Have you ever stopped to wonder how many calories are grown per acre of food? We usually think of yields in terms of bushels or some other physical and tangible measurement. But considering that we’re growing commodities for food, have you ever stopped to wonder how many calories we produce per acre?
In her article, In Defense of Corn The World’s Most Important Food Crop, Tamar Haspel wrote for The Washington Post an interesting article pointing out that corn is one of our cheapest sources of food in terms of calories per acre. Haspel attempts to counter the critics of growing so much corn by pointing out that its high yields of calories should be an important consideration when we consider how we will meet rising food demands.
She says:
There’s a long list of things we ought to be doing to help address the problem of feeding a growing population. Some, like reducing food waste, are a clear win. Others, like buying organic, are more questionable. But the math on crop productivity is persuasive. If you eat a plant that yields twice the number of calories per acre, you halve the amount of land required to feed you.
Nice comparison on the crops. Quite inaccurate about the calories a person needs in one year (as a representative average).. 1,000,000 calories per year works out to 2,740 calories per day! Very few people need that level of energy, but most get it, hence the obesity “epidemic”. A lot of us would do better with about 1,400 to 1,600 calories per day. So at 500,000 to 600,000 calories per year, those grains go even further.
Amanda, you keep up the good work!
Hm…I thought 1,400 to 1,600 calories was a deficit that would allow an active person to lose weight? In any case, I didn’t come up with the number, the one writing the article did. I get your point though. 🙂
Good job on highlighting the crops that provide the most food value per acre. It is an interesting way of looking at your environmental footprint. The infographic says it all simply and clearly.