The team then collected scale insect egg sacs from both hot and cool zones and incubated them in hot and cool greenhouses.
In the hot greenhouse the egg sacs from the warmest urban zones produced almost four times as many insects as the egg sacs from cooler urban zones.
author of Diet Simple: 195 Mental Tricks Substitutions Habits & Inspirations (Lifeline Press 2011; and a frequent national commentator on nutrition topics.
This article was adapted from one that first appeared in the Washington post. Tallmadge contributed this article to Livescience's Expert Voices:
I work with began prescribing the nutrient to depressed patients finding it made positive improvements.
Could it be possible that one nutrient could provide so many benefits? The connection between omega-3s and health was observed first in the 1970s.
and at the top of the list is reducing the risk of sudden death from heart attack said Penny Kris Etherton distinguished professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State university.
These fatty acids are essential nutrients and enter every cell membrane in the human body serving as a cell lubricant improving flexibility
Researchers have shown that omega-3 fatty acids a type of polyunsaturated fat found primarily in seafood can improve your chances of living longer
In fact omega-3s are so important to human health the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board recently set a minimum daily requirement for the first time.
For years we thought there was only one essential fatty acid omega-6 fatty acid (found in vegetable
and soybean oils) but now scientists have added omega-3 to the list of essential nutrients humans must get from their diets.
But as we've discovered in nutrition balance is everything. The two essential fatty acids omega-6 and omega-3 must be in harmony with each other for proper functioning.
If you eat too much omega-6 as is the case with today's American diet this promotes inflammation blood clotting
and constricts blood vessels said Artemis Simopoulos president of the Center for Genetics Nutrition and Health and the author of The Omega Diet (Harper collins 1999).
when compared to Europeans who eat more calcium-containing foods said Bruce Watkins nutrition professor at Purdue University.
and the cancer was less likely to spread when patients were given omega-3 fatty acids. And there is epidemiological evidence that men who eat more fish have a lower risk for prostate cancer.
The U s. Food and Drug Administration recently approved omega-3s for infant formulas because of the overwhelming evidence that it improves cognition and visual functioning in children.
More research needs to be done to understand who will benefit most from higher levels of omega-3s in their diets.
What isn't debated is that adult women need atleast1. 1 grams of omega-3s daily and adult men need 1. 6 grams according to the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board.
But today omega-3s have largely been replaced with omega-6s in vegetable oils especially soybean oil which is used in large doses in processed foods and fast foods.
And no longer do our animals graze on high-omega-3 grasses but on grains instead. This changes the fatty acid composition of the meat to our detriment.
Most research studies have found a positive benefit with 500 to 1000 milligrams of omega-3s per day.
For patients with coronary artery disease AHA recommends 1000 mg daily or double the seafood requirement (but never above 3000 mg without a doctor's supervision.
But omega-3 researchers believe the risk of not getting enough omega-3 in your diet outweighs the potential risk of pollutants.
It may be safer to stick with food sources and not supplements so you don't go overboard
However the nutrient found in flaxseed oil walnuts and canola oil is not as potent as marine-derived omega-3 from fish.
But it's still a great idea to include those sources in your diet. Tallmadge's most recent Op-Ed was GMOS Are a Grand Experiment on Health Environment
Her latest book is Diet Simple Farm to Table Recipes: 50 New Reasons to Cook In Season.
 The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
In the course of studying digestion in dogs Pavlov observed that dogs would salivate before he placed food in their mouths.
To test the theory that dogs were associating the sound of the door opening with getting food he introduced the sound of a metronome just before feeding the dogs.
Before long the sound of the metronome without food present caused the dogs to salivate. Salivation is a reflex
Pavlov's theories explain why your dog might drool on your clean kitchen floor as soon as his food dish is rattled
or when he sees the food container being carried to his feeding area. What does this have to do with my dog?
but the inside is sort of like Swiss cheese Leavitt told Livescience. That can make climate analysis
Last year in Chinese-ruled Macau customs officials discovered chocolate-coated ivory hidden in suspiciously heavy candy boxes.
