Living Within Constraints
Constraints on the Expansion of the Global Food Supply
In the early ages people were hunters, or predators; they had to survive by killing other species. Although predators are supposed to be the strongest in the food chain, people were vulnerable because they had to depend on the same species below them. Our senses were not developed as well either; hearing, smelling, eye sight were and still are not as good as of those below us. We can’t kill with our teeth or nails, like some alligators could. So after 4 ice ages, only 25,000 people were left. That’s when they realized that they had to change their loosing strategies and that’s when they came up with Subsistence Agriculture. People domesticated animals, plants, and according to the number of the population today, we are doing real well.
The world population grew slowly over much of the historic past; it was not until after 1900 that growth accelerated. The 1992 population was 5.5 billion. Now the world population is increasing at about 1.7% yr, corresponding to a doubling time of 40 years.
In the early 1960s, most nations were self-sufficient in food; now only a few are. Except for parts of Africa, production exceeded population growth throughout the world. Per capita production has now slowed and appears to be declining.
In line with recent studies, we estimate that with the world population at 5.5 billion, food production is adequate to feed 7 billion people a vegetarian diet, with ideal distribution and no grain fed to livestock. Yet possibly as many as two billion people are now living in poverty, and over 1 billion in ‘utter poverty’ live with hunger. Inadequate distribution of food is a substantial contributing factor to this current situation.
Less than one half of the world’s land area is suitable for agriculture, including grazing. Nearly all of the world’s productive land, flat and with water, is already exploited. Most of the unexploited land is either too steep, too wet, too dry, or too cold for agriculture.
Water Shortages:
Pressures from growing population have strained water resources in many areas of the world. Worldwide, 214 river or lake basins, containing 40% of the world’s population, now compete for water. If we improve conservation of water, it would enhance rainfed and irrigated crop yields.
A major difficulty arises simply from the rate with which food supplies would have to be expanded to pace or to exceed population growth rates in those countries experiencing high growth rates.
The optimal scenario of the AHA would be to have a differentiated workforce that would consist of identifying "A" players and "A" positions throughout the organization where wealth or value is created to contribute to the bottom line of generating the billion-dollar goal by 2010 and placing those players in all positions throughout the organization. However, the reality is that the best action for the AHA due to budgetary and time constraints is to make strategic investments in the workforce that will have high impact and drive desired results by putting the right people in the right places and not the right people everywhere. The AHA did this by creating a new talent framework driven by eight operational goals to help build the foundation for how they will identify their "A" players and positions for strategic investment. The objecti...
The first days and weeks after conception are critical for fetus body formation. The most extensive transformation of life occurs before birth. The fetal period goes through major changes. During the third month male or female sexual organs begin to develop and is visible through ultrasound. During months 4-6, the baby’s heartbeat becomes stronger. The digestive and excretory systems begin to develop. Body parts such as the fingernails, toenails, and buds of teeth begin to form and hair grows. Brain development occurs in every prenatal month, but the first three months are crucial. The central nervous system becomes responsive during middle of the women 's pregnancy, and begins to regulate body functions such as breathing and sucking.
In the mid 1980s, and into the 1990s, business leaders realized that a renewed focus on quality was required to continue to compete in an expanding global market. (NIST, 2010) Consequently, several strategic frameworks were developed for managing, and measuring organizational performance. Among them were the Malcomb Baldrige National Quality Award, which was created by and act of congress and signed into law by the President in 1987, and The Balanced Scorecard, which is a performance management tool that was born out of research conducted in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Robert S. Kaplan, and David P. Norton published in 1996 (Kaplan, 1996). Initially the renewed emphasis on quality management systems was a reaction to the LEAN approach
Traditional agriculture requires massive forest and grassland removal to obtain land necessary to farm on. Deforestation and overgrazing has caused erosion flooding, and enabled the expansion of deserts. But with drainage systems, leveling, and irrigation provided by the Green Rev, all this terra deforming will unlikely happen again. We can retain clean air and lessen the global warming effect caused by deforestation.Many people argue that a revamp in agriculture will be way too expensive and unrealistic especially for those poor farmers in third world countries. However many times, they exaggerate the price.
