The Blueprint
Nutrition & Health
The World Field Experiment
The aim of the experiment is to determine how much land certain foods require and how much actually grows. The amount produced was so large that several people could be fed and even food could be preserved for the winter. The harvest on the World Field (Weltacker) yielded significantly more food than would be needed for one person's daily requirements.
Results
1. Concept of the World Field
A World Field (Weltacker) is 2,000 m² in size – arithmetically the arable land available to each individual person on Earth.
2. Harvest and nutrition
There is enough arable land for everyone. The land can produce sufficient food if cultivation planning and crop mix are chosen skillfully. 3. Main lessons from the harvest
Only one fifth of the world's arable land serves the direct nutrition of humans.
4. Global significance
The World Field (Weltacker) makes visible how globally interconnected our food system is.
5. Sustainability and food security
The distribution, use and cultivation methods of today offer no basis for sustainability and food security.
Subsidence - No more industrially manufactured food
Our food is our medicine
1. People live healthier Heavily industrially processed foods often contain a lot of sugar, salt, unhealthy fats and additives. These promote obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and tooth decay. A diet of fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grain products, legumes and few heavily processed products leads to more stable body weight, better blood sugar and cholesterol levels, a stronger immune system and thereby more energy and well-being
2. Fewer chronic diseases Many of the most common diseases in industrialized nations are diet-related and chronic. When fewer people suffer from diabetes, heart disease or severe obesity, the number of lifelong treatments, medications and secondary illnesses drops significantly.
3. Relief for doctors Doctors today spend a great deal of time treating avoidable illnesses. Healthier nutrition means fewer routine visits because of diet-related [illnesses]. It means fewer complaints, less complex long-term care of chronically ill people and more time for acute medical cases.
4. Relief for the healthcare system Chronic diseases cause a large share of healthcare costs (medication, hospital stays, care). If these diseases occur less often. Spending on treatments and medication falls, hospitals and practices are no longer overloaded.
Benefit to society
If we largely forgo industrially manufactured food and instead eat fresh, minimally processed foods, this can have many positive effects – for people's health, for doctors and for the entire healthcare system:
Gain through renunciation
Forgoing industrially manufactured food can lead to better health, fewer chronic diseases and less burden on doctors and the healthcare system. Prevention through nutrition is, in the long run, often more effective and cheaper than later medical treatment.
Healthy for longer
Healthier people are more often able to work, are absent due to illness less often and remain independent longer in old age. This strengthens not only the healthcare system, but also the economy and social structures.