Introduction
Background
The way that energy moves from organism A to organism B, supporting the existence of both plants and animals, is described by the food web, a natural network of connections.
Due to their ability to take actions and make choices that have the potential to alter the experiences and results of all other living things, humans constitute a significant component of the food web.
Any form of obliteration and/or destruction will make it impossible for people to live sustainability and eventually achieve their goals.
The issues facing future generations are still important and have the power to influence more individuals and world leaders to act quickly and change in order to preserve the food web’s integrity.
Nonetheless, various problems exist today that have the potential to affect the food web and make it impossible for more people to get fresh, timely, and high quality food while at the same time affecting the sustainability of the other organisms that rely on man for food (Herforth & Ahmed, 2015).
The outstanding urgent problem disorienting the integrity of the food chain is that of environmental degradation.
Such a problem remains multifaceted since it affects all factors of production, results in reduced downpour, catalyzes the speed of global warming, and eventually transforms human life in a negatively manner (Trzcinski et al., 2016).
Evidence-based efforts and solutions would be needed in an effort to protect the integrity of the food web.
Thesis Statement
Conservation efforts and promoting sustainable practices are powerful solutions that can help human beings protect the natural environment from continuous degradation and improve the effectiveness and naturalness of the food web (Tefft et al., 2017).
Solution I
Description
Human beings are the primary stakeholders in the food web since they are capable of making timely decisions and influencing the existence of other creatures.
They are required to consider evidence-based approaches and solutions to protect the food web from the urgent problem of environmental degradation (International Resource Panel, 2016).
The first outstanding solution to this problem is the introduction and promotion of conservation efforts.
The natural and habited environments play significant roles in supporting the food web and ensuring that man gets high-quality food from all the available sources.
However, problems of deforestation and overuse of natural resources strains ecosystems and eventually trigger climatic changes.
These developments will trigger various challenges that are directly related to a disoriented food chain or web.
- First, poor climatic outcomes and weather changes tend to affect the level of food production, thereby triggering droughts and increased poverty levels (Bieg et al., 2018).
- Second, most of the animals and human beings will be unable to lead a healthy and comfortable life.
- Third, unaddressed challenges will eventually affect the overall integrity of the natural environment and affect posterity.
Potential Critique Points
The proposed solution gains the support of many professionals and experts in food security and environmental conservation.
The solution can ensure that more people or stakeholders are involved to support the delivery of sustainable results.
This solution would present these key strengths:
- Conservation efforts are appropriate since they have the potential to reduce destruction.
- Proper measures will promote the overall sustainability of the natural environment and ensure that they other food chains recover within a short time (Janmaimool & Chudech, 2020).
- Conservation efforts are possible since human beings possess the relevant knowledge, competencies, and resources.
- The majority of the issues facing the world community, including climate change and global warming, can be resolved with the implementation of conservation initiatives, according to previous research and observations (Muro-Torres et al., 2020).
- Implementing such initiatives will improve the sustainability of the environment and assist in resolving a variety of problems, such as pollution and excessive use of natural resources.
- All human beings can be involved to promote conservation efforts, both at the domestic level and the environmental level (Maynard et al., 2020).
Weaknesses
- Unfortunately, a number of key concerns arise that human beings should take into consideration if they are to achieve desirable results.
- The first one is that some regions are incapable of embracing the power of conservation efforts due to a number of problems involved, such as prolonged droughts.
- The second one is that some communities and developing nations might find it hard to implement proper measures to promote conservation (Surya et al., 2020).
- The third issue is that many people in different parts of the world do not identify environmental degradation as a major challenge affecting the food web.
- The fourth weakness that might arise when trying to promote this solution is that many people are not directly involved in food production. As a result, they are ignorant of the potential confusion in the food supply chain and its potential consequences for them in the future.
- The fifth issue is that the nature of human life and the processes of urbanization have triggered new processes and ideas that discourage more people from focusing on the challenges affecting the food web.
- The consideration of these key weaknesses of the proposed solution can encourage more people to focus on better and sustainable approaches.
Suggestions for Improvement
People can consider some of the identified weaknesses and propose better strategies for improvement.
The involvement of all countries and governments can help improve the targeted results.
Governments can provide additional training and guidelines to help more people embrace the concept of conservation (Lindgren et al., 2018).
Continuous improvements efforts can help transform the situation and address the selected problem affecting the food web.
The provision of timely resources and consideration of strategies that have worked effectively elsewhere can help improve the efficiency of the food web.
