/EmC_AGU_final_SMALL.pdf

  • Hotspots of inefficiency: Mapping the difference between crop produc-on and food calorie delivery
    EmC_AGU_initial - EmC_AGU_final_SMALL.pdf
    https://fallmeeting.agu.org/2012/files/2012/11/EmC_AGU_final_SMALL.pdf

    Meeting growing demands for food calories will be a substantial challenge. One place to search for solutions is in how we allocate the
    world’s crops, and finding ways to feed more people with current crop production. Currently, a substantial proportion of crop calories are
    used as animal feed, and only a small fraction of those feed calories ultimately contribute to human diets. Countries like the United States and China, which together produce over a third of the world’s meat, eggs and dairy, lose a substantial portion of calories and protein to the feed-to-animal conversion process.
    This study looks at global croplands that have a large difference between calories grown, and the food calories available for consumption. These hotspots have the potential to feed more people, while reducing envi-ronmental impacts of agriculture


    #agriculture #alimentation #calories

    • From the 41 crops analyzed in this study, 9.46 x 1015 calories available in plant form are produced by crops globally, of which
      55% directly feed to humans. However, 36% of these produced calories go to animal feed, of which 89% is lost, such that only 4% of crop-produced calories are available by humans in the form of animal products. Another 9% of crop-produced calories are used for industrial uses and biofuels and so completely lost from the food system.
      Including both human-edible crop calories and feed-produced animal calories, only 5.57 x 1015 (59% of the total produced) calor
      ies are delivered to the world’s food system. Therefore, 41% of the calories available from global crop production are lost to the food system