Does sacrificing food quality for quantity really save lives, or does it just allow for population increase, with similar levels of suffering at the margins? T

Does sacrificing food quality for quantity really save lives, or does it just allow for population increase, with similar levels of suffering at the margins? This is a controversial question. To pick a popular example, estimates of lives saved by the Green Revolution range from the billions to the hundred thousands, and you don't have to look hard to find arguments that this shift in agricultural technology increased the number of people living in poverty. The advent of agriculture precipated explosions in food production and population growth along side a major decrease in living standards that persisted for millennia. One well-documented side effect of this transition is a vastly increased susceptibility to epidemics. When presented with a surplus of a resource, humans have an interesting tendency to simply use up more of it until a shortage reappears. Maybe this is why I have to use so many electron apps.