A modified and resourceful future

This arguably terrible freelance writer is one of over seven-anda-half billion human beings on Earth. Fortunately for most of us, hunger or starvation isn’t something that we have to deal with on a daily basis. In fact, the majority of us here in the western hemisphere have so much food that in Canada alone, over half the food we produce is wasted. That’s right, we actually waste about 10 per cent more food than the U.S. does. That’s roughly 400 pounds of uneaten food per person, per year. If that’s not a sobering statistic, I don’t know what is.

Our population increases are staggering. If human population growth were to be expressed as a graph, it would show a line, or a figure steadily rising in proportion to itself. This is very bad news when it comes to projected food availability, habitat loss for animals (due to an increase in demand for farmland and living space) and of course climate change continues to provide its own food production challenges. Those will no doubt make the process of food availability even more difficult for the not-too-distant future generations of this planet.

But there must be some solution right?

One major problem solver we’ve put forward is a science that we’ve already been implementing for decades and arguably even millennia — genetically modifying foods. Roughly 75 to 95 per cent of food in Canada has already been genetically modified in some way and for thousands of years we’ve been modifying genes through selective breeding, effectively winding up with cows, chickens, pigs, corn, wheat, apples, bananas and just about everything else that we eat on an agricultural and livestock level. While often mistaken as harmful due to misinformation, the stigma surrounding genetic modification and the general “spookiness” of the concept, genetically engineering new foods that can reproduce quickly and grow under harsher circumstances could help feed us well into the next few centuries at least if done successfully.

There’s still the problem of that pesky wastage though. With over half of our food going to waste it’s clear that more efficient, moral and humane efforts can, and indeed, must be made to reduce our excessive food wastage. Of course, there are factors getting in the way of that as well. Most food is wasted by the commercial food industry which throws away massive amounts of perfectly safe and edible food in the name of quality control and to avoid devaluing their product. For legal reasons, these companies have policies in place that make donating most of this food nigh on impossible and thus instead of feeding hungry mouths nearby or elsewhere, it all goes straight to feeding our landfills.

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking. “Terry, I’m not a CEO, a politician or a genetic engineer so how is telling me any of this going to change anything?” Well, for starters we can raise awareness of these issues, put forward ideas that eventually have a chance to become legislation that could help amend these needless waste policies or get people in the right areas coming up with more original, creative solutions to our waste problem that satisfies all sides to the maximum degree.

We can also make sure to educate others about the science behind genetically modified foods to help ensure that stigma and misinformation don’t hamper the progress of this amazing life-saving technology. And we can also cut back on our own individual food wasting habits (and save a lot of money at the same time) by eating our groceries and leftovers in a timely manner, making meal plans and becoming adept at creating recipes which can put foods to good use before they truly spoil. With that, I’d like to share a fitting recipe which turns any leftover stale cookies into a great and delicious new treat!