by Rick Badman

Created on: August 24, 2009   Last Updated: August 26, 2009

We can end starvation before the middle of this century when there could be over 10 billion people in the world. Here is how I would do it:

(1) UNDERGROUND RESERVOIRS

Underground reservoir systems hollowed out by plasma drilling moles around the world would redistribute water from where there is an excess to where it is needed. There would be more water in the systems than what exists in the Great Lakes. Agricultural areas would receive much of the water.

(2) THE SAHARA RESERVOIR

This will take years to excavate with plasma excavation equipment and cost trillions of dollars and become the largest body of fresh water in the world. Water from the Atlantic and Mediterranean will be desalinized before it passes through the hydroelectrical plants into the reservoir. The sea levels around the world will lower and the climate will become cooler since a massive body of water will replace much of the largest desert in the world. Africa will become electrified and be nearly all green. The Sahara glass produced by plasma equipment will be sent to places around the world. The Sahara Reservoir will make a major impact on the world.

(3) STACK FARMS

These will be vertical farms that will allow large farms to be located in urban areas since they will be like skyscrapers with crops and livestock inside both above the ground and below it. A stack farm on Long Island could have more acreage than a large farm in the Midwest.

(4) OCEAN FARMING

This has been a dream since before the time of Jules Verne. Well over a billion people will receive nourishment from the oceans. The species of fish harvested will be managed to prevent overfishing. Once the oceans are cleaned up better, the abundance of the ocean will prevent massive starvation.

(5) SYNTHETIC FOOD

Artificial food produced in a laboratory environment will provide a lot of food for the world.

(6) PROHIBITION ON WASTE

We throw away too much food. We also let it rot. It reminds me of a story I heard over 35 years ago. A woman's son was assigned to Bombay to pick up the dead bodies everyday. He became so callous that as a woman was starving at his feet, he was eating a candy bar. She died. We also need to not be afraid of irradiated food since the astronauts have been eating it for decades without ill effects. Food will last longer and bacteria will be eliminated.

(7) SPACE AGRICULTURE

Food will be grown out in space where the sun always shines. Much of it will be for those living and working in space. But a portion of it will be sent down to earth to be distributed.

(8) SUPERSOIL

This mixture of soil, nutrients, and binding material will allow areas that aren't good for farming to become agricultural areas. The forests we have lost could come back and the deserts could bloom. Worms and bacteria will also be introduced to work the soil.

(9) HYDROPONICS AND AIR GROWING

Hydroponics and growing crops that receive their nutrients from the air will allow stack farms to be concentrated agricultural centers. A 50-story stack farm could have over 10,000 acres due to vertical panels where crops are grown. All the food New York City needs could be produced on Long Island in stack farms.

(10) UNDERGROUND FARMS

These farms could be used for livestock raising and mushroom growth as well as synthetic food production. The climate will be controlled too so that farming could go on all year long.

There should be no reason for starvation by the end of the century even if we had a population of over 20 billion people. Thanks to technology and good food management, starvation could be a thing of the past a century from now.

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