News

We've reached peak food

We are now living in an era of "peak food".

Research published in a scientific journal claims that that production of a number of staple foodstuffs is slowing in growth.

Chicken production peaked in 2006, while milk and wheat peaked two years before that.

Researchers from Yale University, Michigan State University and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany claim what makes their study alarming is how many staple foods have peaked in a short space of time, and as global population levels are expected to reach nine billion by 2050.

People often talk of substitution. If we run out of one substance we just substitute another. But if multiple resources are running out, we've got a problem.

  • Jianguo "Jack" Liu, Michigan State University

Source: Ecology and Society

More: [This map offers a fascinating perspective on the world]1

More: [A brief history of how the rich and poor eat]2

The Conversation (0)
x