4. Most of us have three meals a day. We take food for granted (理所当然). And we don't think about it. But experts argue that a food crisis is coming. This crisis is going to make us change the way we think about food.
Food is in great need because of the growing world population. By 1960, the population was three billion (十亿) . It doubled to six billion by 1999. By 2050, this planet will need to feed at least nine billion people. As a result, the food prices will get higher and higher.
So, what can a hungry, crowded world do?One suggestion is to eat less meat. Meat uses more natural resources(资源) than grains (谷物). It requires more land to produce one pound of meat than to produce one pound of grain. It also requires between 5 and 10 times more water than vegetables. So, eating less meat will provide more land for farming, and it will save water.
To eat less meat, people will need to change their eating habits. That will not be easy. Americans, for example, always love meat. In general, they eat twice as much meat as people in other countries. At the same time, in developing countries like China and Brazil, sales of meat have doubled in the last 20 years. They will double again by 2050.
Demanding (需要) for meat will continue to put pressure on natural resources.
World population is increasing, resources are becoming fewer, and food prices are rising. Therefore (所以), we need to rethink what we eat every day. For meat lovers, we don't need to give up meat completely. But we need to eat more grains and less meat.