The vitamin is also found in foods like fatty fish and fortified cereals milk and orange juice.
But since many people do not get enough Vitamin d through their diet alone the dark winter months can leave people deficient in the vitamin.
But now food scientists are giving mushrooms a Vitamin d boost with ultraviolet light. oethe exciting thing
and setting off a chemical process that converts a compound  similar to cholesterol inside the mushrooms into Vitamin d. oeit s already happening in a number of facilities where they re actually doing this on conveyor belts said Robert Beelman a food scientist at Penn State.
Ultraviolet Flashes Can Create Vitamin d-enriched mushrooms Penn State Food Science Robert Beelman Penn Stat n
because forest dwellers eat a more diverse diet than people in other environments do. Â In the North american West damage from fire logging and infection by the devastating mountain pine beetle is evident.
B vitamins are important nutrients for the body. They can be found in a variety of foods including whole grains potatoes bananas beans and lentils.
The American Cancer Society notes that while supplements containing B vitamins are thought generally to be safe they should not be taken in large doses. High doses of vitamin B3 (niacin can cause health problems including blurred vision nausea vomiting and high blood sugar.
Eat a Plant-Based Diet To stave off death by a few extra years a vegetarian diet appears to be superior to a non-vegetarian one according to results of a study of more than 73000 people published today (June 3) in the Journal of the American Medical
The study the largest of its kind compared the longevity of meat eaters to that of four types of vegetarians:
vegans who eat no animal products; lacto-ovo egetarians who consume dairy products and eggs; pesco-vegetarians who eat fish but rarely meat;
and semi-vegetarians who eat meat no more than once weekly. The winners in terms of cheating death the longest were the pesco-vegetarians followed by vegans and then the lacto-ovo-vegetarians.
The vegetarian groups on average had a 12 percent lower risk of dying over the study period compared to meat eaters.
The study participants were all members of the Seventh-Day Adventist church. Previous studies have shown that vegetarian diets are associated with decreased risk of numerous chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes obesity metabolic syndrome circulatory disease and hypertension.
And it's been known long that Seventh-Day Adventists with their healthy lifestyle that shuns tobacco
and espouses exercise and a plant-based diet live longer that the general population Seventh-Day Adventists in California live on average four to seven years longer than other Californians an earlier study revealed.
Extending Life: 7 Ways to Live Past 100 Researchers have had difficulty however in discerning between associations and cause-and-effect links.
Is it the absence of meat or the presence of a health-conscious attitude shared by many vegetarians or both that leads to healthier outcomes?
A healthy lifestyle This newest study is unique in that it only looked at Seventh-Day Adventists a group relatively similar in their lifestyle.
The Adventist Church recommends but does not mandate a plant-based diet. The researchers led by Dr. Michael J. Orlich of Loma Linda University in California (a Seventh-Day Adventist institution) analyzed the diets of 73308 Seventh-Day Adventists.
Among the participants 2570 died within about six years of the initial data collection. Those most likely to have died were the meat eaters.
The pesco-vegetarians were 19 percent less likely to die over the study period than the meat eaters
and vegans were 15 percent less likely. Men benefited more than women from the vegetarian diet.
We can be pretty confident that the vegetarian groups fared better than the non-vegetarians
but we cannot meaningfully compare the vegetarian groups to each other Orlich told Livescience. The numbers are far too close to speculate.
We hope to be able to do that in a few years when we have more statistical power with more deaths to analyze.
The strengths of the study were demonstrated that it that vegan and other vegetarian diets are safe
and that a range of vegetarian diets from strict to somewhat lax appears to be healthier than a diet dominated by processed foods
and meats according to Dr. Robert Baron of the University of California San francisco who wrote an editorial accompanying the new findings in the journal.
