GUEST POST: Technology Might Hold the Key to Helping Us Eat Better

Technology Might Hold the Key to Helping Us Eat Better

You could ride a bicycle, wear only clothes made from plants and recycle all the plastic you use – and you would still be a threat to the environment.

The fact that many of us do not give much thought to our eating habits – and how they negatively affect the environment – is evident in the constant environmental degradation happening on a global scale.

Thankfully, technology is taking a stand against these, but you should also know what they are.

Fishing

Fishing is one of the biggest sectors of agriculture. That should not be surprising, seeing as

more than 71% of the world 

is covered in water.

It is, however, estimated that 

some 20-25% of all fish consumed in the US alone are products of illegal fishing activities. Illegal fishing like these can create a lot of problems, from overfishing to ocean pollution and bypassing of numerous quotas.

We might not be environmental specialists, but we do know that the ecosystem exists in a delicate balance. Thus, disrupting the balance in the aquatic environment by overfishing holds dire consequences for us too.

How tech is helping: As stated above, one of the biggest problems in our water bodies today stem from debris. The Pacific Ocean alone is known to contain 43% of fishing gear debris, making that the largest contributor to the growing body of waste on water bodies.

Blockchain tech is currently being applied to identify the type and quantity of fishing gear which boats leave the port with. That makes it easier to track those boats whichboats leave the port with. That makes it easier to track those boats which are coming back to port with lesser fishing gear than they left with.

Likewise, blockchain helps the creation of smart contracts towards the identification of different fish species, determination of their profit margin and the establishment of a generally acceptable quota. This makes it impossible for fishermen to mislabel fish just to escape quota sanctions or make more profit on a fish too.

Livestock Farming

Even though meat supplies less than 20% of all the calorific content we need, they take up an amazing 83% of all available farmland. To put that in context, the world has just about 13% of farmland left for crop farming – and these crops make up the best part of our meals anyways.

The world is not slowing down on population growth either. If we continue this way, there would be no land left to cultivate food for the teeming population. To create more lands would be to turn to environmentally damaging practices like deforestation.

Besides that, livestock farming generates an obscene 6 billion tons of greenhouse gases yearly.

With every bite of meat, you might as well be endorsing a negative, global climate phenomenon too.

Furthermore, increased demand for meat means some animal species are fast going extinct. Even though some governments recognize this and have created reserves for these kinds of animals, poachers will just not stay off.

There has to be nothing as inhumane as endangering an already endangered species even more.

How technology is helping: The world has a large appetite for meat,so something has to be done about that. By something, some labs in Australia have already started growing meat alternatives.

Cultured and developed in the laboratory with totally plant-based materials, these meat alternatives are worked with aroma and taste so much that they taste and look like the real thing after cooking.

Likewise, connected devices and sensors are being used to curb the excesses of animal poachers in the fields. Trained to listen for poaching activity – from trap sounds to gunshot reports and vehicular movements – these sensors will communicate with rangers/ other constituted authority to alert them to poacher intrusion in real-time.

Due to the vulnerability of IoT devices to hacking, securing them will be a no-brainer. This can be done in several ways, from setting strong and secure passwords on these units to making sure they are always on a secured connected e.g. encrypting them with a VPN, broadcasting trusted WIFI frequencies only, etc.

Conclusion

While tech is doing its part, you should also contribute your quota.

In addition to all your environmental-saving efforts, always watch out for what you eat. Only shop from reputable brands instead of black-market dealers. If possible, go for organizations that display the history of the meat/ fish you are getting.

That way, you are not indirectly funding a criminal organization dedicated to destroying our environment as it is.

Thanks,

Chris Jones @TurnOnVPN