Feeding the World

Feeding the World PDF Author: Vaclav Smil
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262692717
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
A realistic yet encouraging look at how society can change in ways that will allow us to feed an expanding global population. This book addresses the question of how we can best feed the ten billion or so people who will likely inhabit the Earth by the middle of the twenty-first century. He asks whether human ingenuity can produce enough food to support healthy and vigorous lives for all these people without irreparably damaging the integrity of the biosphere. What makes this book different from other books on the world food situation is its consideration of the complete food cycle, from agriculture to post-harvest losses and processing to eating and discarding. Taking a scientific approach, Smil espouses neither the catastrophic view that widespread starvation is imminent nor the cornucopian view that welcomes large population increases as the source of endless human inventiveness. He shows how we can make more effective use of current resources and suggests that if we increase farming efficiency, reduce waste, and transform our diets, future needs may not be as great as we anticipate. Smil's message is that the prospects may not be as bright as we would like, but the outlook is hardly disheartening. Although inaction, late action, or misplaced emphasis may bring future troubles, we have the tools to steer a more efficient course. There are no insurmountable biophysical reasons we cannot feed humanity in the decades to come while easing the burden that modern agriculture puts on the biosphere.

Feeding the World

Feeding the World PDF Author: Vaclav Smil
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262692717
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 396

Get Book Here

Book Description
A realistic yet encouraging look at how society can change in ways that will allow us to feed an expanding global population. This book addresses the question of how we can best feed the ten billion or so people who will likely inhabit the Earth by the middle of the twenty-first century. He asks whether human ingenuity can produce enough food to support healthy and vigorous lives for all these people without irreparably damaging the integrity of the biosphere. What makes this book different from other books on the world food situation is its consideration of the complete food cycle, from agriculture to post-harvest losses and processing to eating and discarding. Taking a scientific approach, Smil espouses neither the catastrophic view that widespread starvation is imminent nor the cornucopian view that welcomes large population increases as the source of endless human inventiveness. He shows how we can make more effective use of current resources and suggests that if we increase farming efficiency, reduce waste, and transform our diets, future needs may not be as great as we anticipate. Smil's message is that the prospects may not be as bright as we would like, but the outlook is hardly disheartening. Although inaction, late action, or misplaced emphasis may bring future troubles, we have the tools to steer a more efficient course. There are no insurmountable biophysical reasons we cannot feed humanity in the decades to come while easing the burden that modern agriculture puts on the biosphere.

The Vertical Farm

The Vertical Farm PDF Author: Dickson Despommier
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1429946040
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
"The vertical farm is a world-changing innovation whose time has come. Dickson Despommier's visionary book provides a blueprint for securing the world's food supply and at the same time solving one of the gravest environmental crises facing us today."--Sting Imagine a world where every town has their own local food source, grown in the safest way possible, where no drop of water or particle of light is wasted, and where a simple elevator ride can transport you to nature's grocery store - imagine the world of the vertical farm. When Columbia professor Dickson Despommier set out to solve America's food, water, and energy crises, he didn't just think big - he thought up. Despommier's stroke of genius, the vertical farm, has excited scientists, architects, and politicians around the globe. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Despommier explains how the vertical farm will have an incredible impact on changing the face of this planet for future generations. Despommier takes readers on an incredible journey inside the vertical farm, buildings filled with fruits and vegetables that will provide local food sources for entire cities. Vertical farms will allow us to: - Grow food 24 hours a day, 365 days a year - Protect crops from unpredictable and harmful weather - Re-use water collected from the indoor environment - Provide jobs for residents - Eliminate use of pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides - Drastically reduce dependence on fossil fuels - Prevent crop loss due to shipping or storage - Stop agricultural runoff Vertical farms can be built in abandoned buildings and on deserted lots, transforming our cities into urban landscapes which will provide fresh food grown and harvested just around the corner. Possibly the most important aspect of vertical farms is that they can built by nations with little or no arable land, transforming nations which are currently unable to farm into top food producers. In the tradition of the bestselling The World Without Us, The Vertical Farm is a completely original landmark work destined to become an instant classic.

The Feeding of Nations

The Feeding of Nations PDF Author: Mark Gibson
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1439839514
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 684

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Book Description
In the last decade, the world has grown richer and produced more food than ever before. Yet in that same period, hunger has increased and 925 million remain underfed and malnourished. Exploring this troubling paradox, The Feeding of Nations: Re-Defining Food Security for the 21st Century offers a glimpse into how the simple aspiration of global foo

Feeding the World in the 21st Century

Feeding the World in the 21st Century PDF Author: Christian Anton Smedshaug
Publisher: Anthem Press
ISBN: 1843318679
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
'Feeding The World in the 21st Century: A Historical Analysis of Agriculture and Society' provides and utilizes a historical understanding of the current global food situation as the basis for analyzing the ultimate challenge on how to feed an ever-expanding world of 10 billion people.

Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century

Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309148960
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 598

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Book Description
In the last 20 years, there has been a remarkable emergence of innovations and technological advances that are generating promising changes and opportunities for sustainable agriculture, yet at the same time the agricultural sector worldwide faces numerous daunting challenges. Not only is the agricultural sector expected to produce adequate food, fiber, and feed, and contribute to biofuels to meet the needs of a rising global population, it is expected to do so under increasingly scarce natural resources and climate change. Growing awareness of the unintended impacts associated with some agricultural production practices has led to heightened societal expectations for improved environmental, community, labor, and animal welfare standards in agriculture. Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century assesses the scientific evidence for the strengths and weaknesses of different production, marketing, and policy approaches for improving and reducing the costs and unintended consequences of agricultural production. It discusses the principles underlying farming systems and practices that could improve the sustainability. It also explores how those lessons learned could be applied to agriculture in different regional and international settings, with an emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. By focusing on a systems approach to improving the sustainability of U.S. agriculture, this book can have a profound impact on the development and implementation of sustainable farming systems. Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century serves as a valuable resource for policy makers, farmers, experts in food production and agribusiness, and federal regulatory agencies.

The Feeding of the Nine Billion

The Feeding of the Nine Billion PDF Author: Alex Evans
Publisher: Royal Institute for International Affairs
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
Global food prices have eased significantly from their record highs in the first part of 2008. As a worldwide economic downturn has gathered pace, commodity markets have weakened significantly. By October 2008, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Price Index stood at 164, the same level as in August 2007, and 25% lower than the Index's high of 219 in June 2008. However, this does not mean that policy-makers around the world can start to breathe a sigh of relief. For one thing, even at their somewhat diminished levels current prices remain acutely problematic for low-income import-dependent countries and for poor people all over the world. The World Bank estimates that higher food prices have increased the number of undernourished people by as much as 100 million from its pre-price-spike level of 850 million.

The Doubly Green Revolution

The Doubly Green Revolution PDF Author: Gordon Conway
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501722662
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Today more than three quarters of a billion people go hungry in a world where food is plentiful. A distinguished scientist here sets out an agenda for addressing this situation. Initially published in 1997 in the United Kingdom, the book is now available in the first edition produced for the Western hemisphere. In it, the author has updated information to reflect current economic indicators. This volume includes a foreword written for the previous edition by Ismail Serageldin of the World Bank. The original Green Revolution produced new technologies for farmers, creating food abundance. A second transformation of agriculture is now required—specifically, Gordon Conway argues, a "doubly green" revolution that stresses conservation as well as productivity. He calls for researchers and farmers to forge genuine partnerships in an effort to design better plants and animals. He also urges them to develop (or rediscover) alternatives to inorganic fertilizers and pesticides, improve soil and water management, and enhance earning opportunities for the poor, especially women.

Feeding the Future

Feeding the Future PDF Author: Andrew Heintzman
Publisher: House of Anansi
ISBN: 9780887847448
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Outlines practical solutions to global food supply problems in the twenty-first century, suggesting relevant ways to address key issues related to food safety, conservation, global trade, and more. Original.

How to Feed the World

How to Feed the World PDF Author: Jessica Eise
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1610918843
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
By 2050, we will have ten billion mouths to feed in a world profoundly altered by environmental change. How will we meet this challenge? In How to Feed the World, a diverse group of experts from Purdue University break down this crucial question by tackling big issues one-by-one. Covering population, water, land, climate change, technology, food systems, trade, food waste and loss, health, social buy-in, communication, and equal access to food, the book reveals a complex web of challenges. Contributors unite from different perspectives and disciplines, ranging from agronomy and hydrology to economics. The resulting collection is an accessible but wide-ranging look at the modern food system.

FAO in the 21st Century

FAO in the 21st Century PDF Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
FAO in the 21st Century: Ensuring Food Security in a Changing World details the current knowledge of complex and interrelated challenges that are compounding efforts to achieve global food security. It discusses likely implications for the food and agriculture sector and for hunger and poverty reduction efforts, including FAO's role in assisting members in the coming years. This book is for everyone interested in better understanding the dynamics of the current global issues and changing patterns in agriculture and natural resources.