It is challenging enough trying to rustle up enough food to feed a planet that already runs to seven billion people, and which is predicted to add a further two billion mouths by the middle of the century, without wasting so much of the food that we have managed to grow, cultivate, milk and rear.

1. Feeding
a
Growing
World
Population
with
the
Aid
of
Science
It
is
burdensome
enough
trying
to
rustle
up
enough
food
to
feed
a
planet
that
already
runs
to
seven
billion
people,
and
which
is
forecasted
to
add
a
further
two
billion
mouths
by
the
middle
of
the
century,
without
wasting
so
much
of
the
food
that
we
have
managed
to
grow,
cultivate,
milk
and
rear.
As
our
Eureka
science
magazine
notes
today,
we
waste
close
to
100
million
tonnes
of
food
a
year.
To
throw
away
so
much
at
a
time
when
925
million
people
are
classed
as
hungry,
and
a
further
one
billion
are
thought
to
be
suffering
from
malnutrition,
is
as
senselessly
profligate
as
running
a
bath
without
inserting
the
bath
plug.
But
killing
the
waste
will
never
be
enough
to
fill
the
world’s
bellies.
Yes,
selective
breeding
is
starting
to
boost
crop
yields
and
improve
food
security
in
sub-­‐Saharan
Africa,
just
as
it
has
been
so
successfully
doing
across
Asia
and
the
Americas
over
the
past
four
decades.
But
without
increased
use
of
genetically
modified
crop
varieties
it
seems
inconceivable
that
food
production
will
ever
be
abundant
enough
to
keep
pace
with
population
growth.
GM
crops
are
already
flourishing
in
China,
in
North
and
South
America
and
in
parts
of
Africa.
And
in
Europe?
Shamefully,
the
EU
remains
mired
in
a
stalemate
on
GM
regulation
that
is
an
affront
to
a
hungry
world.
Alongside
this,
Brussels
pursues
a
fisheries
policy
that
contributes
to
a
food
scandal
in
which
the
world’s
fishing
fleets
discard
about
nine
million
tonnes
of
fish
each
year.
Mouths
are
born
hungry.
The
world’s
fulfillment
in
feeding
itself
for
10,000
years
is
a
tribute
to
man’s
or
better
God's
ingenuity.
Now
new
technologies
can
help
by
creating
more
sustainable
ways
to
produce
more
food.
This
is
hardly
the
moment
to
stifle
that
ingenuity
by
spurning
the
promise
of
GM
science.
Eli
Rothstein
is
the
Editor-­‐in-­‐Chief
of
MassNewsMedia.com.
A
journalist
with
over
15
years
experience,
Rothstein
has
grown
his
reputation
on
the
strength
of
his
social,
world
affairs
and
political
news
writing.
His
columns
have
appeared
in
local
and
national
newspapers
across
the
country,
and
his
thorough
interviews
have
made
mass
media
headlines.