To the editor:

Elizabeth Kolbert in the Dec. 13, 2021 New Yorker magazine has an article about scientists who are working to improve plants’ ability to use sunlight to create energy. Plants use approximately 1 % of the sunlight they are exposed to in photosynthesis. By improving photosynthesis’ use of sunlight, plants could produce more without requiring more land, water, or fertilizer, thereby helping reduce hunger and famines.

A Scientific American magazine article in Oct. 2021 argued that by massively reducing food waste there would be enough food to feed the world. Currently, it is estimated that 40% of the food produced world wide is lost because of poor storage and inadequate transportation to get surplus food to areas of need. In wealthy countries a large amount of food is wasted, as well.

As the world population continues to increase, both approaches may be necessary to prevent large areas of the world from experiencing food shortages or outright famine.

John Kluge

New Ulm