The American diet Referring to a generally unhealthy American diet Baron wrote that limiting sugars
and sugary drinks refined grains and large amounts of saturated and trans fats and eating more fruits vegetables whole grains legumes and nuts trumps the more narrow goals of whether to include moderate
amounts of dairy eggs fish or even meat. I do not think that we all necessarily need to be vegans
or other types of vegetarians to be told healthy Baron Livescience. But I do think that the world would ultimately be a better place without certain industrially produced foods including beef.
A second study published today by researchers at Johns hopkins university in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that a combination of regular exercise a Mediterranean diet smoking avoidance
and weight maintenance was associated with a lower risk of coronary artery disease. The Mediterranean diet emphasizes fruits vegetables nuts fish and healthy fats.
Those who adopted all four healthy behaviors had an 80 percent lower death rate over 7. 6 years compared to participants with none of the healthy behaviors lead author Haitham Ahmed of Johns Hopkins Hospital said in a statement.
The JAMA study on Seventh-Day Adventists does conflict with a large analysis published in 2009 based on the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Oxford) study
which found identical death rates between vegetarians and non-vegetarians. The researchers at Loma Linda University acknowledged this in their paper
but noted that the Seventh-Day Adventists in their study ate differently than the Europeans in the 2009 study.
For example the Adventist vegans consumed nearly twice as much dietary fiber and Vitamin c as the European vegans.
Orlich added that even our non-vegetarians are relatively low meat consumers and relatively health conscious.
If we were comparing our vegetarian groups to the average American diet we might find more striking results.
The instruments measured ocean temperatures salinity (or salt content) and the movement of warm-water currents that carve channels through the ice shelf and flow underneath it.
Global Warming Brings Earlier Spring Flowers Additionally aâ study in the journalâ Ecology in September of last yearâ found that Broad-tailed hummingbirds which migrate northward from Central Americain the spring are becoming decoupled from their nectar resources
when their nectar resources are present but by the time they reach the central Rocky mountains even though they've sped up their migration by more than five days over the last 37 years their nectar resources are advancing three times faster by 17 days over the same time period.
 Spring and summer allergy seasons growing longer more intense Lewis Ziska a research plant physiologist at the United states Department of agriculture has been a pioneer in research linking higher temperatures
and some of it fit to drink. That s the picture of ancient Mars that has emerged during the past few months thanks to discoveries by NASA's Curiosity rover
Curiosity's smaller older cousins NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers found plenty of evidence of ancient Martian water after touching down in 2004
and is a key source of drinking water for the region. If current irrigation trends continue unabated 69 percent of the available groundwater will be drained in the next five decades the researchers said in a study published online today (Aug 26) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
it's critically important for food security especially in the face of more droughts Andrews said.
#Whales Trap Dinner with Mouthful of Swirling Bristles Humpback and bowhead whales create their own food nets from specialized bristles in their mouths to more efficiently nab fishy morsels a new study of baleen whales suggests.
Both rely on baleen a system of hairy bristles that line their mouths and trap food.
and fingernails which forms large plates that enclose a fibrous inner core. Whales typically have about 300 plate structures on either side of their mouths perpendicular to the direction that water flows.
The whales'tongues wear away the inner edges of the plates to create a fringe that traps krill and other tasty morsels.
 Baleen biomechanics Werth wanted to compare the biomechanics of the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) with that of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae.
and small latex beads (stand-ins for the food morsels they filter from water) through them observing this with an underwater camera.
The single baleen plates trapped the most beads at the lowest water speeds the results showed.
But baleen isn't found in single plates in a whale's mouth it's found in rows
so Werth tested a small rack of six baleen plates. Now the bristles formed a tangled net in the flowing water with most beads being trapped at about 28 to 31 inches/s (70 to 80 cm/s) exactly the speed bowhead whales swim
The fringes from adjacent plates would tangle up and make a really dense knot. Humpback whale baleen was shorter and coarser than bowhead baleen
Bowheads feed by continuous ram feeding at slower speeds whereas humpbacks feed in intermittent gulps at higher speeds.
