-----Messaggio originale-----
Da: magius [
mailto:gmagius@gmail.com]
Inviato: giovedì 1 giugno 2006 21.51
A: RETE GAS
Oggetto: [gas] PEAK FOOD
Dalla lista HYPERLINK "
mailto:petrolio@yahoogroups.com"
\npetrolio@???
Siamo vicini al picco del cibo? Sembrerebbe proprio di si, dato che
quelli che ne sanno qualcosa, ovvero gli agricoltori, stanno cominciando
a preoccuparsene - vedi la lettera inclusa.
Semmai ce ne fosse bisogno, il fatto che siamo di fronte ANCHE
all'emergenza alimentare ci conferma la correttezza dell'approccio
"globale" che già negli anni '70 alcuni, come il Club di Roma, avevano
cercato di proporre. Secondo i calcoli, non è un problema di solo
petrolio. E' tutto il sistema che sta collassando, una nave che fa acqua
da tutte le parti, come si suol dire.
Per inciso, questo dimostra ancora una volta come serissime e
preparatissime Istituzioni, accecate però dalla fede nelle risorse
infinite e nella lunga mano del mercato, e da un positivismo
incrollabile, possano compiere errori tragici come imporre le quote
massime di produzione agricola e la chiusura di intere filiere perchè
momentaneamente anti-economiche (es. zuccherifici). Insieme
all'autoproduzione dell'energia, l'autoproduzione agricola rimane il
bene più prezioso da conservare o recuperare, ma certo pare che la
catena dei problemi si stia facendo un po' troppo lunga e complessa.
In ogni caso, ricordiamo che il nostro mantra è CRESCERE, CRESCERE,
CRESCERE... COME SU UNA IMMAGINARIA LINEA DELL'ABISSO!
(liberamente tratto dalle Considerazioni Finali del Gov. Banca d'Italia
Mario Draghi).
____________________________________________________________________
May 9, 2006
An open letter to the United Nations
HYPERLINK "
http://www.nfu.ca/" \n
http://www.nfu.ca/
Re: Rapidly declining global food supplies
Dear Mr. Annan and Dr. Diouf:
It appears that the world is swiftly drawing down its food supplies.
I write to inquire if the UN or its FAO have reached a similar
conclusion.
Every six years, the world adds the equivalent of a North American
population. The world's cropland area, however, is nearly static.
The UN's FAOSTAT database shows only a 1% total increase in the area
of arable and permanent crops over the past ten years. Further,
that data shows that that area has been declining since 2001. With
population increasing and the cropland area static or declining, per
capita cropland area is fast declining.
The graph that is attached to this letter is compiled from United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data covering the most
recent 45 years. It depicts a chilling situation: In five of the
last six years, our global population ate significantly more grains
than farmers produced. In those six years, we have drawn down global
supplies from a 116-day supply in 1999/2000 to a 69-day supply
today. It is almost certain that the current decline in global food
supplies is steeper than at any time since the Second World
War, perhaps steeper than at any time in the past 100 years.
World food supplies have fallen to levels not seen since the 1970s.
In the 1970s, however, our oceans were teeming with fish. In the
1970s, crop production in North America and elsewhere was much less
intensive, with less fertilizer used and some of the land left
fallow. Today, we are using unprecedented amounts of fertilizers and
chemicals, farming nearly every acre every year, irrigating a record
area, and generally maximizing production. We are pushing our land
to produce, and even so, our production is not keeping pace.
Most critically, today the world food production system is facing
multiple threats from climate change, water shortages, and unstable
fossil fuel supplies (nitrogen fertilizerkey to our global food
systemis synthesized from natural gas).
Mr. Annan and Dr. Diouf, it appears to us that global population is
rising rapidly, our cropland base is static or shrinking, production
is struggling (and failing) to meet consumption, and that there is
growing uncertainty over water and energy supplies and the stability
of our climate. Taken together, these factors indicate we may be
risking a calamitous shortfall in the world's grain supplies; global
food security is rapidly eroding.
I request that you immediately make public the UN and FAO's
assessments of current agricultural production and its ability to
keep pace with a growing population. If your assessment is in accord
with ours, I ask you to convene, with all possible haste and
urgency, a summit of the world's leaders to address the massive
challenges to the ability of humanity to continue feeding its
growing numbers.
I thank you for your attention to our concerns, and I urge you to
act rapidly.
Sincerely,
Stewart Wells
President
National Farmers Union
Canada
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