There may not be enough fruits and vegetables on this planet for everybody to live a healthy and nutritious life, revealed a latest study. The demand of fruits and vegetables may exceed the supply, and that may become a worrying state of affairs in times to come, the scientists said.
As a part of a recent study, researchers compared global agricultural production with nutritionists' consumption recommendations and found a mismatch of drastic level. The study is published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Evan Fraser, the co-author of the study, said, "We simply can't all adopt a healthy diet under the current global agriculture system. Results show that the global system currently overproduces grains, fats, and sugars, while production of fruits and vegetables and, to a smaller degree, protein is not sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of the current population."
For the study, the researchers calculated how much land is currently used for farming and how much would be needed if everyone followed the nutritional recommendations. They then projected those numbers for 2050, when the global population is expected to reach 9.8 billion.
The findings revealed that we are currently producing 12 servings of grains per person instead of the recommended eight. That is, five servings of fruits and vegetables instead of 15, three servings of oil and fat instead of one, three servings of protein instead of five, and four servings of sugar instead of none.
"What we are producing at a global level is not what we should be producing according to nutritionists," said Fraser.Turns out that developed countries have subsidized grain and corn production for decades in order to become self-sufficient. Their production may also help theme establish global leadership in their production. They have invested quite a lot of money on research and innovation for these crops than for fruits and vegetables.
Krishna KC, the co-author of the study, said, "Also fat, sugar, and salt are tasty and are what we humans crave, so we have a real hunger for these foods. All of these factors combined have resulted in a world system that is really overproducing these types of foods."
Adopting a nutritious lifestyle may prove to be a healthy move for the planet too, the scientists revealed.
The researchers also found that shifting production to match nutritional dietary guidelines would require 50 million fewer hectares of arable land because fruits and vegetables take less land to grow than grain, sugar and fat.
This would require people to eat less meat. The agricultural food sector also would need to shift focus on producing more plant-based proteins. The real challenge that lies ahead of us, is leaving enough for the generation ahead.
"Feeding the next generation is one of the most pressing challenges facing the 21st century. For a growing population, our calculations suggest that the only way to eat a nutritionally balanced diet, save land and reduce greenhouse gas emission is to consume and produce more fruits and vegetables as well as transition to diets higher in plant-based protein."
(With inputs ANI)