Food shortages may force world into vegetarianism, claim "experts"

We grow weary and suspicious when leading experts claim

that food supplies are near catastrophic shortages, and that the world's population will have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years.

Humans get about 20% of their protein from animal-based products now, but this may need to drop to just 5% to feed the extra 2 billion people expected to be alive by 2050, according to research by some of the world's leading water scientists.

"There will not be enough water available on current croplands to produce food for the expected 9 billion population in 2050 if we follow current trends and changes towards diets common in western nations," so say Malik Falkenmark and colleagues at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) said.

"There will be just enough water if the proportion of animal-based foods is limited to 5% of total calories and considerable regional water deficits can be met by a … reliable system of food trade."

Accepting a vegetarian diet will increase the amount of water available to grow more food in an increasingly climate-erratic world, the scientists said. Animal protein-rich food consumes five to 10 times more water than a vegetarian diet. One third of the world's arable land is used to grow crops to feed animals. Other options to feed people include eliminating waste and increasing trade between countries in food surplus and those in deficit.

"Nine hundred million people already go hungry and 2 billion people are malnourished in spite of the fact that per capita food production continues to increase," they said. "With 70% of all available water being in agriculture, growing more food to feed an additional 2 billion people by 2050 will place greater pressure on available water and land."

The report will be featured at the annual world water conference in Stockholm, Sweden, where 2,500 politicians, UN people and researchers from 120 countries get together to discuss global water and the world becoming vegetarians.

Wait, here it comes, the discussion about overeating  and waste is at fever pitch, and the threat of food production may face future constraints because of the lack of water.

"We will need a new recipe to feed the world in the future," said one of these guys.

"We've witnessed again and again what happens to the world's poor – the majority of whom depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and already suffer from water scarcity – when they are at the mercy of our fragile global food system," said Dr Colin Chartres, the director general.

Fine, we consider ourselves warned.

Chicken Little would be proud.

SF considering ways to limit plastic water bottles

San Francisco, the city by the bay, the city that regulated Happy Meal toys and banned plastic grocery bags, has a new witch hunt in progress, plastic water bottles.

City officials want to require owners of new and renovated buildings with water fountains to install special bottle-filling taps. The law is suppose to herd thirsty people to refill their water bottles, instead of using another bottle of Aquafina.

"This is the appropriate next step to make it easier for San Franciscans to get out of the bad habit of using environmentally wasteful plastic water bottles and into the good habit of using reusable water containers," said Board of Supervisors President David Chiu,(photo below) who introduced the legislation.

Bottle-filling taps are already located at San Francisco International Airport and at some city parks and schools.

Installed behind a drinking fountain's regular faucet, the dispensed chilled water comes in a quick-streaming flow that will fill most water containers.

Advocates say having bottle-specific spigots encourages the reuse of water bottles by eliminating long waits to fill them and removing concerns about germs. 

But there are those who are horrified at the thought of drinking from a fountain exposed to so many mouths, even though city officials say water fountains are just as safe as bottle taps.

Many people doubt the ordinance is even necessary, since the new taps use the same public water that comes out of faucets and drinking fountains.

Adding a bottled-water spigot to existing water fountains would cost at least around $750, according to manufacturers.

Chiu said he considered other aggressive measures to do away with the bottle, including a fee and an outright ban. The proposed ordinance is less severe and is meant to raise awareness about drinking tap water as an alternative, he said.

Environmental groups are supportive of efforts to wean San Franciscans from plastic water bottles.

"San Francisco has among the best drinking water in country. It's ridiculous that people would go out and spend their now very limited dollars to buy bottled water," said Mae Wu, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Chris Hogan, an International Bottled Water Association spokesman, welcomed efforts to encourage drinking tap water, but said they don't require demonizing bottled water.

"When you make the argument to discourage people from drinking bottled water, you are removing the healthiest option when it comes to choosing a bottled beverage," Hogan said.

We could care less if people drink tap water, that's up to them. But we like the taste of bottled water, that's what is important to us.

So, we just purchased 10 cases of bottled water for the Voodoo Kitchen.

Cheers David Chiu.

New Delhi says, "there's nothing to worry about"

We find ourselves in New Delhi where the Delhi government has pleaded with the people of the city not to worry about the presence of drug-resistant bacteria in the capital's tap water.

Officials say they have reviewed the issue of the superbug bacteria and its implications for human health and there is no cause of any worry.

Gee, where have we heard that before?

They went on to say:

"The chlorination of water makes it safe for drinking purposes. The water being supplied through DJB and other similar sources meets the prescribed standards of testing and safety. The chlorination process and its monitoring is further being strengthened."

So, everyone can relax and stop worrying because officials have dismissed concerns about thee drug-resistant bacteria in tap water, saying the water being supplied by the agency was "safe" for drinking.

Time will tell...

Concord, MA says "no more bottled water"

Concord, MA, has made a decision.
Voters at a town meeting have banned the sale of bottled water in Concord, starting Jan. 1, 2011.
The ban began with petitioner Jean Hill, who offered a slide presentation at the meeting about the environmental impact of plastic bottles.
"All these discarded bottles are damaging our planet," said Jean Hill, "causing clumps of garbage in the oceans that hurt fish, and are creating more pollution on our streets. This is a great achievement to be the first in the country to do this. This is about addressing an injustice."
Hill is an 82-year-old activist who has been working on this cause for years.

Is it legal? The attorney general will have to decide if a town meeting has the authority to ban a product from an entire town.

Many think this is a silly gesture, you can go to a neighboring town and buy all the bottled water you want.

But We Like Bottled Water

There was a four year study of 103 brands of bottled water where one-third contained levels of bacteria or carcinogens that exceeded purity guidelines, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reported.
"Bottled waters do not generally pose a major public health threat", said study author Erik Olson, "most water is free of contaminants."
The suggestion here is, water in a bottle doesn't mean it is any safer, purer or better than water that comes out of your tap.
A lot of us have believed that bottled water contains no chlorine or harmful chemicals, the study found that fluoride, phthalate, trihalomethanes and arsenic, a known carcinogen, can be found in some bottled waters.
There is some concern about the presence of bacteria in bottled water that might pose health concerns with some infants, the frail elderly, some chemotherapy patients and others with weakened immune systems.
As a food product, bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and required to show nutrition information and ingredients on its labels. Municipal water is under the control of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The two agencies have similar standards for water quality, but the FDA has less authority to enforce them. water.

The FDA has yet to set standards for DEHP, one of several chemicals known as phthalates that are found in many household products, while the EPA limits the presence of phthalates in tap water.
Community water systems must distribute annual reports about their water's source, contaminants and possible health concerns.

After all is said and done we probably will continue to drink bottled water, simply because it tastes better.