MEDCs and LEDCs: Food Distribution

In many MEDCs, the cost of staple food items is relatively cheap, and most people make purchases based in taste and preference. Produce seasonality has mostly disappeared due to globalization, and this has allowed for greater international variety in most supermarkets.

In LEDCs, staple food may not be always affordable as prices fluctuate. People tend to make purchases based on nutritional need and affordability. Political and economic agendas can affect food production: cash croppingEven if food crops are not used as cash crops, food production is still impacted since arable land is being occupied all the same.

In MEDCs the average caloric content per capita per day of food is 3314 calories. In the USA specifically, this number is 3374 calories.

In LEDCs the average caloric content per capita per day of food is 2666 calories. In Eritrea this number is 1512 calories.

What does the following table tell you about your diet?

                                              MEDC       LEDC
Meat                                      12.9           7.3
Fish and seafood                        1.4            0.9
Cereals                                   37.3          56.1
Vegetables, fruits, fats               48.4          35.7

Think globally
The American Association for the Advancement of Science suggests that there is an average of 2790 calories available each day for every human on the planet. That is enough to feed everyone. If food production has kept up with population growth, why are there still so many problems with famine, hunger and malnutrition?

Factors to consider
Distribution: If countries like Canada, USA and Australia have an excess of food, can that be shipped to Bangladesh, Ethiopia, or Sudan? Who will pay for it? Do they even want that kind of food?
Politics: If excess food is not paid for, is the receiving country now in the debt of the donating country or the donating corporation?

So far, food supply has kept pace with human population growth, seemingly refuting Malthus, however recently some are doubting this can continue.
As we adapt an increasing amount of global NPP to human needs. use and degrade more land, eat more meat, contaminate more water, we are getting closer to the planet's K... we just don't know that this is yet.
There are 1.1 billion people living in poverty... They are increasing and growing hungrier.
Annual grain yields per hectare have slowed their rate of increase since the Green Revolution (1990-2000 had the lowest increase since before the 1950s).

Types of farming systems
1) Subsistence: Food for farmers and their community, little or no surplus, little technology.
2) Commercial: Lar profit generating scale, yields are maximized, monocultures, high levels of technology, energy and medical input.

Farming can also be
1) Extensive - More land with lower density of animals.
2) Intensive - Intense use of land, higher inputs and outputs.
Also as pastoral, arable or mixed