TED Talks Daily
A global food crisis may be only a decade away | Sara Menker artwork

A global food crisis may be only a decade away | Sara Menker

TED Talks Daily
17:32
Play episode

Show notes

Sara Menker quit a career in commodities trading to figure out how the global value chain of agriculture works. Her discoveries have led to some startling predictions: "We could have a tipping point in global food and agriculture if surging demand surpasses the agricultural system's structural capacity to produce food," she says. "People could starve and governments may fall." Menker's models predict that this scenario could happen in a decade -- that the world could be short 214 trillion calories per year by 2027. She offers a vision of this impossible world as well as some steps we can take today to avoid it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from this show

More
  1. What makes a good game? | Eric Zimmerman

    What’s the best way to make a project more playful? Game designer Eric Zimmerman has a counterintuitive suggestion: a few good rules. Drawing on his experience making everything fr…

    14:16
  2. How to clean up the world's dirtiest industry | Joojin Kim

    Climate strategist Joojin Kim spent years convincing banks across South Korea to stop funding coal, and it worked. Now he's aiming that same playbook at a new target: maritime ship…

    13:20
  3. The secret to mastering life's biggest transitions | Bruce Feiler

    How do you navigate life's growing number of transitions with meaning, purpose and skill? Writer Bruce Feiler offers a powerful way to handle uncertain, painful and confusing times…

    22:21
  4. How tech will (and won't) replace your doctor | Zack Abbott and Dhruv Khullar

    There's more health advice available than ever before — and no easy way to tell what’s worth your time. From biotech breakthroughs to smarter cancer screening, physician Dhruv Khul…

    29:00
  5. How to make AI companies pay your energy bill | Ari Matusiak

    Climate expert Ari Matusiak spends his days working to rewire America's energy system, and he has an idea: instead of tech companies building new power plants for their AI data cen…

    15:10
  6. How to use tech to outsmart dictators | Leopoldo López

    In seven years as a political prisoner in Venezuela, activist Leopoldo López kept asking one question: Who holds the keys to freedom? Now the leader of an alliance of dissidents an…

    21:42
Now Playing
A global food crisis may be only a decade away | Sara Menker — TED Talks Daily | Podcast | Josplay Music