Environmental changes are posing a serious threat to production and nutritional value of our crops. Not taking action could have major global implications for food security and public health, a new study outlines.
A new study has further revealed how climate change is reducing yields and sucking the nutrients from our vegetables and legumes, raising serious questions over the future of food security and public health around the world.
The report, which was led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is apparently the first of its kind to methodically examine to what extent environmental changes such as water scarcity, increases in temperature and a greater concentration of carbon dioxide could impact the nutritional quality and yield of crops vital to our everyday nutrition.
Previous research into the impact of environmental change on food has mostly focused on the yield of staple crops such as wheat, rice and corn. However, there has been comparatively little discussion on how climate change is affecting nutritious foods that are considered more important to a healthy diet.
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The phenomenon of crops being stripped of their high nutritional qualities due to environmental factors has become known as the "junk food effect."
For some time now, researchers have been aware that many of our most important plant-based foods are becoming less nutritious. Studies have shown how the mineral, protein and vitamin content in fruits and vegetables has decreased over the past few decades, although until recently this had been explained away by the fact that we had been prioritizing higher yields over nutrition.
"Vegetables and legumes are vital components of a healthy, balanced and sustainable diet, and nutritional guidelines consistently advise people to incorporate more vegetables and legumes into their diet," says lead author Pauline Scheelbeek.
"However, our new analysis suggests that this advice conflicts with the potential impacts of environmental changes that will decrease the availability of these crops."
The carbon dioxide factor
Alongside water scarcity and increasing temperatures, higher levels of carbon dioxide are being blamed for stripping crops of their nutritional value.
But carbon dioxide is good for plants, so why should we be worried about rising CO2 levels? While it's true that plants do require carbon dioxide in order to grow and thrive, it's possible to have too much of a good thing.
Rising carbon dioxide levels ramp up the process of photosynthesis — which is what allows plants to transform sunlight into food. While this certainly helps plants grow, it has the side effect of causing them to produce more simple carbohydrates such as glucose.
And this comes at the expense of other important nutrients we need in order to stay healthy including protein, zinc and iron.
The future of farming in a warming world
Food security a growing concern
Hotter regions such as Southern Europe, Africa and South Asia are most at risk, where higher temperatures are already expected to reduce crop yields by about 31 percent.
But Scheelbeek says the total crop yield is not necessarily the most important factor to consider.
"I think we have shifted from food intake being the biggest problem in terms of global food security to the issue of nutrition," she told DW.
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| We currently grow far too many grains, say some experts |
"It's a developed world problem and a developing world problem," he told DW. Benton, who was not involved in the new study, doesn't see the world heading toward starvation due to not being able to grow crops. "But we are going to be in a situation where public health gets worse."
Potential for a nutritional crisis
The reduced nutritional quality of important crops could mark the beginning of a looming health crisis.
One of the biggest concerns addressed by the report is the potential increase of micronutrient deficiencies. Around 1.5 million deaths per year are already linked to low vegetable intake, according to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. The worldwide per capita daily consumption of fruit and vegetables is already from 20 to 50 percent below the minimum recommended levels.
A paper published in Nature in 2014 highlighted how increased levels of carbon dioxide could also impact the nutritional value of staple crops such as rice, wheat and soybeans.
But Benton stresses that at this stage, we should be more worried about the non-staples. A focus on cash crops is part of the problem, he added.
"We currently grow three times as much grain and about a third of the amount of fruit and vegetables that we need," he told DW.
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| A lack of veg? Benton says too much grains and not enough nutritious fruit and vegetables are cultivated worldwide |
"For example, what would people eat instead? What would be their substitution for a less-available or more expensive legume on the market? It's certainly something we need to address."
Adaptation key to crisis
Experts say the best way to alleviate the threat to crops in the future is to prioritize changes in agricultural production.
Benton believes looking toward growing new crop varieties is "absolutely necessary" if we wish to avoid a crisis.
Scheelbeek says the results of the study represent a "business-as-usual scenario," assuming very little action is taken over the next few decades.
"We hope of course that the [results] of this study are a bit of an eye-opener, and that this is a gap that we need to bridge to make sure that there is enough nutritious food until the end of the century."
Feeding the world of the future: is hydroponics the answer?
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Tackling food insecurity with hydroponics
The challenge of feeding a planet that’s set to have 3 billion more people on it by 2050 - made even more acute by climate change as some parts of the planet become wetter, while others drier - means the pressure is on to find ways to feed the planet. So farming has to become more productive – and new areas to grow, especially in dry climates, must be found. One potential solution: hydroponics. MORE |
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