Time for a new debate about food production

Producing enough food to feed a growing human population while protecting an environment under pressure will mean changes in lifestyle, diet and food production.

The Citizens’ Assembly recently voted in favour of introducing measures to reduce the impact of food production on the environment. 89 percent of the assembly members voted to recommend a tax on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture with the revenue raised being invested in climate-friendly agriculture. This begs the question: what exactly is "climate-friendly agriculture"?

An overwhelming majority of 93 percent of assembly members also recommended the government take action to curb food waste throughout the food production and supply chain. This is a much needed intervention. Although major retailers have made moves to reduce food waste significantly, one study has estimated that 50 percent of all food produced globally never reaches a human mouth. Instead, it is lost on the farm, in processing, storage, distribution or in the back of fridges.

This is a staggering waste given that the secure access to food is a basic human right. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares it is "the right of every man, woman and child…to have physical and economic access at all times to adequate food". It’s a noble aspiration but it’s clear that we are struggling to make that a reality on a global scale. Figures just realised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations tells us that 815 million people remain undernourished. A sobering figure.

It’s no surprise then that how we produce enough food to feed a growing human population (approximately eleven billion by 2100) while protecting an environment under pressure has never been higher on the agenda. Unfortunately, we can’t get away from the organic versus conventional debate when we discuss food production these days and evidence suggests that it is the wrong debate to be having

Research indicates that organic systems require anywhere between 25 and 110 percent more land than comparable conventional systems and cause more eutrophication of water bodies than conventional farming. When it comes to crop yields, it really depends on the type of crop you’re growing but, on average, organic yields are 25 percent below that of crops grown conventionally. There are other advantages of organic production though, such as increased soil quality and overall farm biodiversity.
But this is a debate that is going round in circles. There are advantages and disadvantages to both systems and we’ll need to use the best parts of all farming systems if we’re going to solve the global food security crisis.

We need to have a different discussion. It’s now well established that plant-based foods have the lowest environmental impacts and that meat production (especially cattle and sheep) has around 100 times the environmental impact of plant-based food. We need to discuss a dietary shift from beef to pork or from meat to plant-based food. That’s the debate we should be having. Going organic has some environmental benefits, but that’s negligible compared to the benefits of a dietary shift.

 Former president Mary Robinson suggested last year that adopting a vegan diet would reduce our carbon footprint (cue wailing and gnashing of teeth from farmers organisations). Pope Francis recently suggested a similar "change in lifestyle" when speaking at a World Food Day event.

We’ve also got to consider the potential role of genetically engineered crops and crops that have had their genome edited using such techniques as CRISPR. The technology is now available to make photosynthesis more efficient. As the driving force for life on earth, improving photosynthesis could be the key to improving crop yields in a sustainable manner.

CRISPR, a technology that that has far-reaching consequences beyond plant biotechnology, allows scientists to precisely engineer even single letter changes in a plant’s genetic code. This can be done without the need for transgenic DNA, making it radically different to the now conventional forms of genetic engineering which, though leading to huge advances in crop production worldwide, remain a controversial topic in Ireland and most of Europe as this recent Irish survey shows.

These tools join conventional and organic methods in a farmers tool-box. It seems unreasonable that with such challenges to overcome, we often opt to do so with one hand tied behind our back. We now need a new green revolution for the 21st century.

In 1708, the English cleric and economist Thomas Malthus wrote that the "premature death" of the human race was inevitable given the power of population increase over the ability to provide food for these new people. Despite his scaremongering, we’ve obviously overcome these challenges and seen dramatic increases in food production and human population over the last two centuries.

Much of the yield increase has been due to the adoption of (at the time) novel tools for plant breeding and cultivation - the so-called ‘green revolution’. We now need a new green revolution for the 21st century. A green revolution that is not limited by ideology but uses all proven and safe technologies available to boost yields while protecting the environment.

This article first appeared on RTE Brainstorm

Here comes the Science Squad

Fronted by Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain, Kathriona Devereux and Jonathan McCrea, RTE have just kicked off their new weekly science programme for the Summer season.

The Science Squad promises to take an entertaining look at some of the exciting and important scientific research that is currently underway in Ireland.

The first programme, which aired today, featured research from CLARITY at UCD. They are working with IRFU physiotherapist Brian Green to develop systems which can automatically detect collisions in elite level Rugby Union. The data could help to advise coaching staff as to when a player has received too many heavy tackles and should be substituted from a game.

The show looked at work in UCC on a pioneering neo-natal brain seizure detection system and UCD's SMARTLab which enables disabled people who have lost or have limited use of speech and/or their limbs to speak and perform tasks such as playing music or operating computers by using their eyes instead.


The Science Squad is transmitted on Thursday evenings on RTE One. The episodes are also available to view on RTE Player. You can also follow @TheScienceSquad on twitter.

Weather Forecast is Science Communication in Action

Congrats to Jean Byrne of Met Eireann on winning the European Meteorological Society's 2011 TV Weather Forecast Award.

The win is a credit to the weather service in this country and a fine example of science communication in action. For many people, the weather forecast is their one regular exposure to science.

