Review of National Geographic’s Future of Food Series

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For the past eight months, National Geographic has featured articles relating to the rocky future of food—since the planet will have nine billion people to feed by 2050, dramatic changes will be needed for ultimate food security. The articles focused on a variety of issues, from the benefits of aquaculture to the ethics of feed lots. Overall, I would recommend this series to anyone interested in environmental or agricultural issues because the photographs are stunning, the facts are well presented, and the topics chosen were extremely relevant.

1. MAY 2014—A Five Step Plan to Feed the World

–The first article in this series (paid for by the Rockefeller Foundation) was an introduction to agriculture in general and included what steps the world should take to increase yields across all boards. The plan was 1) freeze agriculture’s footprint, 2) grow more food on the farms we’ve already cultivated, 3) use resources more efficiently, 4) shift human diets, and 5) reduce waste. The images for this article were poignant—from a poor farmer in Bangladesh to a wealthy farmer in the US, each had a story to tell. The graphics (i.e. graphs, maps, etc) were also very engaging and informative.

2. JUNE 2014—How to Farm Better Fish

–This article was definitely my favorite one in the series, mostly because I find the meteoric rise of aquaculture fascinating. The author explored the current technology of aquaculture, most of which sounded almost futuristic. For example, off the coast of Panama, massive, diamond shaped fish nets are used to cultivate commercial species of fish. The natural rising and ebbing of the sea cleans out the nets and gives the fish a more natural environment to develop in. Although aquaculture has its drawbacks (i.e. waste pollution and high energy costs to maintain onshore tanks), it also has its benefits (i.e. it takes less food to raise fish compared to beef). I also thought the “Stick a Fork In It” page had a neat layout describing different types of fish forks!

3. JULY 2014—The Next Bread Basket

–Of course, one article in the series had to center around Africa and the enormous amount of resources contained in that continent. Africa actually has large pockets of fertile farmland—the problem is using them to their full potential. There are mostly two types of farms in Africa: large plantations owned by corporations that grow a few crops and small farms owned by local citizens. Pathos was used to explain the situation, but the pictures of the African farmers were telling enough. A particularly interesting graphic explained how many miles our food travels to get to our plates—needless to say, my kiwis from New Zealand probably travel more miles than I do in a year.

4. AUGUST 2014—The New Face of Hunger

–This article was my least favorite of the whole series because it ruffled my political feathers. It talked about the growing amount of “hungry” people in the US, despite our high levels of education, wealth, and number of Publix’s. I do not think it’s right that these “poor” Americans are on food stamps when they were pictured with their fancy Smartphones at the same time. Personally, I believe there is no reason for families to eat at McDonalds or other fast food restaurants because the price is cheaper. My mother cuts out coupons every week and only buys BOGO food at Publix, making our overall food bill extremely cheap each month. There is simply no excuse these days with Groupon and other online coupon sites. I found this article too subjective, especially considering the others were more fact driven.

5. SEPTEMBER 2014—The Evolution of Diet

–I found this article very interesting because the author looked at our eating habits from an evolutionary perspective. I liked reading the history behind why we are omnivores and why just eating whole grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables is the best diet possible. I also discovered that early nomadic humans didn’t just eat lean meat—they actually ate more plants and berries as well. Since the advent of cities and settled agriculture, human diets have been reprogrammed to “depend on cooked food.”

6. OCTOBER 2014—The Next Green Revolution

–Seeing as I participated in a GMO debate in my AP Environmental Science class last year, this article was very relevant to me. It focused on the emerging popularity of biotechnology and GM crops. Specifically, the pros and cons of using these super crops was discussed; examples of these foods—IR8 and Sub 1 rice—were also mentioned. I also learned exactly how individual genes are isolated so they can be crossed with others (which creates “miracle crops.”) To illustrate this, a neat genetic tree on how new species of rice are created was included.

7. NOVEMBER 2014—The Carnivore’s Dilemma

–It’s common knowledge that producing beef takes more resources (i.e. land, food, water) than producing chicken or fish. However, I greatly enjoy a hamburger once in a while, forcing me into a quandary every time I enter Outback Steakhouse. The article had amazing photographs (i.e. of feedlots, slaughterhouses, and Normal Rockwell-like dinner tables), but I felt the author was much too opinionated. For example, “Meat is murder. Meat—especially beef—is cigarettes and a Hummer rolled into one. For the sake of the animals, our own health, and the health of the planet, we must eat less of it.” (p.114) However, I did learn that modern feedlots aren’t as bad as they are portrayed in Food Inc; cows just release too much methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

8. DECEMBER 2014—The Joy of Food

–To finish this eight month long series, the way food binds people and cultures together was examined. Although I thought this article was more of a picture narrative than a look at deep issues, I still enjoyed it. I loved the pictures of the fridges of all different people, from a bartender to a street advertiser to a midwife. The second part of the article was called “The Communal Table.” This story was interesting because it detailed the customs of Milpa Alta, a poor barrio near Mexico City. It’s amazing how religion, food, and family binds these people together multiple times a year.