Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Re: Forests and trees provide benefits for food security and nutrition – what is your say?

Eva, Fred and friends,

  • What are the key challenges and bottlenecks hindering a greater contribution of forests, trees on farms and agroforestry systems to food security?

    In 2006, it was reported that atmospheric aerosols ("monoterpenes") rising from the boreal forests protect the Earth from solar UV-B radiation in several ways. During our lifetimes, half of the boreal forests have disappeared, from logging and pest infestation. That means half the quantity of monoterpenes that used to be produced by the forests are gone. Present global temperature and increasing demands for paper made from trees do not favor recovery of the boreal forests. UV-B radiation has more than doubled in the past twenty years.

    Increasing UV-B is a vastly under regarded danger, as it contributes to epidemic health problems, global warming, reduced harvests and increased solubility of mercury. Even the UN report released last month, entitled "Mercury : Time to Act 2013" did not mention increased solubility of mercury in relation to increasing UV-B.

    Recognizing the impact of boreal deforestation on UV-B levels, and the effects on food security is of major relevance. 

     

  • What are some concrete examples of innovative approaches, or good practices that increase the contributions of forests and trees to food security and nutrition goals?

    Cannabis agriculture is unique in production of the same monoterpene aerosols as are produced by the boreal forests. Since it is an urgent priority to block UV-B radiation, it has become an urgent global priority to cultivate Cannabis to produce monoterpenes. Fortunately, Cannabis is also unique and essential in producing complete nutrition and sustainable biofuels from the same harvest.  Cannabis is the only crop that increases food security and nutrition, while providing  sustainable biofuels production and shielding the Earth from the Sun at the same time.

     

  • What is needed for food security policies and strategies to recognize the contributions and value that forests and trees bring?
  • First, it is important to recognize how vital the boreal forest regions are to protecting the Earth from UV-B radiation that is increasing. This means our species has to find a better source of paper products and building materials than trees. Cannabis provides feedstock for making excellent paper products, with far less chemical input, compared with paper made from trees.

    Secondly, the suppressive, initimidating influence of Cannabis prohibition has precluded Cannabis agriculture from objective consideration and crippled the free organic agricultural market. What's needed is for people to suspend the irrational prejudice imposed on society against the world's most useful agricultural resource in order to resolve climate imbalances that threaten us all with imminent  systemic collapse.