Marc Dufumier, a committed agronomist and professor emeritus at Agroparistech, has just published 50 misconceptions about agriculture and food (Allary Editions). In this book in the form of "true-false", he questions the excesses of industrial agriculture, by proposing more sustainable solutions. His speech on France Inter Thursday morning sums up his point well:
“Even more serious than the horse in beef lasagna is the anti-inflammatory drugs in horse meat. There is a real problem today with regard to our food, which comes from our agriculture, which has, in the last 20 years, in short, motorized, mechanized, chemized, specialized, standardized, and which provides the most standard, low-variety products in large and medium-sized stores, which have been selected for their ability to be transported, to withstand shocks, and to be able to stay on the shelves for a long time. ”
In his book, the agronomist tackles the CAP, pesticides, GMOs, bees, animal husbandry or the taste of tomatoes, before broadening the perspective by tackling the question of the poor distribution of food in the world :
“The earth does not produce enough to feed its 7,2 billion inhabitants. False. We widely produce enough to feed everyone. ”
The demonstration follows: for all humans to be properly fed, 200 kg of grain must be produced per inhabitant per year, or their equivalent in potatoes, cassava etc., "even if only a small part only of this production is intended for animal feed ”. But precisely, we produce on the planet the equivalent of 320 to 330 kilos of grain per year per person.
The problem, according to Marc Dufumier, is that all this food does not go to hungry people, but to "wasters" (remember the number that kills: a third of the food produced for men in the world that ends in the trash), "gluttonous" (who consume too much milk and meat, produced from animals that must be fed: "In Brazil, one hectare of land can feed 50 vegetarians, but 2 carnivores ”) and finally to“ agrofuels ”, which are for the author a“ false good idea ”.
Another problem pointed out, “in some southern countries, entire regions of cultivable land are monopolized by private companies. And to the detriment of peasants who could produce by themselves what they need ”.
According to the author, in an attempt to solve these problems, the rich countries should neither sell off nor give away their food surpluses, because this is very bad for poorly equipped farmers. Why not "introduce customs duties at the borders of the countries of the South, in order to raise the prices of imported food products on the internal markets", so that local products are thus favored?
The agronomist also thinks that today we could feed the planet (and even the 9,5 billion humans of 2050) with a 100% organic diet, by generalizing techniques inspired by agroecology and by combining agriculture and breeding... Techniques which currently face certain obstacles, such as pressures from seed companies and difficulties in accessing loans.
Finally, insects are also considered, following the recommendations of the FAO, as an opportunity for certain populations. A very profitable product, since "per tonne of food produced, locust farming requires twelve times less area than a herd of cattle". In addition, locust farming emits significantly less greenhouse gases, and requires far less equipment.
http://www.slate.fr/life/83985/agriculture-production-nourrir-monde