WeX Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 Not for growing food for humans though, it's mostly grazing. http://www.ukagriculture.com/farming_today/self_sufficiency_and_crops.cfm grazing does include food production. what do you think cattle and sheep eat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 If the land you live on can’t sustain you then the land is overpopulated, but it doesn’t matter as long as there is land that is under populated that can be used to sustain you. The UK couldn’t be self sufficient at our current rate of consumption, but because we can buy things from other parts of the world it doesn’t matter. It will only matter if we become unable to buy things from other parts of the world or we find it morally wrong to buy it whilst its own people suffer. How is it morally wrong to buy a cash crop if the people selling it are short of food? Would it help them if you refused to buy it? Would that be more moral? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 grazing does include food production. what do you think cattle and sheep eat? It's highly inefficient though, we would be able to feed more people if grazing land were converted into crop production land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSmith Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 How is it morally wrong to buy a cash crop if the people selling it are short of food? Would it help them if you refused to buy it? Would that be more moral? When the people that are selling it aren't sharing or using the proceeds to feed their own people, if 1million people are going hungry in a country and the powers of that country sell the food they grow to us, just because we will bay more than their own people can pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferno Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 grazing does include food production. what do you think cattle and sheep eat? It's incredibly inefficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazjea Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 It's highly inefficient though, we would be able to feed more people if grazing land were converted into crop production land. loss of grazing land, would mean resorting to battery farming.To provide meat, and dairy products. Not a good idea in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrapeApe Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 There is over population, as demonstrated by the housing shortage, across the UK. But you are right... it is at its worst in London. I don't think that a housing shortage is a sign of anything except a shortage of housing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 When the people that are selling it aren't sharing or using the proceeds to feed their own people, if 1million people are going hungry in a country and the powers of that country sell the food they grow to us, just because we will bay more than their own people can pay. If it's the government of the country that are causing the problem, refusing to buy the cash crop won't stop the starvation will it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferno Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 loss of grazing land, would mean resorting to battery farming.To provide meat, and dairy products. Not a good idea in my opinion. There are alternatives: DEFRA estimates that in terms of calorific requirements, UK agricultural land could produce more than enough food from arable production for the entire population. The area currently being used for crops in the UK is 4.7 million hectares. It is estimated that only three million hectares would be required to feed the UK population on a vegan diet http://www.vegansociety.com/resources/food-security/uk-food-security.aspx Now, nobody's holding a gun to our heads and saying "Stop eating sausages!", but the present system is incredibly profligate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeX Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2011692/A-green-pleasant-land-Map-reveals-half-Britain-countryside.html Only 6% of the country is built on. Urban and built on are two different things. The Focus on People and Migration, government report back in 2005 said the UK was 8.9% Urban. my 10% is the government figure of what is build-able in the UK. About 75% is farmed according to the few sources I can find... That seems quite high considering the amount of space in the various national parks and the Scottish highlands... Maybe they are considered to be farmed as well since sheep are kept on a lot of them... If that's the only figure you can find but still do not believe it, there is little I or anyone can do to convince you if you refuse to believe the evidence you have found yourself. I didn't say that I had an answer, I asked you to justify your assertion that the current level of population is overpopulation. My opinion comes from comparison to the rest of the world. The UK is one of the last countries to disappear form the graphic. This coupled with the trade deficit tells me we are overpopulated. what evidence do you have to prove we are not over populated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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