An incredible variety of crops grows on the world’s 1.6 billion hectares of fields and gardens, yet most of us are familiar with only a tiny fraction of them. Our “World Field” model shows, to scale, how many hectares of the world’s farmland are used to grow which crops. Just four plant species—wheat, corn, rice, and soybeans—are grown on nearly half of our “World Field.” Fruits and vegetables each account for less than five percent of the “World Field.” [10]
With the exception of rice, only a small portion of the world’s large-scale monocultures is processed directly into food. The majority is fed to animals or converted into biofuels and industrial raw materials. Of the grain harvest, for example, less than half is used directly as food. Over a third is fed to animals. [11]
More than 2.8 billion metric tons of grain were harvested worldwide in 2023—a record harvest! Less than half of that was used as food. [11]
