I was trying to catch up on some reading this weekend. I read through old papers that have been stacking up, some farm magazines (a few Us Weekly’s, I’ll admit!) and something started bothering me.

I was reading through old Letters to the Editor, editorial pieces and other information regarding the split between technology-reliant and nostalgia-driven agriculture. I kept reading about supposed scientific studies regarding the dangers of certain technology, the caution of genetically enhanced foods, etc., etc. when a thought hit me…who gets to decide who goes hungry?

What I mean is that as the number of farmers dwindles, and the number of people in our world rises, something has to give. (According to http://www.farmersfeedus.org/fun-farm-facts/ the avg. farmer feeds 155 people, as opposed to just 25 in 1960) As fewer acres are available for actual agriculture production, the production of your daily feed, fuel and fiber, without the use of technological advances, how will the world be fed? Clothed?

For those that use the argument that we use technology at the risk of “playing God” and committing some sort of sin, I think back to the parable about the drowning man. Every time someone offered to help him, the man replied the same, “No, God will save me.” When his energy finally gave and he drowned, the man asked God why it was that he did not save him. God basically replied that all the help he needed was sent, but the man ignored it. Perhaps we’re doing the same thing?

We sit and talk of the evils of advancement and the down-fall of modern agriculture, yet the hands that came across such discoveries were created the same as those that built the ark, brought children into the world, created your evening meal. Perhaps these hands have been guided to find these advances that will help an ever-decreasing percentage of the population to feed an ever-increasing total population?

Isn’t God’s endless allowance of miracles enough to give us reason to believe that such a thing could happen?

I fear that some day, as we sit at the feet of our Father and recount the days that we were on this Earth, that perhaps He too will say, “I sent you the answers to ease the hunger of the world, and yet you chose to ignore them.”

The Father that I know and praise for each gift that has been brought to my life would bless us with the tools that it would take to ensure that each of His children would have enough food to eat, clothing to keep warm and shelter to take comfort in. His gifts and grace are immeasurable in that way.

He’s the same Creator that gives the gift of life. Who creates a being in His image, and then allows for growth and prosperity where “modern” medicine proclaims that none are possible. I know, I see it each and every day in the eyes of my child.

So, yes, I believe that we CAN feed the world. And each gift we are given plays a part in it, no matter how big, or small.