Let’s calculate the amount of agricultural effort it would take to feed the average adult until age 70. To first order, corn providing calories plus adjustment

Let’s calculate the amount of agricultural effort it would take to feed the average adult until age 70. To first order, corn providing calories plus adjustments. In the US, I find about two weeks of adult agricultural labor are required to feed an adult to age 70. Assume one average US farm family (1000 acres, 200 bushels/acre corn) effort feeds 25000 adults/yr, defined as adequate calories from corn (8 bushels/year to provide annual calories for one adult). So 350 food lives/yr from birth to death (75-80 yr life expectancy). Every day, a farm family (3-5 for 1000 acre farm) births a new food life. Can’t just eat corn so soybeans, vegetables, meat…count machinery, fuel, processing, shipping…let’s multiply that by a fudge factor of 3 to account for that. Two extra people for every farm family member for additional crops, distribution, shipping, fuel, machinery. So, 3-5 person/days * 3 ~ 14 days. Two weeks adult ag labor provides for 70 years of adequate food for one person. I could squeeze two weeks labor into a beach schedule sometime over 50 years to be assured to eat for the rest of my life. Lots of ways to challenge the numbers…but double, triple them, and it’s still a tiny fraction of a life. IT tech is fine, but ag tech improvements have fed, and continue to feed, the world.