Getting to Food Security with More Variety in Food Sources

[SPONSORED] It is "reckless and dangerous" to global food security that 90% of humanity's food supply is supported by only 23 foodstuffs when it used to be around 7,000.

Miso cutlet at NAMMCO using fin whale meat prepared by two chefs from Taiji town. (©The Institute of Cetacean Research.)

JAPAN Forward

2024-12-29 [Published 5 days ago]

In addition to the problem of the world's food supply being dependent on a few food-exporting countries, the increasing mono-cultivation of the world's food supply is also a threat to food security.

Second of three parts

Part 1: Whales in the Context of Food Security

Mono-culturation takes many forms. In Japan, for example, it has been described as the Westernization of food. In recent years, one can go anywhere in the world and find US-style fast food restaurants. Also, "Western food" is increasingly being served at home. This has raised a variety of issues, including health concerns. However, it is also a major problem from the perspective of food security.

The mono-culturation of the world's food supply means that the food and ingredients that we eat are also becoming more monocultural. Dr Jacques Diouf, then Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, said the following at a meeting of the World Affairs Council of Northern California in 2006.

"Since the beginning of agriculture 12,000 years ago, about 7,000 plant species have been cultivated or collected by humans. Today, only 15 plant species and 8 animal species provide 90% of our food.

"Getting food from such a limited food basket is reckless and dangerous."

What is "reckless and dangerous" about the fact that 90% of humanity's food supply is supported by only 23 foodstuffs? Especially for a country like Japan, whose food self-sufficiency rate is extremely low at 37% (on a calorie basis, FY2020), and which relies on imports from a handful of countries for nearly two-thirds of its national food supply, the horror of this situation is even greater.

We would like to take a look at the nature of the horror.

*Methane from cows' burps is also one cause of global warming (Photo courtesy of NARO).*

Increasing Risk of Food-borne Disease

The global outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is still fresh in our minds. Due in part to ongoing globalization, BSE, which was first identified in the United Kingdom in 1986, quickly spread throughout the world in the 2000s. A ban on beef imports was introduced in Japan, and beef prices soared thereafter. One of the 23 foodstuffs (8 of which are animals) had suddenly and easily become fragile.

Read the rest of this report on Whaling Today for deeper and unique insights into Japanese whaling culture, whale conservation as well as sustainable whaling.

This article is published by JAPAN Forward in cooperation with the Institute of Cetacean Research in Japan. Let us hear your thoughts in our comments section.

Next in part three: Fisheries and Food Security in Japan's Rich Waters

(日本語で読む）

Author: Joji Morishita, PhD
Former Professor, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology