Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity

by BROWN,LESTER

• ISBN13: 9780393344158
• ISBN10: 0393344150
• Edition: 00
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2012-10-17
• Publisher: W W NORTON

Summary

With food scarcity driven by falling water tables, eroding soils, and rising temperatures, control of arable land and water resources is moving to center stage in the global struggle for food security. In this era of tightening world food supplies, the ability to grow food is fast becoming a new form of geopolitical leverage. Food is the new oil, Lester R. Brown writes. What will the geopolitics of food look like in a new era dominated by scarcity and food nationalism? Brown outlines the political implications of land acquisitions by grain-importing countries in Africa and elsewhere as well as the world's shrinking buffers against poor harvests. With wisdom accumulated over decades of tracking agricultural issues, Brown exposes the increasingly volatile food situation the world is facing.

Author Biography

Lester R. Brown is president of Earth Policy Institute, a research organization based in Washington, DC. He has been honored with numerous prizes, including a MacArthur Fellowship, the United Nations Environment Prize, Japan's Blue Planet Prize, and twenty-five honorary degrees.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Food: The Weak Link	p. 3
The Ecology of Population Growth	p. 15
Moving Up the Food Chain	p. 24
Food or Fuel?	p. 36
Eroding Soils Darkening Our Future	p. 45
Peak Water and Food Scarcity	p. 57
Grain Yields Starting to Plateau	p. 72
Rising Temperatures, Rising Food Prices	p. 83
China and the Soybean Challenge	p. 93
The Global Land Rush	p. 101
Can We Prevent a Food Breakdown?	p. 114
Index	p. 125
Acknowledgements	p. 137
About the Author	p. 143
Permission for reprinting or excerpting portions of the manuscript can be obtained from Reah Janise Kauffman at Earth Policy Institute. For full citations, data, and additional information on the topics discussed in this book, see www.earth-policy.org.
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