#What and When to Eat to Build Muscle (Op-Ed) Katherine Tallmadge M. A r. D. is registered a dietitian author of Diet Simple:
195 Mental Tricks Substitutions Habits & Inspirations (Lifeline Press 2011) and a frequent national commentator on nutrition topics.
One of my 50-something clients recently lost 20 pounds through a combination of a few nutrition eating and behavior modification tricks
and strength and new surprising studies show an ancient beverage and an ancient exercise can make a huge difference too.
Your workout While nutrition is important the quality of your strength-training workout is a key factor for building muscle mass.
though you can minimize muscle loss by eating right (so read on!).This makes it even harder to keep the weight off
Building muscle as you age eating the right kinds of foods to make that happen
 Now for the nutrition...Protein Protein is essential for healthy living. It is one of the most important nutrients for the human body second only to water.
Bone health muscle function muscle strength muscle mass and immune function all are impaired with a low intake of protein.
New research has found that eating the right amount of protein nd at the right times is essential not only for your general health
Eating enough protein while losing weight is more likely to minimize muscle loss and maximize fat loss.
Low carb diets are often as high as 80 percent protein and can damage your health in many ways.)
Protein can be found in a wide range of foods. Animal protein is in seafood dairy products meat poultry and eggs.
Vegetarian protein can be found in legumes soy vegetables and grains. And while it's true that high-protein foods often bring fat
and calories along as uninvited guests it doesn't have to be that way. The lowest-calorie animal protein sources are the leanest.
Go for seafood poultry with no skin lean veal cuts pork tenderloin lean beef cuts (such as the round or tenderloin) or 95-percent-lean hams (less than 3 grams of fat per ounce.
Skim milk nonfat yogurt and low-fat cheeses are also great options. Soy products provide great low-calorie options too
and are high-quality proteins that are lean substitutes for meat. To add some protein to your diet toss four ounces (120 grams) of lean beef chicken
or seafood or 12 ounces (36 grams) of spiced tofu into your salad. This will add 30 grams of high-quality protein and no more than 150 to 200 calories.
Here are the numbers for some other great sources of protein: 8 ounces milk or yogurt:
8 16 grams protein depending on the type 1/2 cup cooked beans or tofu: 8 grams protein 1 ounce meat/fish/chicken/cheese (the leaner the meat the more protein and the fewer calories:
7 grams protein 1 large egg: 7 grams protein 1/2 cup cooked or one ounce dry (1 slice bread) grain:
3 grams protein 1/2 cup cooked or one cup raw vegetables: 2 grams protein Timing is everything!
Eat a food or beverage high in protein about 20 minutes before and again immediately after your strength-training workout.
And do the same after a vigorous cardiovascular workout such as tennis or kayaking or even just a long walk.
When you work out you break down your muscles. Taking in a high protein food with a little bit of carbohydrate and nutrients when your muscles are being broken down by exercise will build your muscle mass and your strength more effectively.
And don't forget to drink water because you also need to make sure you hydrate yourself properly!
My personal regimen includes drinking some skim milk before my workout (all you need is about 1/2 a cup or about 4 grams of protein) and eating yogurt immediately after my workout or yoga session in the gym!
If I forget the yogurt I'll run to the nearest coffee shop after I exercise and buy a skim latte which contains milk
or soy milk for my protein. But I like yogurt the best: In addition to high-quality protein it contains important probiotics
which keep your gastrointestinal tract healthy. It also offers high-quality carbohydrates calcium potassium and magnesium important nutrients that you need to replenish your muscles.
Current thinking among protein researchers is that this nutrient is more bioavailable for your muscles
if eaten in relatively small quantities throughout the day. For women 20 grams per meal is the ideal amount the body can utilize efficiently.
