But if we look at normal people, “Well, that amount of calories would do well for a family of 5 or 6 on a daily basis here in Burundi …”

Let’s factor in intense exercise or physically activity in the realm of mere mortals. (btw, I’ve never read of anyone proposing that people walk or bicycle 20-80 miles each way or even 5-15 miles. It wouldn’t surprise me if their are fringe suggestions, I’m talking “mainstream”. The mantra is “walk or ride a bike when you can”. The idea being that each person decides whats reasonable).

I’m 5′4″, 38 and exercise intensely 5-7 times a week, 2-4 times I week I exercise twice a day. My daily caloric intake is about 2000-2200 calories per day. I can easily walk for miles, run, jump rope, indoor row or ride a bike for extended periods of time)

A woman my age, same height, but weighs 163 (the average weight and height for an American woman) needs 1800 calories per day to maintain her weight based on an inactive lifestyle.

I can make up the 200-400 additional calories I need compared to an overweight sedentary woman by simply eating a modest to generous bowl of granola cereal with milk.

On a similar note - as to the amount eaten - I’ve just received word from the Oriental Institute of a wonderful website that provides great information on the original Olymics [in Greece] Here are a few quotes on nutrition of competitors at the time; lots of protein, no sweets, and huge amounts of food washed down with wine, seemed to be the order of olympian day - web site below:

Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae X 412 d-f

The athlete Theagenes devoured a bull on his own, as Poseidippos says in his epigrams: “On an assembly I once ate a Maeonian ox, for my ancestrial Thasos could not have furnished a meal for Theagenes. Whatever I ate, I kept asking for more. For this reason I stand in bronze, holding forth my hand.”

According to Theodorus of Hierapolis, in his book about competitions, Milon of Kroton used to eat twenty pounds of meat and as many of bread and he drank three jars of wine. In Olympia he lifted a four-year-old bull on his shoulders and carried it around the stadion. Afterwards he cut it in pieces and ate in on his own in a single day.

pictetus III, 15 - Epictetus (circa 55-135 AD) tells how you should live if you want to become a great champion:

“You have to be disciplined, eat under compulsion, stay away from cookies, you are obliged to train on fixed hours, in the heat and in the cold. You cannot drink cold water or wine when it occurs to you. You have to hand yourself over completely to your coach like to a doctor.”

This great site has been developed by a couple of classical historians at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, in Belgium; see:

http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/index.html

Another issue is expected population growth, can we continue to, at least in quantitative terms, grow enough food to feed rapidly growing populations? And how can it be done with a smaller carbon foot print?

And finally climate change and agricultural development are on the agenda together. Almost all new poverty/hunger alleviation aid and agricultural development programs that I’ve seen in Africa addresses the need to mitigate the effects of climate change for the poorest of the poor. This is where scientists are working on improved seed varieties, soil conditioners, water stocking methods and solar energy.

All very simplified here, I know.

http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/foodclimate/HLCdocs/HLC08-inf-3-E.pdf

worth reading

To be completely honest I don’t expect people in general to have any detailed knowledge of the scientific process. Even in “Science” it is common enough to see Ph.D. students that don’t have a clear I clear idea of this. The difference between testing a hypothesis and “proving” something for instance.

On the other hand, intelligent people shouldn’t require any specific training to think critically.

One question that I would like answered is “Is there a global food shortage and if there is a food shortage and if so what the the major contributing factors?”

Charles Perry told me that Turkish soldiers during the Korean war were terribly concerned about finding yogurt. Cows, but no milk or dairy products?

We didn’t have a milk industry back then. The native hanwoo breed of cattle, were used mostly as draft animals. Beef was for the wealthy until fairly recently.