As we saw in the last chapter, one of the biggest problems with food in the West is waste, with scandalous quantities of edible goods being discarded as a result of stock-piling and misguided beliefs about ‘out of date’ foods being ‘rotten’.

Another problem in the UK, and other developed countries, is over-indulgence, with high percentages of the population being obese. This stands in stark contrast to the near one billion people in the world who are currently hungry. 

Currently there is sufficient food to feed everyone in the world, but this is not achieved due to profligacy in the West and poor distribution mechanisms in the developing world. By 2050 our food systems will have to feed 50 per cent more people than they do today.

However, in addition to population increase, the situation is set to worsen with the onset of climate change, as explored in Chapter 2.