For men that can go up to 30 grams per meal. So with my personal protein-goal of 60 grams per day I make sure to have about 20 grams in the morning 20 grams midday and about 20 grams in the evening.
If you're a man who needs 100 grams per day you could spread out your protein intake for the day to four meals of about 25 grams each separated by at least two hours in between.
So an 8-ounce steak at night containing 56 grams of protein just won't cut it!
Surprise Tea! A new study has found that tea improves muscular strength. Tea? Apparently as people age oxidative stress and inflammation cause age-related breakdowns of muscle and bone.
Tea's healthy compounds called polyphenols reduce oxidative stress and inflammation preventing this breakdown and even improving muscular strength and bone mass.
A recent study funded by the National institutes of health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative medicine looked into tea's effects on muscle.
In the study postmenopausal women with osteopenia (the beginning of osteoporosis or brittle bones) were given tea
or performed Tai Chi exercises. After six months the tea alone caused an improvement in muscle strength and bone-building biomarkers.
You can learn more about the health benefits of tea here. Tai Chi alone certainly not the rigorous or impactful exercise that researchers understand is necessary for muscle
and bone building also helped. Apparently Tai Chi reduces inflammation and oxidative stress too. With the amazing results of that study in mind it makes sense that any foods high in antioxidants
and anti-inflammatory compounds such as fruits and vegetables may help improve bone and muscle strength. And if Tai Chi helps improve bone
and muscle mass shouldn't other forms of meditation or meditative exercise such as yoga do the same?
In the meantime I'm drinking tea every day doing vigorous yoga at least 2 to 3 times a week working with a trainer once a week walking a lot to keep body fat down (at least 10000 pedometer steps is my daily average) eating plenty of yogurt
and cooking batch recipes from my books. All of this helps keep my muscles and bones strong and my body in shape.
Her latest book is Diet Simple Farm to Table Recipes: 50 New Reasons to Cook In Season.
You can follow Tallmadge on Facebook Twitter@KETALLMADGE and on Youtube. The views expressed are those of the author
and later spread across the Atlantic ocean to the United states emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases soared as manufacturing
While the population of the United states is expected not to leap significantly in the next century diminishing natural resources are already adding stress to the country's food and water supplies and the availability of future energy resources.
If the global population increases by 3 billion people food production will need also to rise to meet these growing demands.
If we look at the next 50 years we'd need to grow more food than we have in the whole of human history to date to feed those 9 billion people Griggs said.
But since we have no more agricultural land we'll have to produce all this food on the same land we're producing food on at the moment.
In particular southern Asia western Asia and northern Africa have virtually no spare land available to expand agricultural practices according to the 2013 Statistical Yearbook of the Food
and ensuring that populations have access to clean drinking water will be another significant challenge he said
and they have been killed by hunters to be eaten as bush meat according to various news reports. Â The plight of Madagascar's lemurs is just one example of how a rising population of humans is contributing to the sixth-largest mass extinction in the history of the planet most biologists say.
which is used in food products and to make biofuels like biodiesel a fuel with growing demand as a source of cleaner energy.
or food grown on former grasslands represents a second major threat to animals. It's not just sheer population growth that matters
Fishermen kill as many as 100 million sharks per year worldwide spurred in part by demand for shark fin soup a traditional Chinese delicacy.
However China's taste for the dish may be fading: According to the American environmental group Wildaid consumption of the soup is down 50 to 70 percent in the last two years.
Just a few years ago most Chinese didn't know that the dish came from sharks as its name translates to fish wing soup according to the Washington post.
But a series of public relations campaigns appear to have helped spread the word. In 2006 for example Wildaid enlisted the help of professional basketball player Yao Ming to educate people on the shark finning process.
A government campaign against lavish banquets where the soup was served often has made also a difference the Post reported.
Areas the institute protects include watersheds that provide drinking water for SãO Paulo. Unlike some other organizations they haven't overextended themselves Jenkins said.