The Balanced Scorecard is a management tool used for strategic planning in business and industries to align activities with a vision and strategy. The tool is used in the organizational setting to improve communications (USAID,
Using the balanced scorecard method you are able to get a balanced view on how your company is performing. Using this method you get a full view on if your company is meeting its objectives. Even though your company may be performing well financially other areas of your company could be failing. When using this approach your company will look at objectives short and long term and determine the health of your company. Lastly when using this approach any strategic actions that are implemented will match your desired outcome. (Bowen,
There are many problems confronting our global food system. One of them is that the food is not distributed fairly or evenly in the world. According “The Last Bite Is The World’s Food System Collapsing?” by Bee Wilson, “we are producing more food—more grain, more meat, more fruits and vegetables—than ever before, more cheaply than ever before” (Wilson, 2008). Here we are, producing more and more affordable food. However, the World Bank recently announced that thirty-three countries are still famine and hungers as the food price are climbing. Wilson stated, “despite the current food crisis, last year’s worldwide grain harvest was colossal, five per cent above the previous year’s” (Wilson, 2008). This statement support that the food is not distributed evenly. The food production actually increased but people are still in hunger and malnutrition. If the food were evenly distributed, this famine problem would’ve been not a problem. Wilson added, “the food economy has created a system in w...
A Balanced Scorecard can be defined as a “performance management tool which began as a concept for measuring whether the smaller-scale operational activities of a company are aligned with its larger-scale objectives in terms of vision and strategy” (Wikipedia 2009, ¶ 1). Scents & Things will need to develop a balanced scorecard that will assist in meeting and help define the company’s values, mission, vision, and SWOT analysis. The balance scorecard is made up of four perspectives; financial, customer, learning and growing, and internal process. This paper will define each of the four perspectives objectives, performance measures, targets, and initiatives. The paper will also show how the perspectives relate to Scents & Things vision, mission, values, and SWOTT analysis.
The course of prenatal development normally initiates with fertilization and ends with birth, lasting 38 to 40 weeks of gestation. It can be separated into three phases: germinal, embryonic, and fetal. The first two weeks after conception the germinal stage of prenatal development takes place. During this stage, a group of cells,
In this essay my thesis statement was “Kilbourne makes her argument by saying “Sex in advertising is pornography graphic because it dehumanizes and objectified people, especially women, and because it fetishizes products, imbues them with an erotic charge which dooms us to disappointment since products never can fulfill out sexual desires or meet out emotional needs” (“Kilbourne Reading” 1). After writing this thesis statement I was able to provide a good argument that flowed well in the essay. Comparing this essay to the other ones, I would say that this essay was great because first I had got an A on this essay and second is that provided good examples by using sources to back up my claim that I had made in the essay. Looking back to this essay I would choose this essay because it best fit my style of writing and it is a great example I can use for future
Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since the end of World War II. Food and fibre productivity rose due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favoured maximizing production. These changes allowed fewer farmers with reduced labour demands to produce the majority of the food and fibre.
The problem of water scarcity has increasingly spread throughout the world as of yet, The UN reports that within the next half- century up to 7 billion people in 60 countries which is more than the whole present population will face water scarcity (Sawin “Water Scarcity could Overwhelm the Next Generation”). As well the demand for freshwater has tripled over the past 50 years, and is continuing to rise as a result of population growth and economic development. 70% of this demand derives from agriculture which shows the influence of water on food supply globally as well not just drinking water (Sawin “Water Scarcity could overwhelm the Next Generation”). But increasing water use is not just a matter of the greater number of people needing it to drink and eat; it also comes from pollution and misuse of water supplies, by either dumping or runoff of bacteria or chemicals into water. This also “causes other pollutions as well such as soil and air pollution, accelerating wetland damage and human caused global warming” (Smith and Thomassey 25). According to UN report, recent estimates suggest that climate change will account for about 20 percent of the increase in global water scarcity in coming decades.
Performance management is a useful and powerful tool that can be used by managers to identify what areas of their organisation they need to improve to increase the organisation’s overall performance. The idea of a balanced scorecard enforces a sensible distribution of resources and effort across all aspect of performance an organisation is, or should be, concerned with.
One of the most complex issues in the world today concerns human population. The number of people living off the earth’s resources and stressing its ecosystem has doubled in just forty years. In 1960 there were 3 billion of us; today there are 6 billion. We have no idea what maximum number of people the earth will support. Therefore, the very first question that comes into people’s mind is that are there enough food for all of us in the future? There is no answer for that. Food shortage has become a serious problem among many countries around the world. There are many different reasons why people are starving all over the world. The lack of economic justice and water shortages are just merely two examples out of them all.
However, many people still refuse to be a vegetarian for different reasons. Some people prefer the taste of meat, and some people believe that they are born to eat meat. Despite that about 2 billion people in the world live basically on the meat diet, around 4 billion people live mainly on a plant-based diet because of food shortage(Pimentel ＆ Pimentel, 2003, pp660S). As everyone knows, the number of population is growing. For example, the total U.S. population doubled in the previous 60 years, and it may double again in the next 70 years (Pimentel ＆ Pimentel, 2003, pp660S). People won’t have enough meat to eat in the future. On the other hand, a well-planned vegetarian diet offers many health benefits. Therefore, people should become vegetarian because it benefits to huma...