The latest batch of “What’s for Lunch” stories on PRI’s The World highlight farming methods that don’t bust the global carbon budget. On July 25, Sam Eaton reported from northeastern India on the System of …
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Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Graying Farmers Force Japan to Rethink Food System
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Graying Farmers Force Japan to Rethink Food System
As the average age of its farmers creeps into the 70s, Japan grapples with a question that many industrialized nations now face: Who will grow our food in the future?
A farmer in Japan prunes his fruit trees. Photo by Sam Eaton. The average age of a farmer in Japan is roughly 70 years old. That’s not a problem in its own right. Unfortunately, though, few younger people are showing an interest in taking over. And that is forcing officials, and the farmers themselves, to make some tough decisions.
This video was produced by The Center for Investigative Reporting.
Reporter/producer: Sam Eaton
Camera: Sam Eaton and Irene Herrera
Editor: Charlotte Buchen
Local fixer: Winifred Bird
Additional field translation: Toru Seno, Yuko Ota, Lindee Hoshikawa
Series producer: Cassandra Herrman
Executive producer: Sharon Tiller -
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Philippines: Too Many Mouths?
Sam Eaton
Food for 9 Billion
Philippines: Too Many Mouths?
Once a leading rice producer, the Philippines can no longer feed itself. That leaves two options: increase supply or try to do something about demand.
In the 1960s, the Philippines was one of the world’s leading rice producers. Since then its population has more than doubled and the country can no longer feed itself. Not only has demand for food shot up, but farmland has been lost to development. This has put pressure on all the country’s basic life-support systems. It is felt most acutely by the poorest families.
While most of the countries in Southeast Asia have taken decisive action to slow population growth, the Catholic Church in the Philippines has resisted any form of population control. But some politicians are responding to a clamor among their constituents for family planning services.
The Philippines has one of the highest population growth rates in all of Southeast Asia. Its population, today just shy of 100 million, is expected to double by the end of the century.Photo: Sam EatonGovernment warehouses, like this one, store imported rice. The Philippines imports more rice than any other nation on the planet in order to feed its growing population.Photo: Sam EatonScientists at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines are scrambling to introduce higher-yielding rice varieties.Photo: Sam EatonMany farmers in the Philippines are poor -- with few tools at their disposal to boost rice yields.Photo: Sam EatonRice is the staple food of the Philippines.Photo: Sam EatonThe maternity ward at the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila is packed beyond capacity with new mothers who have no choice but to share the limited number of beds. More than 2 million babies are born every year in the Philippines.Photo: Sam EatonPopulation growth among the poor in the Philippines, where birth control remains largely out of reach, is about four times higher than the rest of the country.Photo: Sam EatonThe price of rice remains high, with poor Filipinos spending as much as 70 percent of their income on food.Photo: Sam Eaton