Food is grown in the countryside and transported into cities while waste products are taken mostly out of the city and processed elsewhere.
Cities need to find ways to grow their own food which would reduce the need for the clearing of biodiversity-rich forests far afield from bustling metropolises Weissburg said.
Examples of this would include more urban farming producing food in the same area that is consumed
I hope that increased public knowledge of declining nature will raise society's priority to conserve biodiversity.
#What 11 Billion People Mean for Food security Editor's note: Â By the end of this century Earth may be home to 11 billion people the United nations has estimated earlier than previously expected.
Beetles scorpions and other insects may not be found on most restaurant menus at least in the Western world
but they may need to find a place in human diets if society is feed to the world's booming population.
which the group outlined the potential of edible insects to help alleviate food insecurity in the present and future.
To meet the food and nutrition challenges of today there are nearly 1 billion chronically hungry people worldwide and tomorrow
what we eat and how we produce it needs to be reevaluated the report reads. We need to find new ways of growing food.
Although eating insects may sound like a strange prospect to some people such broad-minded thinking may be necessary at a time
when human population growth shows no signs of slowing down. The world's population is projected to hit 11 billion by 2100
What 11 Billion People Mean for the Planet However the world's future food security is not a simple matter of producing more food.
Rather food security relies upon a number of intertwining factors including population size climate change food production food utilization (for things like animal feed
 Experts agree the planet can definitely produce enough food for 11 billion people but whether humans can do it sustainably
and whether consumers will ultimately be able to afford that food are not guarantees. Feeding the growing population will likely require a number of different strategies from creating new crop varieties and reducing food waste to yes eating insects with efforts from governments farmers the private sector and consumers themselves.
The world's facing a great balancing act said Craig Hanson director of the People & Ecosystems Program at WRI.
On the one hand the world needs to feed more people Hanson said. At the same time you want agriculture to continue to advance economic and social development.
Challenges To feed just 9 billion people (the estimated population in 2050) would require a 60 percent increase in the number of food calories available for human consumption according to WRI based in Washington D c
. When taking into account food needed to feed livestock the world needs to increase crop production by 103 percent or 6000 trillion calories per year according to WRI
which released a series of reports this year about the world's food security future. One obstacle to increasing food production will be climate change
which is predicted to reduce crop yields in certain parts of the world. A 2009 study published in the journal Science found that in 2100 regions in the tropics
Extreme weather events such as heavy rains and flooding as well as drastic changes in weather in a short period will also pose challenges for crop production said Walter Falcon deputy director of the Center on Food security and the Environment
Changes to the food supply which can occur when crop production is reduced by extreme weather events
or when countries designate a portion of food crops to be turned into fuel like the United states does with 40 percent of its non-exported corn crop can push up food prices
and affect people's ability to afford food. Using corn to produce ethanol has caused corn prices to increase Falcon said.
Because corn is used also for animal feed an increase in corn prices can affect the cost of other foods.
but over the course of the century that could change Falcon said. Improving trade cooperation To continue to feed a growing population in light of the food shortages that are likely to occur with climate change global crop production in the future will have to be much more coordinated than it is said today Jason Clay an expert in natural resources management at the World
Wildlife Fund (WWF. We're going to have to work to make sure that we have a global food system that takes care of everybody Clay said.
Because extreme weather events may cause crop yields to be destroyed in certain parts of the world in a given year such a system should be able to shift food from areas that have plenty to those that have said less Clay.
Can the World Feed 11 Billion People?(Infographic) Falcon agreed. Currently certain restrictions on trade exist that may prove problematic in the future such as
when countries ban exports if their crop production is down. The idea that each country should be self-sufficient in food production is not the answer Falcon said.
In a world of lots of climate variation there is a lot of work to be done in getting trade flows straightened out Falcon said.
Reduce food waste Another strategy to help ensure food security in a world with so many hungry mouths to feed is to simply reduce food waste.
