Americans Can Survive On Locally-Grown Food Alone Except In New York City And Los Angeles
For most in the organic community, the theory of a food shortage due to an exponentially growing population has caused many who sport a scientific mind to produce a solution. The Inquisitr reported on such solutions, most being efficient ways of farming. One solution was made by the Japanese when they created the world’s largest indoor farm. Another solution was to create solar-powered aquaponic farms that float on water. Finally, a more viable solution would be to convert skyscrapers for vertical farming.
Though the solutions provided above are very good, they are more of an important factor in the future with an increased world population. Right now — at least here in the United States — most Americans are able to sustain themselves on local foods alone. The only exception would be New York City and Los Angeles.
According to Washington Post, a new study by Andrew Zumkehr and J. Elliot Campbell, professors who teach engineering at the University of California, Davis, shows that as much as 90 percent of Americans could survive off of food grown within 100 miles of their home. A far more pleasing statistic is that more than 80 percent of people could be fed with food just grown within 50 miles of their home. That is a huge jump of food provided in relation to the distance and the number of people fed.
However, there are some limitations when it comes to switching almost 90 percent of the American population to only locally-grown food. There would be required significant changes to storage systems, crop types, and other infrastructure, as stated by Quartz. Nevertheless, the findings were quite optimistic.
Does this mean the United States is going to switch over to locally-grown food for the majority of the population? Maybe, maybe not. However, it is nice to know that at this moment, if everyone in the country wanted to switch to locally-grown food only, it is quite plausible to an extent.
[Image via Andreas Rentz/Getty]
