ECOVAproject world food supply


Ecovaproject.org	-> towards a world of peace, leisure & abundance	-> a new green alternative
----> Home	news - cooperate - about us - contact - español - français - nederlands
Online book navigation summary chapter 1 introduction chapter 2 about the money system the objectives: chapter 3A worldwide social security chapter 3B renewable energy chapter 3C a green revolution chapter 3D ---------> chapter 3E an ecoworld chapter 4 towards a world of peace, leisure & abundance chapter 5 conclusions extra page 1 complementary currencies extra page 2 prosumer rights and basic income extra page 3 education and school systems extra chapter (April 25, 09) about fractional banking and global monetary powers	3D. World food supply: sufficient food for everyone thanks to organic agriculture To develop a world economy within the capacities of the ecosystem is not only a question of renewable energy. Another component that is just as vital, is the world food supply. Also the food production must be brought in line with the capacity and the conditions of the natural biological system. Besides, this will have important positive consequences for the health of the world population. Can organic agriculture feed the world? During the Rome-conference of the FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organization) is stated that the world food production would increase with 32% if all farmers would switch over to organic farming. This statement is confirmed by the university of Michigan. (1) Recent scientific models (Badyley a.o., 2007; Hallberg a.o., 2006) show that organic agriculture manages to produce sufficient food to offer 2640 Kcal to 4650 Kcal per head of the world population, depending on the productivity of the cultivation. (2) Because organic agriculture methods demand less financial investments, it is an attractive agriculture system for poor farmers as well as for new entrepreneurs. At the FAO-congress in Rome several studies were presented which show that organic agriculture firmly contributes to a better and cleaner environment. Plants are more resistant; organic farmland contains 14% more carbon, what benefits the plant-growth; the water consumption lies 20 to 40% lower due to a better drainage of the land; cultivation rotation gives a higher diversity to harvests, the use of fossil fuels is more limited, what results in 48 to 60% less emissions of greenhouse gases. (3) Other studies show that biological agriculture contributes to a highly nutritious diet, clean water, the health and the common well-being of people. Organic agriculture means saving on raw materials and fuels, and avoiding pesticides, what is good for the groundwater and for the health of people. Additionally, organic food contains more vitamin C, more omega3 fatty acids and less nitrates. (4) Recent research by the university of Newcastle indicates the surplus value of organic food. The study showed that organic vegetables and fruit contain up to 40% more antioxidants in comparison with non-organic products. The percentage of antioxidants and healthy fatty acids in organic milk appears to lie 60% higher. (5) According to Kevin Gallagher, head of the FAO program for food safety, there are enough models and studies available that show that organic agriculture has potential and has a positive impact at all kinds of levels. Conventional agriculture is with its high industrial input and its intensive use of artificial manure disastrous for the ecology, the environment and the fellow human beings. Besides, conventional agriculture appears not to be able to guarantee everybody the fulfillment of the basic right to food. Organic agriculture can provide a sustainable alternative and that we must continue to examine, says Kevin Gallagher. In the period 1981 - 2003, the Rodale Institute from Pennsylvania did a long-term research in which organic and conventional, non-organic agriculture methods were compared with each other. This study indicates that after a starting-up phase of four years both of the methods in the years with normal weather conditions had an equal return. "Though in years of drought the organic method had a significant higher return. The most important reason for it: the quality of the farmland. Organic farmland can better retain water, has a better structure and a higher percentage of organic material. When the rain began to fall after the drought periods in 1999, the organic farmlands took up twice as much water as the non-organic farmlands. Our tests show that the improvement of the soil quality through the organic method can mean the difference between a prosperous crop or a crop failure" , says Jeff Moya, Farm manager of the Rodale Institute. (6) * Another study in the United States compared the soil quality by means of a series of experiments at organic and non-organic farms. The scientists concluded that the upper fertile layer of soil at non-organic farms would disappear within 50 to 100 years if the habitual methods of cultivation not should be adapted." (7) * Researchers from the agriculture university of Wageningen (The Netherlands) confirmed in April 2008 an earlier study of the Dutch Consumer Association stating that because of the new fertilization techniques of traditional (non-organic) agriculture vegetables nowadays contain up to 50% less vitamins in comparison with twenty years ago and therefore are less nutritious. According to this research, modern fertilization techniques make the soil 'dead' , as a result of which vegetables in full ground can no longer extract the minerals from the soil with which they make vitamins. In order to