If too many people are the problem, Ludwig, what's the solution. Are you offering to top yourself? Or do you propose others do it?

Classic, Ludwig.

>>You know that your accusation of me being single-issue on population is absolutely false. You know that I keep mentioning it because it is the elephant in the living room that just gets left out of so many discussions in which it is an enormously important factor.<<

It's true, of course, that when you are not advocating government control over our population numbers, you are advocating governmental control over every other aspect of our daily lives. So yes, I am guilty on this occasion of a slight exaggeration. But it is also true, as you freely admit, that you introduce the topic at every single opportunity, however tangential to the topic at hand.

>>Sorry Pericles but you are just so wrong to say: < Diverting this discussion into the ambit of your population-control hobby-horse is not helpful >.<<

But already, over 50% of the thread is about population control, not about Greenpeace's interference in the food supply. Don't you feel even the slightest bit guilty for derailing a perfectly cogent argument to pursue your own agenda?

>>Now, I share your concern and desire to know more about the apparent adverse impact of Greenpeace's apparent attack on food production.<<

But on balance, you'd rather go surfing, having neatly sabotaged a potentially interesting thread about food production methods.

Cheryl:" It's grim alright but not because we're chockas - population is going the other way. "

That's not what your graph says.

Ah Cheryl, Africa still at 4.5 children per woman right now and only
going down, because people like me rattle the cage and point out how
futile it is to create hungry children and call it religous and
humane. If we made more noise and actually did something about it,
it might not take another 90 years in Africa, it could happen next
year.

Even Australia should get off its proverbial arse on this one,
but no, we'd rather somehow squeeze a bit more out of what is already
clapped out farmland.

This article is spot on

I'd add another couple of issues to the greens' anti-food policies - the fraudulent cranks in the organic movement, advocating farming methods with much lower yields in pursuit of non-existent health benefits; and biofuels subsidies that encourage the conversion of food into fuel for negligible environmental benefit.

Cheryl is right – population growth is slowing as fertility rates are declining. I’d cheerfully support assistance with voluntary family planning in developing countries to help people gain control of their lives and their fertility, but such measures will probably have little effect on the overall fertility trend giving where it’s heading anyway and the power of demographic momentum.

According to your graph Cheryl, it will take the rest of the century for Africa to get down to replacement level fertility, and Northern America and Europe - massive consumers of food and everything else - are heading the other way. Grim news indeed.