The award recognises individual contributions to best practise in the communication of meteorology and the fact is, the nightly weather forecast is one of the best science programmes on TV!

The presenter said she was honoured to receive the award:

"It's great, coming as it does from a group of my professional colleagues and which recognises the importance of the work that meteorologists do and how we continue to try to give our best service."

According to Met Eireann, they were invited to nominate an entrant for the competition and a sample of her work was submitted for consideration. This is the first time that an Irish person has been awarded the trophy.

A qualified meteorologist, Jean Byrne is one of a small group of incredibly well known scientists in the country who appear on our screens after the Six-One and Nine O'Clock News. There cannot be a household in the land that has not watched here or one of her colleagues explain why it hasn't stopped raining or why the winter has been so cold.

While other broadcasters are switching to unqualified presenters, RTE are to be credited with keeping these scientists on our screens.

In my view, the contrast between RTE broadcasts and other Irish and British weather forecasts is vast. The meteorologists on RTE make a constant effort to explain WHY the weather is as it is and not just whether it will be dry tomorrow or not. For that, they deserve this prestigious accolade.

The Mountain - Applications open

RTÉ Young Peoples is looking for applications for the second series of its science adventure show The Mountain. 

You can watch episodes of The Mountain here.

The Mountain is looking for teams of three children aged 11 or 12 on April 30th 2011. Participating teams will be required for one day and the series will be filmed on location in Carlingford, Co Louth, in May.

The Application Form and Terms & Conditions can be downloaded from the website. The closing date is Monday April 11th 2011.

For more information contact The Mountain at [email protected] or at 01 208 3186.

The Greatest Show on Earth

The humpback whale, nicknamed Hook, breaches off of Hook Head, Co. Wexford. Image copyright of Padraig Whooley, Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG)

Sometimes we're really spoiled when it comes to enjoying nature up close and personal. In the early part of this week, newspapers and RTE television news reports were full of images of humpback whales launching themselves majestically through the air off Hook Head in Co. Wexford.

The humpback was first seen off Wexford in early January and on the 22nd, a team of researchers from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) and a camera crew from Crossing the Line Films chartered the MV Rebecca C to view and film the animals.

Padraig Whooley, IWDG's Sighting Co-ordinator reports that this is a new humpback to Irish waters. He's sure of this because of analysis carried out on photographs of the whale's tail. Each whale has a slightly different one - a bit like a human fingerprint, which allows scientists to track them around the world. Just as long as they can get a good look at their tail.

This new animal brings the number of humpback's officially sighted in Irish waters to eleven. Many of these are regular visitors and return every year and despite the seemingly small numbers, the IWDG believe there is a slow but steady recovery going on in the Irish humpback population.

On Saturday last, as if to celebrate this good news, the humpback put on a spectacular 45-minute show where it breached the surface of the water on eleven occasions. All of this activity was documented in high definition by Ross Bartley from Crossing the Line films and the footage will form part of a new series of "Wild Journeys" due to start on RTE television later in the Spring. I for one am really looking forward to seeing that.

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeanfliae) is one of the baleen whales. This means it filters its food directly from the water. Rather than having teeth with which to eat, the humpbacks are equipped with a baleen filtration system. This is made up of stiff plates which grow down from the gums of the upper jaw and extend in rows down both sides of the mouth. Baleen is made out of keratin- the same protein that our hair and fingernails are made from.

It is estimated that an adult humpback will eat up to 4% of its body weight per day. To do this, the whale gulps crustaceans and schooling fish in to its mouth and uses the filtration system to separate the food from the water.

In some cases, humpbacks will use a "bubble net" to capture food. The animal dives down beneath its prey then swims in a spiral upwards blowing bubbles from its blowholes as it does so. These bubbles form a sort of tubular net in which prey are trapped and pushed to the surface where the whale eventually gobbles them up.

Humpbacks have even been known to bubble net collectively. So, while one animal is blowing bubbles, another might be diving deeper to 'herd' prey into the net while more animals may be driving prey into the net by singing at them.

This whale song or vocalisation is particularly prevalent in humpbacks who may sing for 24 hours non-stop.

Scientists seem to be in dispute as to why baleen whales, and particularly humpbacks put on such amazing aerial acrobatics shows. One theory is that it is all an effort to attract a mate. Presumably the higher the whale can jump or the bigger the splash the whale can make, the fitter the animal is and all the better to mate with. In fact, breaching seems to increase when the animals are in groups, so this does suggest some sort of social function.

There is also some evidence that slapping the water with such force serves to stun and disorientate prey. This may be true, but it would hardly explain such elaborate displays seen off the Wexford coast.

Another theory gaining ground is that the animals are trying to dislodge parasites which attach themselves to their sides.

The IWDG website records 157 sightings of humpback whales in Irish waters going back to 1984. Despite a tiny handful sighted off the north coast and elsewhere, the vast majority of sightings have been recorded in an area stretching from Dingle to Hook Head. That means that in Cork, we have a front row seat for what Padraig Whooley describes as the "greatest wildlife show on earth".