comply with the European nitrate standard for surface water, the Dutch government decided ten years ago to oblige the direct injection of fertilizers in farmland. In Belgium there is no such obligation, but most of the Belgian farmers also directly inject their fertilizers into the soil for the same reasons. This injecting method has worrying side effects. The fertilizers kill micro life in the soil, which seriously disturbs the conversion of all kinds of minerals. According to Paul Blokker, president of VBBM, a Dutch association of organic farmers, the fast progress of all kinds of modern diseases such as cancer, diabetes and overweight is a consequence of the consumption of less nutritious vegetables as a result of which people get a shortage of zinc, iron, selenium, copper, magnesium and important vitamins. And, as proved by a recent summarizing analysis of 67 former studies: to replace vegetables and fruit by synthetic vitamin and food supplements is not the right solution. (Synthetic vitamin A, beta-carotene and vitamin E could even shorten life.) (8) The switch-over to organic agriculture will turn out to be as feasible, desirable and necessary as the transition to 100% renewable energy to create a sustainable global economy. Since we live in a globalised world in which we are obliged to deal with global food and agriculture related problems all together, we will have to focus on developing a global organic farming economy. This global organic farming economy will be able to raise at the same time the self-sufficiency potential at regional level, and to provide through a balanced global import-export-flow the whole world population with sufficient healthy quality food. Research and technology will take an important place in the development of this global eco-farming. Developing a global economy that leans on renewable energy and organic agriculture, can even result in a scientific reorientation which could be so profitable that it could transform in every respect society and life itself, into the direction of complete development and harmony. Marianne Vergeyle, Bioforum BioGezond, april 2008, p. 4 - 5, Bio: beter of niet U. Niggli, F.& J. Early, WWF Bioforum, 15/05/2007, Marianne Vergeyle / www.bioforum.be Belga / Nieuwsblad, 14/01/2008, Studie UGent over gezondheid biovoeding voorbarig Biotheek / The performance of organic and conventional cropping systems in an extreme climate year; D. Lotter, R. Seidel & W. Liebhardt; American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 18(3), p.146-154 Biotheek / Comparison of soil properties as influenced by organic and conventional agriculture, J.P. Reganold, 1989, American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, n°3, p.144-148 De Standaard, 17/04/2008, Groenten verliezen vitaminen / Voedingssupplementen verkorten leven / www.vbbm.nu The ECOVA-fund could support the development of a global ecological farming economy by: investing in research and development for the use of organic farming; * paying a (sufficiently high) basic income to organic farmers. This basic income is completely justifiable because it implies a return or 'feedback' of the ecosystem validation to those farmers who fully contribute to the recovery and the conservation of the ecosystem, and to the health of the world population. In general, this basic income also will depress food prices, so that it will be an efficient instrument of prosperity redistribution that will favor the whole world population. Moreover, it will be a powerful instrument to restore and reinforce the self-sufficiency capacity of communities all over the world. _____________________________________ Addendum. “This is the era of ecological public health. That’s what the Copenhagen talks ought to be about.” Sustainable Development Commissioner Professor Tim Lang. Video Eat less meat and dairy: official recipe to help health of consumers – and the planet. Shrinking of food and drink industry likely, says a report by the British government's independent advisory body on sustainability, the Sustainable Development Commission. Recommended diet for a warming planet 1 Cut consumption of meat and dairy products 2 Cut consumption of processed foods and drinks, especially fatty, sugary ones and stimulant drinks 3 Reduce waste Other recommended changes: • Eat more fruit and vegetables • Eat only fish from sustainable stocks • Eat more foods produced with respect for wildlife and environment • Shop on foot or on internet and cook and store food in energy-saving ways • Drink tap water, not bottled water Source & full article: The Guardian, December 11, 2009 ***** Vegetarian diet is better for the planet, says Lord Stern.** “Meat wastes water, creates greenhouse gases and could become as socially unacceptable as drink-driving.” Source & full article: The Guardian, October 26, 2009 ***** Global Warming and Food Policy: Less Meat = Less Heat Paul McCartney launches the ‘Meat free Monday’ campaign According to the former Beatle and well-known vegetarian, the power to halt global warming lies as much with individuals as with their governments. “Meat Free Monday is an environmental campaign to raise awareness of the climate-changing impact of meat production and consumption. Many people are unaware that livestock production is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions – that’s more than the entire transport sector.” Source: www.supportmfm.org / Video: click here *** New research from the Soil Association reveals that “a worldwide switch to organic farming could offset 11% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. Raising soil carbon levels would