Solution II
Description
The second evidence-based solution to address the urgent problem facing the food web is the promotion of sustainable practices.
Such initiatives are evidence-based and capable of delivering timely results.
The best course of action would be to practice sustainable agriculture, think about appropriate initiatives to produce food on a personal level, and conserve energy.
Individuals can introduce better procedures for producing food and solving problems that might emerge.
Food preservation techniques can help transform the effectiveness of the food web.
Governments should be involved to educate members of the public and provide the relevant ideas to preserve or promote the effectiveness of the food web.
Potential Critique Points
Strengths
- This solution is capable of delivering positive results within a short period because it attracts all possible partners.
- Citizens can take the initiative at the personal level to ensure that the integrity of the food web is maintained.
- Companies and households could be involved to transform the situation and ensure that sustainable results are recorded.
- When such measures are taken at the local level, chances are high that the international community will eventually record positive results (Turner et al., 2018).
- The provision of resources and educational opportunities will ensure that the integrity and sustainability of the food web is maintained.
Weaknesses
- While the proposed measures are attainable and capable of delivering positive results, some gaps might affect the targeted outcomes.
- First, not all partners and governments could be willing to be part of this process and promote the notion of sustainability (Ritchie & Roser, 2020).
- Many people might not have access to the relevant financial and material resources to support this solution and eventually address the problem affecting the food web.
Suggestions for Improvement
- All key stakeholders need to be involved if positive results are to be achieved.
- Human beings need to consider additional sustainable practices that protect all living things, including plants and animals.
- Research would be needed to identify most of the challenges affecting the food web and proposed better solutions to make it more sustainable.
Conclusion
- The biggest or urgent problem facing the food web is that of continuous environmental degradation.
- Evidence-based and practical solutions are needed to protect the integrity of the food web.
- Conservation efforts are needed to address this issue.
- Promotion of sustainable practices is also a workable solution.
- Such measures will improve the effectiveness and naturalness of the food web.
References
Bieg, C., McCann, K. S., McMeans, B. C., Rooney, N., Holtgrieve, G. W., Lek, S., Bun, N. P., Krishna, B. K., & Fraser, E. (2018). Linking humans to food webs: A framework for the classification of global fisheries. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 16(7), 412-420. Web.
Herforth, A., & Ahmed, S. (2015). The food environment, its effects on dietary consumption, and potential for measurement within agriculture-nutrition interventions. Food Security, 7, 505-520. Web.
International Resource Panel. (2016). Food systems and natural resources. United Nations Environment Programme.
Janmaimool, P., & Chudech, S. (2020). Effect of domestic and global environmental events on environmental concern and environmental responsibility among university students. Sustainability, 12(4), 1610-1629. Web.
Lindgren, E., Harris, F., Dangour, A. D., Gasparatos, A., Hiramatsu, M., Javadi, F., Loken, B., Murakami, T., Scheelbeek, P., & Haines, A. (2018). Sustainable food systems-A health perspective. Sustainability Science, 13, 1505-1517. Web.
Maynard, D. C., Vidigal, M. D., Farage, P., Zandonadi, P. P., Nakano, E. Y., & Botelho, R. B. (2020). Environmental, social and economic sustainability indicators applied to food services: A systematic review. Sustainability, 12(2), 1804-1822. Web.
Muro-Torres, V. M., Amezcua, F., Soto- Jiménez, M., Balart, E. F., Serviere-Zaragoza, E., Green, F., & Rajnohova, J. (2020). Primary sources and food web structure of a tropical wetland with high density of mangrove forest. Water,12(11), 3105-3122. Web.
Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2020). Environmental impacts of food production. Our World in Data. Web.
Surya, B., Syafri, S., Sahban, H., & Sakti, H. H. (2020). Natural resource conservation based on community economic empowerment: Perspectives on watershed management and slum settlements in Makassar City, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Land, 9(), 104-133. Web.
Tefft, J., Jonasova, M., Adjao, R., & Morgan, A. (2017). Food systems for an urbanizing world (PDF document). Web.
Trzcinski, M. K., Srivastava, D. S., Corbara, B., & Dézerald, O. (2016). The effects of food-web structure on ecosystem function exceeds those of precipitation. Journal of Animal Ecology, 85(5), 1147-1160. Web.
Turner, C., Aggarwal, A., Walls, H., Herforth, A., Drewnowski, A., Coates, J., Kalamatianou, S., & Kadiyala, S. (2018). Concepts and critical perspectives for food environment research: A global framework with implications for action in low- and middle-income countries. Global Food Security, 18(1), 93-101. Web.
