Description

The 21st century appears to be dominated by two major global crises: the scarcity of food and the disappearance of fuel. Through shortages and soaring costs, both have had detrimental effects on the environment and both have undermined the global economy — most importantly, both will continue to do so unless immediate action is taken. This timely and provocative collection of essays explores how and why these problems have developed and what can be done to resolve them. Wide-ranging pieces by trenchant thinkers such as Thomas Homer-Dixon, Gordon Laird, Jeremy Rifkin, Ken Wiwa, Frances Moore Lappé, and Anna Lappé offer valuable strategies to combat global famine and fast-food fat, business models for safe and sustainable food production and power sources, descriptions of emerging technologies and sciences, a reexamination of nuclear power, and much more. Both remarkable for its depth of thought and eminently readable, Food and Fuel provides innovative, practical solutions for dealing with these urgent issues.From the Foreword:Quote:When you look calmly and rationally at the world’s food system today, there are many reasons to feel depressed. Everywhere, farmers are being driven off the land. Agribusiness companies wield more power than at any other time in history. The supermarkets have more power. Wal-Mart has more power, squeezing producers harder and paying employees even less than many supermarkets do. The same fastfood chains sell the same food worldwide. Soda companies aggressively target children in schools. Meat-packing companies mistreat their livestock, overuse antibiotics and growth hormones, abuse their workers, pollute rivers and streams, sell meat tainted with fecal material and harmful bacteria. Farm-raised salmon are often contaminated with pesticide residues, while wild salmon are vanishing from the seas. And then there’s mad cow disease, avian flu, and genetically modified foods. The wealthy, industrialized nations dump subsidized grain on the poorer, less developed ones, destroying fragile rural economies and creating famines. Modern industrialized agriculture depends upon cheap petroleum, and we’re running out of that. A clear look at what’s happening today is bound to overwhelm you with doom and gloom.The essays in this book suggest new agricultural technologies and new business models. Some may prove important; others, a complete waste of time. You may agree with some of the arguments made in these pages, and vehemently disagree with others. All of them, however, present us with the opportunity to make choices.ContentsCover Page Title Page Copyright Page ContentsIntroduction by Andrew Heintzman and Evan SolomonForeword to Food by Eric SchlosserFoodSaving Agriculture from Itself / Stuart LaidlawBetting the Farm: Food Safety and the Beef Commodity Chain / Ian MacLachlanFish or Cut Bait: Solutions for Our Seas / Carl Safina and Carrie BrownsteinDiet for a Smaller Planet: Real Sources of Abundance / Frances Moore Lappe and Anna LappeOverfeeding the Future / Kelly BrownellFuelBringing Ingenuity to Energy / Thomas Homer-DixonAt the Frontier of Energy / Gordon LairdIs Nuclear Energy the Answer? / Allison MacfarlaneBoom, Bust, and Efficiency / L. Hunter Lovins and Wyatt KingReverse Engineering: Soft Energy Paths / Susan Holtz and David B. BrooksThe Dawn of the Hydrogen Economy / Jeremy RifkinNotesAcknowledgements IndexAbout the Contributors About the EditorsPaperback: 360 pagesPublisher: House of Anansi Press; Original edition (February 1, 2009)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0887848265ISBN-13: 978-0887848261ASIN: B005LPUDTW