> Food production has been optimized throughout the entirety of human existence. But it has been optimized to solve a problem most people reading this article n

> Food production has been optimized throughout the entirety of human existence. But it has been optimized to solve a problem most people reading this article no longer experience. Society no longer needs more food; it needs healthier food. There is an argument that "most people reading this article" shouldn't be taken in isolation from the rest of the world. The market for food is global. And there is (according to the UN) a worldwide food shortage[1]. Certainly, (inflation-adjusted) food prices now way higher than at any point between 1990 and 2007 (though down from peaks in 2008 & 2011)[2]. If demand from first world countries shifts to lower-calorie-per-unit-area foodstuffs, eventually the global cost of a calorie's worth of food will increase, exacerbating any food shortage. (Whether that is a good reason not to move away from grains is a matter for debate -- see the endlessly rehashed arguments whenever someone brings up food shortages as a reason to be a vegetarian). [1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/oct/14/un-global-food-crisis-warning http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/oct/14/un-... [2] http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/wfs-home/foodpricesindex/en/ http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/wfs-home/foodpricesind...