Is there a "circular" solution to global food problems?

ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Exposure to pesticides, antibiotic resistance, air pollution and water and other factors related to industrial food production could kill 5 million people a year by 2050, according to a new report.

This is four times the number of deaths caused by road accidents worldwide.

To avoid this, it is necessary to produce food locally, use environmentally friendly methods, eliminate waste, design and market healthier products, said a foundation created by British sailor Ellen MacArthur.

Transforming the food industry into a so-called "circular economy" model would reduce health costs, save land and water, and create new business opportunities, the report released Thursday said. World Economic Forum.

Cities could be important catalysts in this change, since 80% of all food should be consumed in cities by 2050, the statement said.

In the current linear system, food enters the cities where it is processed or consumed and only a small fraction of the resulting organic waste, in the form of discarded products, by-products or wastewater, is reused.

In a circular economy, raw materials and by-products are reused and very little wasted.

Cities would need to stock up on locally produced foods in ways that regenerate the ecosystem, distribute the surplus to those who can not afford it, and transform the by-products into new ones. products, ranging from fertilizers to materials for bioenergy.

The benefits "could bring in $ 2.7 billion a year to the global economy," according to the report.

In contrast, the "extractive, wasteful, and polluting nature" of current food production costs the society $ 5,700 billion a year worldwide, resulting in costs to human health and the environment, indicated The report.

"What you eat is important, but the way it was produced is also important. You could very well eat healthy, while remaining exposed to the negative impacts of how food is produced, "said Clementine Schouteden, the lead author of the report.

"We are at an absolutely critical point," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in Davos.

Scientists are calling for more and more systematic changes in the way food is produced and consumed, claiming that industrial agriculture has led to a food system that contributes to climate change, cripples the environment and causes a malnutrition crisis.

Agriculture, forestry and other land uses are responsible for a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions that warm the planet, according to the United Nations. 39, Food and Agriculture (FAO).

FAO figures show that one-third of all food produced, worth nearly $ 1 trillion, is wasted annually in the world, even though 821 million people are hungry and hungry. One in eight adults is obese.

Last week, scientists unveiled for the first time their ideal diet for the health of the planet and its people, recommending to double the consumption of nuts, fruits, vegetables and legumes and halve consumption of meat and sugar.