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Utilizing Plant and Animal Resources in Producing Human Food^1,2,

Iowa State University, Ames 50010 and Cooperative State Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 20250

Abstract

Malthus (1798) declared 176 years ago that population always tends to press against the available food supply. At various times, his declaration has been cited to indicate that we face imminent starvation. Indeed, a related question is again being asked — should man consume plant resources more directly rather than feeding so much to livestock?

Among the reasons for asking this question are recent reductions in food and feed supplies resulting from droughts in several areas of the world and a continued growth in population. Simultaneously, governments of some affluent nations are advocating policies that would bring greater quantities of high-quality food to their people. In concert, modern travel and communications are making people of lesser-developed nations aware of their insufficient food supply, as compared with that in the developed countries.

Within this perspective, future consumption of foods of animal origin is fundamentally dependent on demand, feed resources available, and cost.

¹ Invitational paper presented at the Symposium on Foods of Animal Origin: Current Appraisal and Future Outlook, held during the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Animal Science, College Park, Maryland, July 28 to 31, 1974.

² Journal Paper No. J-8030 of the Iowa Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames. Project No. 1971.

³ Professor of Agronomy, Iowa State University, and Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor of Agriculture, Iowa State University, Ames.

⁴ Principal Agronomist, Cooperative State Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

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