The Considered Table

These are excellent points. I'm curious about how population levels may create a situation in which we cannot feed ourselves, even using our entire global food system. (I keep flashing back to the part of The Matrix, when Agent Smith says that humans are like viruses in our ability to multiply beyond the capacity of our environment to support us). I wonder if we will be able to innovate technological solutions to every problem we create? I'm looking forward to reading your next posts.

I think that the solution is less a matter of advances on a world scale, but sustainable production at the community and household level.
*Smaller scale, individual gardening and farming is less reliant on pesticides and other inorganic methods of production, because nutrition, rather than cost is the bottom line.
*Food miles are saved, reducing our energy dependence and consumption.
*Food is grown as seasons and climates dictate, further reducing energy dependence in the form of heating and/or cooling of artificial climates, especially in supermarkets.
*There are financial savings on the individual level, resulting from reduced waste (e.g., pick lettuce as you need, rather than throwing away half an uneaten head) and no resale markup.
In short, until we can think more locally, food production will always linger at just shy of a crisis point.