The general concensus of here is that about 10-20% of the local agricultural output goes towards alcohol production (millet beer.) It should be noted that alcohol calories contribute to a part of total calories.
It should also be noted that most people in my area are self-sufficient when it comes to growing food for their families even when they include dozens of children. The problems are arising in urban areas, where people move in serach of jobs, or because they’ve been disposseced from their land in some way.
[QUOTE=Humble Servant]
–When agriculture first got going and people had the opportunity to handle/store surpluses (tide them over the next drought/famine), storing calories in the form of alcohol was efficient–no spoilage/rodent/weather loss.
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Distilled spirits will last for a really long time but beer, wine, etc. won’t store for long periods of time without good bottling technology of some sort. In the distant past they pretty much drank the beer and wine as soon as it was ready.
Maybe. The beer theory of agriculture is certainly popular on college campuses but it’s difficult to say one way or the other.
Marc
Is there a world food shortage or regions with a money shortage? If all the world’s food were distributed evenly, would there be enough to go around?
The grain mash that is leftover from the fermentation process of making beer and other spirits is often used as animal feed. It is a fully utilized food process, nothing need be wasted. The starting grain’s food value is intact, even though it has undergone a metamorphosis inyo alcohol or in some cases meat… or marmite.
Look, here’s the deal. It’s not like there is some fixed amount of food that is required to feed the population and anything below that causes starvation. Famine and starvation in places like Africa are caused by war, politics and lack of infrastructure. It’s not because everyone else used up all the food before they could get to it.
[QUOTE=coffeecat]
Is there a world food shortage or regions with a money shortage? If all the world’s food were distributed evenly, would there be enough to go around?
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No, you’d make it worse.
[QUOTE=msmith537]
Look, here’s the deal. It’s not like there is some fixed amount of food that is required to feed the population and anything below that causes starvation. Famine and starvation in places like Africa are caused by war, politics and lack of infrastructure. It’s not because everyone else used up all the food before they could get to it.
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Exactly (and you can put “corruption” into the general category of politics). Now, in a place like Haiti, people are rioting because of food shortages. Even in the U.S., extra storage of basic commodities like grains has gone down.
[QUOTE=Australian Broadcasting Corporation]
Food prices have gone up by more than 40 percent in the last 12 months, sparking riots and unrest in countries like Egypt, Haiti and Uzbekistan.
and a top United Nations official warns that food price hikes could cause worldwide turmoil and global political instability.
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Everybody’s gotta eat–enjoy your Chicken Nuggets.