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NEW YORK — Food. It's among the most fundamental of human needs. But, over time, it has also entered the realm of high-tech, intellectual property, big business and environmental and social justice concerns. All the while, the world's population of hungry mouths is growing. 

At a discussion on the future of food here at the American Museum of Natural History on Tuesday (March 5), a panel of experts grappled with the issues of how society produces and consumes food . Here are seven key points they addressed:

1. How much should food cost? "Most would say the right not to be hungry is a basic human right, but it gets thorny when we try to explore what that means," said panelist Paul Root Wolpe, an ethicist at Emory University. (Discussion within the United Nations has focused on ensuring that all people are able to obtain food for themselves.) However, it's impossible to think about food without also thinking of trade, ownership and, in a capitalist society, profit, Wolpe said.

Source: LiveScience.com

by Susanne Posel

Bill Gates claims that genetically modified (GM) crops will solve world hunger. He has recently paired up with Monsanto as their biggest shareholder. And thus began Gates proclamation that GM crops be used to feed the world.

Ironically, when the World Bank and the United Nations funded 900 scientists to create an International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) over a 3 year period, the conclusions were opposed to the expectations of these international bodies. IAASTD stated that GM crops are not a viable solution to the world hunger problem. They went on to suggest that food security as being agro-ecological and enhancing the global security on food would be most effective mode. Argo-ecology is the traditional method of farming used in most unindustrialized countries. This type of farming has been proven without fail to work. The inception of farming relied on these practices.

GM crops have a high failure to yield, as reported by the Union of Concerned Scientists in 2009....

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by UniSA student

By MARGARITA DE GENNARO.

Genetically modified (GM) crops could be the new solution needed to help address many of the world’s most challenging issues such as hunger, malnutrition, disease and poverty.

Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO Ian Dry doubts whether GM crops are the sole solution when it comes to solving world hunger problems.

“It can be one of a number of strategies in contributing towards solving world hunger problems particularly in areas like Africa where there is great need,” Dr Dry said.

“A lot of the problems they have in Africa are to do with reliability of crops with climate change, drought and controlling pests and diseases.

“They don’t have access to a lot of technologies which we have and use in Australia to get a good crop at the end of the year.”

In developing countries almost one billion people are chronically undernourished and up to three billion suffer from malnutrition due to micronutrient deficiency.

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