“Hunger knows no friend but its feeder”
Aristophanes
Satisfying hunger, even in times of old, has always been one
of homo sapiens’ fundamental needs. As so aptly coined by Snickers:
Imagine the last time you went un-fed for an extended duration.
Did it prompt you to become lethargic and lifeless, or enter a sour mood? Yet,
while we merely become physically and emotionally deprived until the next
available meal, the sad reality is people worldwide continue to face this
problem day in, day out.
All 842 million-odd
of them.
(Soucre: The State of Food Insecurity in the World - Executive Summary 2013)
Granted, majority of the world’s hungry originate from
developing regions in Africa and the Asia-Pacific, but a recent article from National Geographic entitled 'The New Face of Hunger' explored the evolving face of hunger and food insecurity in the United
States, and it has shown that food insecurity is no longer a prevalent issue
from developing nations alone, but can be experienced worldwide (National Geographic, 2014). Known to be one
of the largest corn producers in the world, it is surprising and worrying that
one of the world’s superpowers has become filled with citizens whom, despite owning a car and house, lack the financial ability to satisfy their
personal food needs.
Such has left me to ponder on Singapore’s own ability to
fulfil our food needs. With the wide availability of food kiosks, hawker
centres and supermarkets islandwide, it is virtually impossible to identify food
deserts like National Geographic highlighted for the US. Yet, our weakest link could lie in our
high reliance on imports for food (roughly 90%). What happens should our supply
chains be cut off? Do we have a Plan B or will our island-state go 6 million
hungry?
Unlike our independence in 1965, Singapore’s food independence
looks much harder to achieve. In our largely urbanized city, arable land use
has fallen below 1%, as traced by World Bank (2013), with the
remaining of our forested areas kept for military training or as natural sites
for biodiversity. Geographical conditions such as extended periods of rain and
our consistently one-dimensional climate puts us at a comparative disadvantage
in crop growth in comparison to our regional neighbours.
That isn’t to say Singapore is helpless to its limitations. Technological innovations, such as vertical farming to grow vegetables, is picking up in Singapore, but it may be decades before Singapore can confidently say that we are able to feed our own people.
That isn’t to say Singapore is helpless to its limitations. Technological innovations, such as vertical farming to grow vegetables, is picking up in Singapore, but it may be decades before Singapore can confidently say that we are able to feed our own people.
References
Krishnamurthy, R. (2014). Vertical Farming: Singapore’s
Solution to Feed the Local Urban Population. [online]
PermacultureNews.org. Available at: http://permaculturenews.org/2014/07/25/vertical-farming-singapores-solution-feed-local-urban-population/ [Accessed 17 Aug. 2014].
National Geographic, (2014). The New Face of Hunger. [online] Available
at: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/hunger/ [Accessed 17 Aug.
2014].
The State of Food Insecurity in
the World – Executive Summary 2013. (2013). 1st ed. [ebook]
Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3458e/i3458e.pdf [Accessed 17 Aug. 2014]
World Bank, (2013). Arable land (%
of land area) | Data | Table. [online] Available at:
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.ARBL.ZS [Accessed 17 Aug. 2014].