Prospects for survival: The population explosion and the food crisis

As we wallow in the self‐pitying gloom of a British winter bandying words like depression, recession, unions and greed, we short‐sightedly forget what the Club of Rome or “Blueprint for Survival” preached a few years back; what Edward Heath reminded his audience of a few weeks ago—that Britain imports 50% of her food and that the world's population will double by the turn of the century. Supplies—and time—are running out. At a recent Kemp‐Gee conference held in London, Ian MacLaurin examined “reality” for today's food retailer and predicted that by the '80s there will be only five major food multiples left in business—and to a large extent myopic management will be to blame. The time has come to stop fooling ourselves, he urged, and face the moment of truth before it is too late.