Abby Stein

AP Lang
Sustenance and Sustainability Intro

Fast Facts:
A moderately active female aged 31-50 should eat
2000 calories a day, while the average male of the
same description should eat 2400-2600 a day.
Eating healthy would cost the average American
$550 more per year.
In 2013, 49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure
households, including 33.3 million adults and 15.8
million children.
There are an estimated 805 million people that are
chronically undernourished.
The world population is expected to reach 9.1 million
people by 2050.
To feed this growing population, food production will
need to double.
Production of food will be greatly hurt by climate
changes.
The number of those malnourished varies in each
region, with the largest percentage being in Asia.
About 1.4 million people live on less than $1.25 a day.
Meat consumption is at an all time high in America,
with the average consumption 57 pounds higher in
Food, without question, is one of the most quintessential needs for all living
species. Food carries a huge burden. It defines culture, impacts interactions,
and is simply responsible for keeping all living beings alive. What we often
dont think about is the impact what we eat has on our whole world. This
chapter attempts to investigate this topic.
Think of the last time something monumental happened. It was most
likely celebrated, or mourned, with a meal. Since the beginning of recorded
history, this pattern has been shown. It is simply in our nature to mark

events with meals, whether a birth, marriage, reunion, or death. People have
taken the essential task of eating, and turned it into something much more
significant. This is true to such an extent, that what is eaten can often define
cultures. Think Italy, and you probably think pizza, think Mexico and you
probably think tacos. When visiting a country, it is obvious that one should
eat the native cuisine, or else he or she simply will not get the full
experience. This being said, food carries a huge burden, one that is often
forgotten when just thinking of food as sustenance.
Knowing that food is so essential, it is horrifying to learn that so many
are without it. An overwhelming number of people around the world are
considered food insecure, meaning, they do not know where their next meal
will come from. While to so many, all that is necessary to eat is a walk into
the kitchen, this just is not true for everyone. Around the world, there are
millions of people who havent eaten and days, and do not know if they will
be eating for many more days. This is a huge problem, and although, it is
true that we have made progress, it is impossible to ignore that much more
progress is necessary to fix the problem overall.
Statistics are not in our favor. The population of the world is constantly
growing, when we are already struggling to feed the current population. This
does not bode well for our chances of solving hunger anytime soon. In order
to grasp what solving current and future problems would mean, we must look
at our current patterns. We must attempt to understand the impact that the
way we eat has on our world.

In this chapter, you will lead on an exploration of what we eat, and how
we eat it. The chapter begins with a look at images of people around the
world, and their average meals. This will be shown in an attempt to
understand the current state of food, and the cultures surrounding what we
eat. The chapter will also have an article about meat consumption and
America, and whether this behavior is actually impacting our world
negatively. We will also look at an article about the way our food production
is impacting the environment. Finally, the chapter will bring sources on our
current hunger problem, and the predicted problem with the growing
population. Overall, this chapter will show that food is not just what we it, but
it is so much more than that.

With our growing population and preexisting struggle with food insecurity,
does humanity have a responsibility to eat more responsibly, thus helping
future generations and people all over the globe?