According to health.com, the average person needs between 1600 to 3000 kilocalories a day depending on sex and age.
According to Our World In Data, even Africa, the continent with the least food reserves, has enough to give everyone roughly 2500 kcal, which ought to be more or less enough given how people with higher and lower caloric needs balance out. Seeing as how developed countries have more than enough, if a portion of that went to Africa and Asia, everyone could eat.
Calories are a rough measure, and according to Bahadur et al. we are overproducing grains but underproducing fruits, but the wretched of the Earth and the prisoners of starvation are not even getting that grain.
Edit: I have been informed that “calories” in nutrition are in fact “large-C calories”, A.K.A. kilocalories. On the other hand, the OWiD numbers, which document the number of kcal available per day, still suggest that we have enough to feed everyone. I have altered the comment accordingly.
Only half of the world’s croplands are used to grow crops that are consumed by humans directly. We use a lot of land to grow crops for biofuels and other industrial products, and an even bigger share is used to feed livestock.
Even if all crops went directly to the stores, the problem would remain. Food is sold to make a profit, not fulfill human needs. It is unprofitable to provide food for all who need it. It is far more profitable to provide luxurious feasts for the wealthy.
https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/global-food?tab=chart&facet=none&country=OWID_WRL~OWID_SAM~OWID_NAM~OWID_EUR~OWID_AFR~OWID_ASI~OWID_OCE&hideControls=true&Food=Total&Metric=Food+available+for+consumption&Per+Capita=false&Unit=Kilocalories+per+day
This specifically talks about food.
According to health.com, the average person needs between 1600 to 3000 kilocalories a day depending on sex and age.
According to Our World In Data, even Africa, the continent with the least food reserves, has enough to give everyone roughly 2500 kcal, which ought to be more or less enough given how people with higher and lower caloric needs balance out. Seeing as how developed countries have more than enough, if a portion of that went to Africa and Asia, everyone could eat.
Calories are a rough measure, and according to Bahadur et al. we are overproducing grains but underproducing fruits, but the wretched of the Earth and the prisoners of starvation are not even getting that grain.
Edit: I have been informed that “calories” in nutrition are in fact “large-C calories”, A.K.A. kilocalories. On the other hand, the OWiD numbers, which document the number of kcal available per day, still suggest that we have enough to feed everyone. I have altered the comment accordingly.
Small nitpick: When we talk about calories in food we actually mean kcal
When I was into gym and building muscle mass this confused the hell out of me at first.
That’s not small! That is something that can falsify my comment. I must run the maths again.
This is a beef and corn problem fueled by subsidies.
Even if all crops went directly to the stores, the problem would remain. Food is sold to make a profit, not fulfill human needs. It is unprofitable to provide food for all who need it. It is far more profitable to provide luxurious feasts for the wealthy.