On World Food Day: Crunching the Numbers

Tomorrow is World Food Day and since I can't invite you all over
for dinner, I thought I'd serve up a smorgasbord of facts and figures about the
way the US
and the world eat or don't eat, as the case may be.

The menu isn't all bad, but I'll warn you that too much of
it could lead to mental and emotional indigestion. The good news is that if you live in the
developed world and you don't like what you're served, another option is only a
few steps away or, in the case of online food-for-thought, mouse-clicks away. That said, I'd urge you to finish your plate
and consider sharing a bite with others.

If I sound like a parent, it's because I am which is one of
the reasons I feel compelled to mix these eclectic issues together in one big
pot. If we can all start seeing the
connections between food, health, and the environment and teaching our children
to do the same, perhaps we can serve up a more palatable offering of food statistics
in their lifetime.

So, let's dig in:

• 1:
  number of new kitchen gardens planted at the White House this year AP
• 1943:
  the last time food was grown at the White House White
  House
• 20
  million: the number of new gardens planted in 1943 LA
  Times
• 40%:
  percentage of nation's produce coming from gardens in 1943 LA
  Times
• 7 million:
  estimated number of new food gardens planted in the US in 2009 NGA
• $2000:
  amount of savings possible per year from a 40' x 40' garden KGI
• 90%:
  percentage of fruit/vegetable varieties lost in the US the last 100 years CNN
• 3500:
  number of vegetable varieties owned by Monsanto Monsanto
• 18,467:
  number of new small farms counted in the last agricultural census USDA
• 4,685:
  number of farmers markets nationwide USDA
• 4,100:
  number of Wal-mart stores and clubs in the US Wal-mart
• 187,000
  ft² : average area of a Wal-mart superstore Wal-mart
• 60,112 ft²:
  average area of a farmers' market USDA
• 9.5
  million: number of imported food shipments arriving in the US each year Huffington Post
• 226,377:
  number of establishments registered to export food to the US Huffington Post
• 200:
  number of on-site inspections of these establishments conducted by the FDA last
  year Huffington Post
• 76
  million: number of people who fall ill each year due to food
  poisoning CDC
• 50
  gallons: volume of sugared beverages consumed per person in the US each year LA Times
• 22,727:
  number of Olympic-sized swimming pools those beverages would fill Answers.com
• $15
  billion: annual estimated revenue of a penny-per-ounce tax on soda LA Times
• $20.5
  billion: Coca-Cola's gross profit in 2008 Coca-Cola
• 72
  million: number of American adults considered obese CDC
• 33%:
  percentage of US children likely to develop obesity or Type 2 diabetes CDC
• 10-15
  years: average number of years their lives will be shortened as a result CDC
• 57 years: average age of the American farmer USDA
• 25 days:
  average shelf-life of a Twinkie Snopes
  
• 350 parts
  per million: sustainable level of CO² in atmosphere 350.org
• 390 parts
  per million: current level of CO² in the atmosphere NOAA
• 31%:
  percentage of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions attributable to food and
  agriculture IPCC
• 2020:
  year by which many geologists feel the world will have reached "peak
  oil" production UK
  Research Centre
• 10
  calories: average amount of fossil fuel energy required to produce 1
  calorie of food energy in industrialized food systems Cornell
• 29,100
  calories: estimated fossil fuel calories required to produce one order of
  Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries Men's Health
• 1 billion:
  number of hungry people in the world in 2009 FAO
• 9.1
  billion: projected world population in the year 2050 US Census
• 70%: percentage
  increase in global food production required to feed that projected population FAO
• 70%:
  percentage of world's fresh water used for agricultural purposes UNESCO
• 1.8
  billion: number of people expected to experience "water scarcity"
  in the year 2025 UNEP
• 0: number
  of new, oil-rich, water-rich, fertile and inhabitable planets we are likely to
  discover in the next 40 years
• 1: number
  of people needed to make a positive difference in any of the above: you!