PEOPLE: thinking about sustainability

So what's the problem?
The world’s population is growing, more people are moving to the city and well-off people are demanding more resource-hungry food (like meat and dairy). We want more and better food, but where’s it going to come from??

Countries like China and India have been growing quickly in wealth. People in these countries (who are just like you and me) are now able to buy more food, especially resource-hungry meat, fish and dairy. This is great – millions are better off – but as more people haggle for food, the price goes up. This kind of growth is causing hunger for millions of people left behind in poverty!
'Urbanisation' is also an issue for people living in poverty.

Living in the city is great – it’s easy to get to schools, doctors, entertainment venues and all the other things you need and enjoy. More than half the world’s people now live in cities or towns. The problem is, most people who live in cities don’t grow their own food. They must buy their food in shops or markets, and if prices rise they have no choice but to pay more to survive.

And the world’s population just keeps growing. This makes the issues around urbanisation even worse. Last year there were 75 million more mouths to feed around the world.

How can you be a part of the solution?
--> THIS WEEK <-- Commit taking on one or more of these actions. Make sure you tell people what you are doing a why! (Thanks to VGen Vic for sending these through!)

1. If the world's population is growing and everyone is to have their basic needs met, we need to think about how much we are consuming as individuals, as families, and even as a nation.
   Set yourself some goals to live more simply this week.
   Think about how much you consume: foods, petrol, luxury items, new clothes... and how much you waste: rubbish/what you throw out, left over food...
   - May be keep a tally to challenge the way you and your household live.
   - Think about sharing, borrowing and lending
   
   
2. We've learnt that meats and dairy products are 'resource hungry' food. This means it takes a lot of energy and food just to produce/feed/care for that cow, pig or chicken before it ends up on your plate. That food could go much much further if it was eaten by people instead of the duration of the animal's life. Maybe you want to look at how much meat you consume in a week, cut down, or even go vego? (make sure you explain to people why!)
   
   
3. Watch Silent Tsunami from the 5 mins 30 sec mark to get a visual representation of the link between 'People' and the Global Food Crisis. Share it round.
   

Key statistics and phrases:
1kg of beef requires 7 kgs of grain (which the cow consumes) – if 500 million people replace a meal of rice or grain with meat 3 times a week what will happen to the price of grain?

If everyone in the world consumed as much stuff as we do in Australia – we’d need 4 Earths to sustain us.