We go through a lot of food everyday, how do we do that? How do we have enough food for billions of people to eat everyday? What are some of the problems that the supply chain faces these day? (Feel free to expand on any other questions too!)
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A huge percentage of the people on earth work in agriculture
According to the world bank number it was 28% of Earth’s employed population in 2018. That is 1 billion people. So we talk about 1 in 8 humans working to produce food.
The percentage has dropped over time it was 44% back in 1991 and the further you go back the larger percentage it is. This is because of the mechanization of agriculture. In 1800 we talk about 90% of Earth’s population was farmers.
The percentage is not the same in all countries for the US the number is around 1% because of the high level of mechanization.
This number is only for growing food and raising animals. The number does not include the people that make tractors and other equipment used in farming. The equipment needs fuel and service to be used. The food also needs to be transported and sold to the consumer.
I am not sure to what degree it includes people that process the food like butchers etc. I am quite sure that the number does not include people that work in a restaurant but might include people in some food processing plants. But the point is there are more people that are involved in the process that brings food to you than the ones that do the direct farming.
So we have enough food because the work of a huge amount of people is directly or indirectly involved in the feeding of Earth’s population
I am not sure to what degree it includes people that process the food like butchers etc. I am quite sure that the number does not include people that work in a restaurant but might include people in some food processing plants. But the point is there are more people that are involved in the process that brings food to you than the ones that directly grow it.
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