Sign-In
Cart
Feeding the World
Paperback
Environmental StudiesGeneral Sociology
ISBN13: 9780262692717
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: Aug 24 2001
Pages: 390
Weight: 1.36
Height: 0.87 Width: 6.28 Depth: 9.12
Language: English
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.
Also from
Smil, Vaclav
How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going
Smil, Vaclav
Hardcover
Cómo Funciona El Mundo: Una Guía Científica de Nuestro Pasado, Presente Y Futuro / How the World Really Works
Smil, Vaclav
Paperback
Prime Movers of Globalization: The History and Impact of Diesel Engines and Gas Turbines
Smil, Vaclav
Paperback
Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production
Smil, Vaclav
Paperback
Also in
General Sociology
The Clash of Globalizations: Neo-Liberalism, the Third Way and Anti-Globalization
Kiely, Ray
Paperback
Transformation from Below? White Suburbia in the Transformation of Apartheid South Africa to Democracy
Scheidegger, Ursula
Paperback
Games Against Nature: An Eco-Cultural History of the Nunu of Equatorial Africa
Harms, Robert
Paperback
Making Capitalism: The Social and Cultural Construction of a South Korean Conglomerate
Yim, Dawnhee
Janelli, Roger L.
Hardcover
Unfuck Your Brain: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-Outs, and Triggers
Harper, Faith G.
Paperback
This Is What You Just Put in Your Mouth?: From Eggnog to Beef Jerky, the Surprising Secrets
Di Justo, Patrick
Paperback
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism
Alberta, Tim
Hardcover
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
Davis, Angela Y.
Paperback
The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope
World Central Kitchen
Andrés, José
Hardcover
Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey Among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See
Bosker, Bianca
Hardcover
The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma
Suleyman, Mustafa
Hardcover
Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong--And What You Really Need to Know
Oster, Emily
Paperback
The Lie Detectives: In Search of a Playbook for Winning Elections in the Disinformation Age
Issenberg, Sasha
Paperback
All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words: Unpublished, Unvarnished, and Told by the Beatles and Their Inner Circle
Gaines, Steven
Brown, Peter
Hardcover
Your Brain on Porn: Internet Pornography and the Emerging Science of Addiction
Wilson, Gary
Paperback
Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics
Hill, Marc Lamont
Plitnick, Mitchell
Paperback
Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People's Business
Gay, Roxane
Hardcover
How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi: Collected Quirks of Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math from Nerd Nite
Balakrishnan, Chris
Wasowski, Matt
Hardcover
Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions
Grandin, Temple
Paperback
Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care
Hayes, Kelly
Kaba, Mariame
Paperback
Marriage on the Rock 25th Anniversay Edition: The Comprehensive Guide to a Solid, Healthy, and Lasting Marriage
Evans, Jimmy
Paperback
Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone
Brown, Brené
Paperback
The Scary Book of Christmas Lore: 50 Terrifying Yuletide Tales from Around the World
Rayborn, Tim
Paperback
El Poder del Ahora: Un Camino Hacia La Realizacion Espiritual = The Power of Now
Tolle, Eckhart
Paperback
American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America
Woodard, Colin
Paperback
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
Lukianoff, Greg
Haidt, Jonathan
Paperback
Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Gefter, Philip
Hardcover
They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms
Hixenbaugh, Mike
Hardcover
The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End
Howe, Neil
Hardcover
Arabella: The Dark Money Network of Leftist Billionaires Secretly Transforming America
Walter, Scott
Hardcover
How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen (Large Print Edition)
Brooks, David
Paperback
Historically Black Phrases: From I Ain't One of Your Lil' Friends to Who All Gon' Be There?
Hill, Jarrett
Anderson, Tre'vell
Hardcover
Our Kindred Creatures: How Americans Came to Feel the Way They Do about Animals
Murphy, Monica
Wasik, Bill
Hardcover
Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture-And the Magic That Makes It Work
Fox, Jesse David
Hardcover
The Psilocybin Mushroom Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing and Using Magic Mushrooms
Mandrake, K.
Paperback
Tits Up: What Sex Workers, Milk Bankers, Plastic Surgeons, Bra Designers, and Witches Tell Us about Breasts
Thornton, Sarah
Hardcover
The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust and Threatens Us All--But There Is a Solution
Lukianoff, Greg
Schlott, Rikki
Hardcover
One Nation Under Blackmail - Vol. 1: The Sordid Union Between Intelligence and Crime That Gave Rise to Jeffrey Epstein, Vol.1
Webb, Whitney Alyse
Paperback
Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet
Lorenz, Taylor
Hardcover
Notes from the Porch: Tiny True Stories to Make You Feel Better about the World
Greene, Thomas Christopher
Hardcover
The Fourth Turning: What the Cycles of History Tell Us about America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny
Strauss, William
Howe, Neil
Paperback
Before It's Gone: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change in Small-Town America
Vigliotti, Jonathan
Hardcover
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
Higginbotham, Adam
Paperback
Norse Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook: From Vikings to Valkyries, an Epic Who's Who in Old Norse Mythology
Fuller-Shafer, Kelsey A.
Hardcover
Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea
Taylor, Astra
Hunt-Hendrix, Leah
Hardcover
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media
Herman, Edward S.
Chomsky, Noam
Paperback
The Algorithm: How AI Decides Who Gets Hired, Monitored, Promoted, and Fired and Why We Need to Fight Back Now
Schellmann, Hilke
Hardcover
The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters
Nichols, Tom
Paperback
The Burning of the World: The Great Chicago Fire and the War for a City's Soul
Berg, Scott W.
Hardcover
The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind
Kearney, Melissa S.
Hardcover
Walkable City (Tenth Anniversary Edition): How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time
Speck, Jeff
Paperback
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Levitt, Steven D.
Dubner, Stephen J.
Paperback
South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
Perry, Imani
Paperback
A Field Guide to the Apocalypse: A Mostly Serious Guide to Surviving Our Wild Times
Aktipis, Athena
Paperback