also make farming worldwide more resilient to extremes of climate like droughts and floods, leading to greater food security. On average organic farming produces 28% higher levels of soil carbon compared to non-organic farming in Northern Europe, and 20% higher for all countries studied (in Europe, North America and Australasia).” Source: www.soilassociation.org ***** Author and Copyright: Rafaël Staelens, Belgium	'The switch-over to organic agriculture will turn out to be as feasible, desirable and necessary as the transition to 100% renewable energy to create a sustainable global economy.' _________________________________ * “'The Court of Eden' houses the largest private collection of plant genetic resources in the Netherlands with over 30,000 accessions of all crops from all over the world, including Tibet, the Andes (range of tubers), Ethiopia (Teff), etc. Eight staff in total grow out 12-18,000 accessions a year on small plots outside Utrecht, among small farmers to avoid cross pollination. They hold an open day every Saturday for the public.” Source / thecourtofeden.org ________________________________ * According to 'The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics and Emerging Trends 2008' , a report from the Swiss institute FIBL, the German foundation Söl and the international organisation IFOAM, organic agriculture keeps growing. At this moment about 30,4 million hectare of farmland is organically cultivated worldwide. (De Morgen, 01 March 2008, Biolandbouw blijft wereldwijd groeien.) ________________________________ * In their report 'Farm Costs and Food Miles. An Assesment of the Full Cost of the UK Weekly Food Basket' the researchers Tim Lang and Jules Pretty state that the British government should have 1,6 billion less environmental costs if all British farmers should switch over to organic farming and should stop using chemical products. Consuming this food within a radius of 20 km, brings in another saving of 3 billion euro. Also the Dutch Agriculrural Economic Institute (LEI) published in May 2008 a report about the value of the sustainability achievments of organic agriculture. It concluded that the actual organic agriculture in the Netherlands brings in an annually saving of 10 million euro for the Dutch society. BioGezond, September 2008, p.5 ________________________________ * In Europe, almost half of the vegetables, fruit and cereals contain traces of pesticides. That is 20% more than five years ago. The Pesticide Action Network, an international action group working to replace the use of hazardous pesticides with ecologically sound and socially just alternatives, mentions that there were never before so many pesticides in our food than today. Het Nieuwsblad, 18 October 2008 ________________________________ How a community Food System Works: “It begins with small farms working with natural cycles and ends with fresh food and stronger communities in nearby cities.” Source: Yesmagazine ________________________________ ‘Fresh Food from Small Spaces’ is R.J. Ruppenthal’s square-inch gardener’s guide for urban dwellers to cultivating vegetables and fruits without a real garden. It is a “comprehensive "how-to" guide for growing fresh food in the absence of open land. Fresh Food from Small Spaces fills the gap as a practical, comprehensive, and downright fun guide to growing food in small spaces. It provides readers with the knowledge and skills necessary to produce their own fresh vegetables, mushrooms, sprouts, and fermented foods as well as to raise bees and chickens—all without reliance on energy-intensive systems like indoor lighting and hydroponics. Readers will learn how to transform their balconies and windowsills into productive vegetable gardens, their countertops and storage lockers into commercial-quality sprout and mushroom farms, and their outside nooks and crannies into whatever they can imagine, including sustainable nurseries for honeybees and chickens. Free space for the city gardener might be no more than a cramped patio, balcony, rooftop, windowsill, hanging rafter, dark cabinet, garage, or storage area, but no space is too small or too dark to raise food.” Source: www.chelseagreen.com ________________________________ From the New York Times (June 16, 2009): Urban Farming, a Bit Closer to the Sun: “High above the noise and grime of urban streets, gardeners are raising fruits and vegetables. Some are simply finding the joys of backyard gardens several stories up, others are doing it for the environment and some because they know local food sells well. (…) Farming in the sky is a fairly recent development in the green roof movement, in which owners have been encouraged to replace blacktop with plants, often just carpets of succulents, to cut down on storm runoff, insulate buildings and moderate urban heat. A survey by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, which represents companies that create green roofs, found the number of projects its members had worked on in the United States grew by more than 35 percent last year. In total, the green roofs installed last year cover 6 million to 10 million square feet, the group said.” Source ________________________________

This site contains the text of The Ecova project. A monetary alternative for worldwide social, economic and ecological security,

Eat less meat and dairy: official recipe to help health of consumers – and the planet. Shrinking of food and drink industry likely, says a report by the British government's independent advisory body on sustainability, the Sustainable Development Commission.

Global Warming and Food Policy: Less Meat = Less Heat