I was at a lecture by Ralph C. Martin today on food security. He has written a book and he has a website called www.ralphmartin.ca. His book is called Food Security: From Excess to Enough. It was published in 2019. Ralph is very knowledgeable about farming and the food industry. Here are a few points from his talk. These points below are based on that slide show and the comments he made. Thank you Mr. Martin.

• Modern inequality arose and spread with the development of agriculture
• Recommended book: The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson.
• In the Second World War, more people died from starvation than from the military
• In the 1960’s we had the Green Revolution. Nitrogen fertilizer use went way up, along with energy for agriculture and grain yields and human population.
• Between 1961 and 2014 the world’s cereal production rose by 280%, which is twice the increase in the global population (which was 136%)
• In the 1920’s mass deaths by hunger per 100,000 people was 82. In the 1930’s it was 56. In the 1940’s it was 79. In the 1950’s it was 32. In the 1960’s it was 50. In the 1970’s it was 8.4 and recently it is less than one.
• Most of the energy we expend on agriculture goes to fertilizer. Energy also needed for tractors, irrigation, many trucks, planes and ships.
• We produce more food than the food that is sold. We consume less than the food that is sold. We waste food.
• In indigenous systems, we don’t just talk about food, we also talk about medicine.
• Generally, we as Canadians, humans consume too much food, energy, products and so on.
• There are more people who suffer illnesses from overeating than those who suffer from not getting enough food.
• Two thirds of health are costs can now be attributed to chronic diseases associated with unhealthy eating.
• We waste a lot of food. In Canada 46% of all food is wasted.
• If you eat out at restaurants more than you expected to, you often end up throwing out food from your fridge.
• When there is not enough food in a society, often times its due to war.
• 80% of the world’s food is grown on small farms.
• Farming is tough these days. Input costs are going up and selling prices are low.
• Soil organic matter (SOM) levels are now decreasing on 82% of fields. We need the carbon in the soil.
• 54% fields have an erosion risk that is too high.
• Soil is not meant to be bare. It should always be covered with living plants. When bare ground is pounded by rain, loses SOM.
• Our biggest problems in 2009 are lack of biodiversity (loss of species), reactive nitrogen and reactive phosphorus. This fact is exposed by the “planetary boundaries” research.
• Globally water is a huge problem, but not in Canada. Fresh water is needed in agriculture. The global water crisis leaves half of the world food production at risk in the next 25 years.
• Pesticides of all types pose a hazard to soil invertebrates.
• The AMOC is weakening and a tipping point exists. AOC is the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation.
• Canada’s climate is warming at twice the global rate – and 3 to 4 times faster in the North. This increases forest flammability.
• COP16 is taking place between October 21 – November 1, 2024 in Cali, Colombia
• The Svalbard Global Seed Bank is in Norway.
• We need to change our values and place more importance on the farmland we have and less importance on the constant growth of production.