Food loss refers to food that spoils spills etc. before it reaches the consumer while food waste refers to food that is discarded by the consumer
either when it is still edible or after it spoils due to negligence according to WRI.)The average American household loses $1600 a year on wasted food Hanson said.
Some 56 percent of global food loss and waste occurs in the developed world particularly in North america
and Oceania where about 1500 calories are lost or wasted per person per day WRI reported.
In developed countries the majority of food is wasted at the consumption stage whereas in developing countries most food loss occurs during production handling and storage.
A number of changes could reduce food loss and waste around the world. For example better storage facilities on farms in Africa and even putting harvested crops in plastic storage bags would reduce the amount of food that falls victim to pests there Hanson said.
And using simple plastic crates instead of bags and sacks to transport food to market can reduce food damage such as bruising
and smashing that would otherwise cause goods to be inedible. Introducing plastic crates to farmers in a town in Afghanistan a $60000 project sponsored by the nonprofit international development organization CNFA reduced tomato losses from 50 percent to 5 percent according to WRI.
At home Americans can reduce the amount of food they throw away perhaps by eating leftovers or not preparing more food than they'll need for a given meal Hanson said.
Americans also commonly have misperceptions about the meaning of labels with dates on foods and may throw away food before it has gone really bad according to a WRI report.
These labels which typically read sell-by best if used by or use-by refer to the quality
or flavor of the food but not to food safety (whether the food would cause someone to be sick).
So while food that has passed its'sell-by'date might be less desirable than newly purchased food it is often still entirely safe to eat WRI reported.
Governments may be able to help by creating guidelines on what types of labels should appear on packages
and then explaining to consumers what the labels mean according to WRI. Eat differently  Even with less wasted food the world could not support 11 billion people who eat the way Americans do said today Jamais Cascio a distinguished fellow at the Institute for the Future a think tank in Palo alto Calif. Feeding
11 billion people would require a different diet which may involve eating less meat or consumers growing more of their own food Cascio said Beef in particular is a very unsustainable food to eat Cascio said.
If we get away from thinking that feeding 11 billion people means giving them all Big macs
and steak sandwiches then we're at a better starting point Cascio said. According to an analysis by Cascio the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the production of cheeseburgers in the United states each year is about equal to the greenhouse gas emissions from 6. 5 million to 19.6 million SUVS over a year (There are about 16 million
SUVS on U s. roads Cascio said. 6 Ways to Feed 11 Billion People Scientists have been working on developing cultured meat
or meat grown in a lab Cascio said. Earlier this year researchers in The netherlands showcased their lab-grown burger
and allowed a taste test. However right now the cost is exorbitant (a single burger costs $325000)
and it does not taste exactly like meat (tastetesters said the burger was dry). But with future research the price is likely to come down
and the product's taste could improve Cascio said. And don't forget the insects. Beetles wasps grasshoppers and other insects are very efficient at converting the food they eat into body mass take up very little space
and emit fewer greenhouse gases than livestock according to the U n.'s FAO report. Although eating insects comes with an ick factor for many Westerners bugs are a part of the diet of about 2 billion people worldwide according to the report.
Grow differently Farmers could also focus on growing crops that provide the most calories while using the fewest resources said Clay of the WWF.
Bananas and plantains are examples of crops that provide a lot of calories compared with the resources it takes to grow them Clay said.
For instance 1 kilogram of bananas (2. 2 lbs. contains about 1000 calories and uses about 500 to 790 liters of water to grow.
On the other hand producing 1000 calories of beef takes about 5133 liters of water. One kilogram of beef contains about 3000 calories
and requires about 15400 liters of water to produce.)In addition crop production in certain parts of the world is not very efficient Clay said.
Efforts should be made to improve crop production in those areas using the foods that are grown already
either through genetic engineering or traditional crop-breeding techniques may also help protect against crop losses in the future due to extreme weather conditions said Tim Thomas an economist at the Washington D c.-based International Food Policy
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