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Date: | Thu, 20 Dec 2001 00:31:14 +0100 |
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Jim Swayze wrote:
> One issue that I've not seen discussed is the idea of whether and to what degree
> the paleo diet would be sustainable if all the people on this planet decided to
> follow it.
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I think that we are stuck with agriculture - but agriculture comes in many forms.
In my country Denmark (which is densely populated) there is about 4000 square meters
of arable land pr person. Can you live "paleolike" off 4000square meters (fertile) land?
Surely not as a hunter-gatherer. As a vegetarian - easily ! ( potatoes yield several kg /m2).
So the real question is how far coulld we push agriculture towards "paleolikeness" ?
I guess that some animals are more "effictive" than others for producing meat.
probably grass-eating animals (sheep, cattle, goats etc) are better than grain-eaters (pigs)
I have read somewhere that pigs are almost impossible to fit into organic agriculture.
The grass-eaters fit nicely, because they can eat the legumes (clover) that are needed
for nitrogen fixation (the "natural" substitute for chemical nitrogen fertilizer).
Then there is fishing - true paleofood, but heavily (over-) exploited today
A major ! part of todays fish catches are used for feeding animals !
Part of the fishcatches in (Europe) are thrown overboard because it pays better
that way (European Union legislation causes this perverse situation)
Surely the fish resourses could be utilized more efficient in term of human nutrition
- this is not a technical problem , but a political one (not to say it is easy :-)
Insects : I read somewhere that termites are a potential big food resource.
Finally there is the question of "all the people on the planet" -
Today "all the people on the planet" are not even sufficiently nourished ("paleo" or any other way)
This in my opinion is also not a "technical" problem - but a political / ethical /religious ....? one
People starve not because of shortage of food , but of money !
(An example of this is that during the Irish "Potato Famine" , food was exported from Ireland !)
Conclusion:
All the people on the planet could (technically) easily be nourished on a vegetarian diet (even organic).
A traditional hunter-gattherer lifestyle could support only a fraction of todays population. Agriculture is needed!
Agriculture could be made organic, and more "paleolike" - the question is: how far could we go ?
Fishery could be optimized for human nourishment - thereby contributing substantially,
Esben
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