Shen Tong Says "To Ensure Sustainability, We Have to Make it Personal"

EL Group International


Tuesday, February 12, 2019 7:15 AM

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / February 12, 2019 / "Sustainable" is a popular word these days which is being used in every field known to mankind, sustainable energy sources, sustainable fuel system then how can we keep ourselves away from sustainable food. The use of word sustainable in the context of renewable invokes an idea of reliability and renew-ability that will last for a very long period. But are we all aware the word "sustainable" must be clearly defined and place within parameters in relation to the fixed size of the population.

The amount of food consumption is determined by the individual's standard of living, and with the growing population, the standards have been changing. The necessity to provide adequate food for future generations introduced the concept of "food sustainability", in which food crops are grown along with energy crops making it a more sustainable food system.

Sustainable Food production has been a small scale arrangement with gardeners and farmers producing various in-season crops for their consumption or to sell at the local market. But, sustainable farming is also required in feeding the world's increasing population as the competition for land use for various purposes has increased ten folds.

We all know agriculture depends heavily on the natural resources and with global growth in energy crop cultivation, the competition for land use has increased. The overworking of land can cause harm to the land, but it does provide many environmental benefits as well.

To understand the need of sustainability of food, I had a talk with Mr. Shen Tong, the founder, and managing partner of FoodFutureCo, a serial entrepreneur who has invested in multiple companies which works towards good food and sustainable agriculture. He has been supporting numerous organizations not only with funding but also with advice and business acceleration whenever needed at multiple stages of early period of high growth and impactful companies.

Shen Tong quoted, "We humans have been cultivation crops for over tens of thousands of years because agriculture was the main source of employment. Today with modern practices and advanced machinery, large areas of land are being worked by a few people. Over-farming of land has always been the cause of many environmental effects, which include climate change, land degradation, and deforestation."

He continued to add "Food is essential for life growth and cultural ethnicity, but the truth is continuous farming has been depleting the natural resources to such an extreme level that the land is now a barren space which is not good for anything forget farming. We have been using natural resources without any concern to understand how our activities affect the earth."

We agreed with Shen Tong on this, we have been using the natural resources to such an extent that we have started affecting the natural cycle of the earth. There will be a time when these will be the cause of our extinction.

Shen Tong further added, "Though people depend on healthy food that can provide them with proper nutrients for their healthy growth, while they do not realize that they are degrading the capacity of food production for future generations. This has a major impact on the health of the planet. The major cause of this cause we think the planet is not our responsibility. We have to realize that to ensure sustainability, we have to make it personal and consider it as our responsibility."

When questioned how did he find the inspiration to work toward food sustainability. Shen Tong stated, "Watching my children grow every day made me realize that the methods we are using for food consumption will be the means to degradation of our planet."

He further added, "Encouraging children to learn more about food, where it comes from and how it grows can encourage children to innovate. Kids have a vivid imagination, they give millions of ideas which can change the course of human life. Though not all of them as practical when you look at them, they give you an idea of evolutionary innovation."

The continuous usage of chemicals has affected the food quality in more way than we can imagine and the need to feed the growing population puts more pressure on farmers to generate food is huge quantities which in turn makes them use chemicals to boost the crop growth.

Shen Tong stated "Sustainable food is not just about the growing food but also about ensuring food justice. There are millions of people who do not get proper nutrition which leads to fatigue and malnutrition. With the technologies we are working on we can ensure that we can lend our hand on reducing the food inequality and saving the planet."

He continued to add, "The companies and the government have to work together and design policies that comply with international food safety standards and promote sustainability from the farmer's field to dinner table. Sustainability is about growing, buying, storing and recycling waste food. All of these activities will have a major impact on future generations."

There have been government policies which aim to improve the efficiency of food production while ensuring the preservation of the natural ecosystem on which the world's food supply depends.

In today's hungry world, the production of sustainable foods has to compete for biomass and non-food energy crop production which will evidently increase the competition for the use of fertile land. Sustainable food production systems can ensure the balance between food production and energy crop cultivation, making the most out of the land without permanently damaging it. Getting the most from the present cultivation methods is not possible without permanently damaging the planet. Sustainable food systems can ensure that we get everything we need without causing a disruption in the natural cycle. By turning wastes like manure or food scraps into fertilizers can help us improve sustainability.

Shen Tong finally ended with," A sustainable food system is made up of the environment, people and process by which agricultural and farmed goods are produced, prepared, preserved and brought to consumers without damaging the long term health of the ecosystems."

I agree to the fact that every aspect of the sustainable food system has an effect on food availability and affect the consumer's ability to choose and healthy diet without compromising the ability of future generations to meeting their need for survival.

Media Contact:

Name: Shen Tong
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: EL Group International