When you buy food in a supermarket, are you reminded of a farm? Not likely. The meat is carved into pieces that no longer resemble an animal and is wrapped in paper or plastic film. Often the vegetables are canned or frozen. The milk and eggs are in cartons. Yet all the foods we eat—whether plant or animal—must first be grown or raised on a farm or ranch, or harvested from the natural environment.

Food, Agriculture, & Geography

Everyone needs food to survive. Consumption of food varies around the world, both in total amount and source of nutrients. The variation results from a combination of:

Level of development. People in developed countries tend to consume more food and from different sources than do people in developing countries.

Physical conditions. Climate is important in influencing what can be most easily grown and therefore consumed in developing countries. In developed countries, though, food is shipped long distances from locations with different climates.

Cultural preferences. Some food preferences and avoidances can best be explained as expressions of culture rather than the result of physical and economic factors, as discussed in Chapter 4.

The food industry in the United States and Canada is vast, but only a few people are full-time farmers, and they may be more familiar with the operation of computers and advanced machinery than the typical factory or office worker.

The mechanized, highly productive American or Canadian farm contrasts with the subsistence farm found in much of the world. The most “typical” human—if there is such a person—is an Asian farmer who grows enough food to survive, with little surplus. This sharp contrast in agricultural practices constitutes one of the most fundamental differences between the more developed and less developed countries of the world.

Total Consumption of Food

The amount of food that an individual consumes is dietary energy consumption. The unit of measurement of dietary energy is the kilocalorie (kcal), or Calorie in the United States. One gram (or ounce) of each food source delivers a kilocalorie level that nutritionists can measure.

To maintain a moderate level of physical activity, according to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, an average individual needs to consume on a daily basis at least 1,844 kcal. Average consumption worldwide is 2,902 kcal per day, well above the recommended minimum. Thus, most people get enough food to survive.

Dietary Energy Consumption, 2013

In developing regions, average daily consumption is 2,800 kcal, still above the recommended minimum. However, the average in sub-Saharan Africa is only 2,400, an indication that a large percentage of Africans are not getting enough to eat. Since 1961, food production has increased substantially in sub-Saharan Africa, but so has population. As a result, food production per capita in sub-Saharan Africa has changed little in a half-century, and the region is struggling to keep food production ahead of population growth (refer to Figure 2-61).

Global Scale: Supply & Demand

Diets can be deficient in both developed and developing countries. The average American is consuming 3,800 kcal per day, the world’s highest level and more than twice the recommended minimum. The consumption of so much food is one reason that obesity is more prevalent than hunger in the United States as well as in other developed countries. Many Americans are also consuming food laden with pesticides.

Obesity

North America is the region with the highest share of obese people.

At the same time, some people are not getting enough to eat. The threat of famine is especially severe in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel. Traditionally, this region supported limited agriculture. With rapid population growth, farmers overplanted, and herd size increased beyond the capacity of the land to support the animals. Animals overgrazed the limited vegetation and clustered at scarce water sources.

Pause & Reflect 9.1.1

Summarize reasons why people in certain regions don’t get enough to eat.