Royal Society Papers Suggest Innovative Solutions to Looming Food Shortages

The U.K. Royal Society has published 21 papers addressing concerns that climate change, water shortages and increased demand will disrupt the global food supply in coming decades. Titled Food Security: Feeding the World in 2050, the compendium challenges citizens, politicians and scientists “to increase food production, but to do so in a way that is sustainable, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and preserving biodiversity.” To meet these objectives, the papers recommend several low-tech solutions, such as better storage facilities to reduce food waste, as well as novel technologies. The latter include (i) artificial meat “grown in a vat,” and (ii) increased use of nanotechnology, which paper author Philip K. Thornton said “is expected to become more important as a vehicle for delivering medication to livestock.” As Chief Scientific Advisor John Beddington urges in the volume’s preface, “The need for action is urgent given the time required for investment in research to deliver new technologies to those who need them, and for political and social change to take place.” See The Guardian, August 16, 2010.