Food for Thought: A Thought for Food

12.05.08 - 18:44 ... source : United Nations Environement Programme - UNEP

... By Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director, UN Environment Programme For two centuries, Australians have coped with the challenge of producing food on a continent where 70 per cent of its surface is at best semi-arid. The legendary Australian ingenuity has met this challenge through a combination of innovation, determination and world-class science. By harnessing the country's river systems and deploying a range of fertilizers and chemicals, Australians have enjoyed bountiful supplies of meat, grains, vegetables and dairy products that in many developing countries with similar climates and conditions are so often in short, life-threatening supply. Australia's governments and citizens however know that this bounty has come at an increasing environmental cost. Even with innovative schemes such as LandCare, Australia's farmers, politicians and citizens are facing new and confronting challenges, not the le ...» Next (HTML)