Globalisation
has literally wiped out terms like region-specific, country-specific,
area-specific definitions from the geography lexicon. Food is no exception.
Cuisines which were savoured as delicacies of specific regions are not longer
confined to their existential boundaries of countries and continents. It is
amazing but true that people across the World are now depending on just 50 food
crops. A scientific paper published in Proceedings of National Academy of
Sciences by Colin Khoury et al of Columbian based International Centre for
Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) had made a startling observation. Diets around the
world are now no longer diverse. They are more similar and are collectively
referred to what constitutes a Globalised Diet. Around 50 food crops belonging
to 37 plant families are found to contribute to 90% of calories, protein, fat
and weight around the world.
The new scientific study reported that there has been considerable
deterioration in the availability and consumer usage of geographically restricted
food plants. The number of crops on which people are depending for their food
needs is getting narrowed. In the past 40 years several fruits and vegetables
have disappeared from the regular diet in United States. More and more people
are depending on fewer crops. It is found that animal foods like dairy products
are increasingly contributing to the proteins while the oil crops are providing
fat food supplies. Greatest change is observed in terms of oil crops like soy
bean, sunflower, mustard, palm oil, rape which were not important 50 years ago become
more ubiquitous. Wheat has become staple crop in more than 97% of the countries.
Whereas minor cereals like millets, Sorghum, rye and starchy root crops like
yam, cassava and sweet potatoes are more restricted in their spread and are not
globally ubiquitous. Globally spread of cereals like wheat, rice, maize and
barley, potatoes, sugar, general vegetables and fruits dominated ubiquity of
food supplies over the last 50 years. With the increased availability of these ubiquitous
crops the diversity of crops contributing for worldwide consumption has significantly
narrowed.
The associated facets of globalisation and liberalisation
like development of extensive commodity transport, multinational food
industries, food quality and safety standardisation, super markets, fast foods,
processed food and human migration has resulted in diversifying diets and
increased consumption of energy dense foods. Further the wealth increase and
associated gains in purchasing power has resulted in a transition towards
western dietary preferences like the meat and dairy, wheat, temperate fruits &
vegetables and sugary beverages. Additionally rapid advances in modern
agriculture, where human labour are largely replaced by machinery, investments
in breeding and distribution of high yielding varieties, subsidies for crops
have led to the availability of limited number of major crops while according
lesser priority to the nutritional diversity.
Scientists believe that both ecology and nutrition diversity
enhances health and functioning of complex biological systems. Just as
ecosystem becomes resilient when it is inhabited by diverse species, even
variation in the food crops would ensure nutritional adequacy nutrition in
terms of food security. The flip side of increased human preference for the
energy dense foods based on the availability of global crop commodities and
processed products has resulted in onset of adult diabetes, heart diseases and
certain forms of cancer. This has also resulted in reduction in diversity of
oral and gut bacteria that has negatively impacted the health. Hence adequate
nutritional diversity within the foods consumed and in the supplements to the
major crops comprising global food supplies is critical.
Food security is essential for combating global hunger but
relying on a global diet with limited diversity obligates us to bolster the
nutritional quality of the major crops as the consumption of major food grains
and vegetables declines. Countries are under pressure to become self-reliant in
global food commodities to feed the ever increasing population. The importance
of stable food supply is exacerbated by the need to increase the yield of these
crops to keep in pace with the demand. Five steps have been suggested to mitigate the
emerging trend. Firstly, actively promote and adopt wider varieties of major
crops to boost genetic diversity and reduce vulnerability of global food system
in the face of changing climatic conditions. Second, support the conservation
and use of plant genetic resources including farmer’s traditional varieties and
wild species. Third, enhance the nutritional quality of the major crops on which
people depend- like improving the content of micronutrients and supplementary
vitamins through plant breeding techniques. Fourth promote alternative cropping
that increase the resilience of farming and make human diets healthier. Key
lies in identifying the locally grown neglected and underutilised crops by
fostering their production through crop breeding. Finally foster awareness
among the public about the need for a healthier diets based on better decisions
about what and how much we eat as well as the form in which we consume.
Another major threat about the more homogenous food basket is
that agriculture would become more vulnerable to major threats like droughts,
insects, pests and diseases. Moreover with the decrease in availability of non-renewable
inputs, increasing impact of agriculture on soil, water quality and
biodiversity and changing climatic conditions relatively under researched crops
with wider genetic adaptability can be a safer bet. Else the larger issue of
food security and the depleting nutritional quality of major crops would become
a grave issue to tackle. The price of
crop failure would be too high.
FAO estimates that the diversity of the cultivated crops has
declined by 75% during 20th century and that a third of today’s
diversity will disappear by 2050. The best way to combat hunger, malnutrition, obesity,
nutritional requirements and protecting the food yields from climate changes
lies in maintaining diversity in food crops. Hence nations must strive towards
diversity.
European Parliament has recently adopted a resolution calling
all the EU nations to embrace all measures to preserve crops biological and
genetical diversity so that plant breeders can develop newer varieties which are
more adaptable to the changing climatic conditions and stressed the need for
increasing the crop yields. Scientists are now concerned as the markets are
dominated by very few varieties. Diversity comes from traditional varieties and
wild varieties related to the crops should be now be explored for the plant breeding
programmes to develop new varieties.
As a part of this momentous initiative more than 20,000 crops
from 100 countries have been collected to be stored in the Doom’s Day vault
constructed in the Arctic Circle. The vault costing US $7 million was designed to
withstand all the natural and human disasters. It is housed in a facility
located deep inside a mountain on a remote island in Svalbard Archipelago
located halfway between Norway and North Pole. But the facility is. This facility
is owned by the Norwegian Government and maintained by the Global Crop
Diversity Trust (GCDT) and Nordic Genetic Resource Centre where all seeds from
the world’s crops are collected and stored in duplicates. Owing to the deepest
concerns about food security countries are taking colossal steps to preserve
the crop collections so that it can act as insurance for World’s food supply.
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