sufficient daily calories."
Furthermore, "in the event of an extreme emergency the most dramatic consequence would be every person eating a predominantly vegetarian diet - more cereals, fruit and vegetables and less meat and poultry."
Hilary Benn, the government minister with responsibility for food supply, asked his Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to compile two documents for discussion. Food 2030 is soliciting views online about the future of the U.K. food system while Food Matters: One Year On updates progress on a 2008 Cabinet Office report.
It is Mr. Benn's intention to involve consumers in a debate about food security alongside encouraging them to follow healthier diets and introducing a range of new production techniques that don't damage natural resources.
To be fair, Mr. Benn is trying to put things into perspective. This means developing an awareness of how production methods will be affected by climate change, anticipated population growth and shortages of the natural resources on which farmers and producers depend. Mr. Benn also wants to emphasize global dependency and encourage consideration of new scientific and technological methods. Most of all, he wants the public to make individual decisions based on universal factors. That this may, one day, maybe, possibly, require government intervention is the stick that he is allowing to show without actually (yet) being wielded.
Discussion Questions: Should American retailers start getting ahead of the curve by promoting more vegetarian and non-meat products? Is it wise to focus on home-produced food and commodities rather than those imported in preparation for additional global competition and shortages in the future?