Letter

In response to For the sake of food security, we must address population numbers

We need fewer people and renewable food

Jenny Goldie hits the nail squarely on the head with her article on human population growth. It is wrecking the planet and is the major driver of our own probable demise as a civilisation and as a species.

Fortunately, women worldwide realise this, and are lowering their fertility almost everywhere. To give every woman on the planet access to family planning would cost less than half the price of a single nuclear sub – which makes you realise how dumb men truly are when it comes to survival.

Coupled with reducing human numbers to a sustainable level (about 2.5 billion or where it was in 1950) we also need to develop a food system that doesn’t destroy the Earth’s ability to support us. (Look for this in my next piece in Pearls)

Both are do-able, affordable and need no new technologies. What’s the big delay?

— Julian Cribb from Canberra, ACT