Farmscape for December 2, 2011   (Episode 4023)

The Chair of the Banff Pork Seminar Advisory Committee suggests, with a growing global population fueling an increased need for food, global economies will need to continue to expand to maintain the affordability of that food.

The theme of the 2012 Banff Pork Seminar, set for January 17 to 20 in Banff, Alberta is "Feeding Tomorrow's World."

Jim Haggins, the Chair of the Banff Pork Seminar Advisory Committee, notes the global population recently hit seven billion people, the forecast is for another two billion by 2050 and all of those people will require added food supplies.

Clip-Jim Haggins-Alberta Pork:
It will be a challenge, not one that we expect to fail at but it will certainly be a challenge for all food producing nations to ramp up production to be able to maintain enough supplies of good sound nutrition for an expanding global population.

Much of what will evolve will depend on global economics if you will.

As we all appreciate they're being challenged right now but in addition to more mouths to feed they also will have to have the ability to spend money on protein versus other food stuffs that are available to them so the global economy is equally as important as the number of mouths to feed and we look forward to being able to address those challenges, produce pork as efficiently as possible and do it in a way which is sustainable for the longer term future of the industry across the country.

Haggins observes as people in some of the developing countries earn more money they're altering their diets accordingly and eating more protein.

He acknowledges, with what we're seeing in the global economy right now, it could be challenging for a few years ahead but he expects global economies to continue to expand and allow that affordability to continue.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       * Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council