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A review by thecandlelightlibrary
The Fate of Food: What We'll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World by Amanda Little
5.0
This was such an excellent book! Little spent three years researching The Fate of Food - visiting eleven countries and thirteen states in the process - and it really shows in her writing.
The Fate of Food is such a fascinating look into current, global issues within the food industry and the various approaches in the works for solving these issues in the future. I learned so much and found many new things to research. Did you know the U.S. owns farmland in more than 25 countries, and that we’re not even the number one nation doing this? Did you know Almería, Spain has 64,000 collective acres of contiguous greenhouses that can be seen from SPACE?
I appreciated how Little approached each topic she covers: first by discussing the food-related issue (such as food waste or the use of GMOs), then explaining how the issue is currently being addressed, and then describing some of the consequences of each side/view point. As a reader, I felt I had enough neutral information to make my own decisions on each topic but had enough direction I could choose to research any topic further.
The Fate of Food ultimately asks you this: Is our current path sustainable, and if not, how can we fix it? Little also encourages the reader to evaluate their roles and habits in their own choices and local communities. It’s not about which solution is the best - it’s about how we can incorporate the best parts of each solution into our future. Will the entire planet go vegan? That’s probably not realistic. Can we support our current consumption trends? Unlikely. Can we find a way that integrates multiple aspects of old ways with new technology? Definitely.
Little also points out how not every solution is viable in every context. She does an excellent job of showing this when she discusses GMOs - something the U.S. certainly has heated debates about but are vital to food security in parts of Kenya.
The global population is expected to reach 9.8 BILLION by 2050, with a projected two thirds of that population living in cities (for comparison, in August 2019 we are currently at 7.5 billion according to https://www.census.gov/popclock/world). Thirty years may seem like a long time, but current issues will only become more pressing as time passes and population increases. Shouldn’t we focus on fixing these issues before they can evolve into a crisis?
The Fate of Food is such a fascinating look into current, global issues within the food industry and the various approaches in the works for solving these issues in the future. I learned so much and found many new things to research. Did you know the U.S. owns farmland in more than 25 countries, and that we’re not even the number one nation doing this? Did you know Almería, Spain has 64,000 collective acres of contiguous greenhouses that can be seen from SPACE?
I appreciated how Little approached each topic she covers: first by discussing the food-related issue (such as food waste or the use of GMOs), then explaining how the issue is currently being addressed, and then describing some of the consequences of each side/view point. As a reader, I felt I had enough neutral information to make my own decisions on each topic but had enough direction I could choose to research any topic further.
The Fate of Food ultimately asks you this: Is our current path sustainable, and if not, how can we fix it? Little also encourages the reader to evaluate their roles and habits in their own choices and local communities. It’s not about which solution is the best - it’s about how we can incorporate the best parts of each solution into our future. Will the entire planet go vegan? That’s probably not realistic. Can we support our current consumption trends? Unlikely. Can we find a way that integrates multiple aspects of old ways with new technology? Definitely.
Little also points out how not every solution is viable in every context. She does an excellent job of showing this when she discusses GMOs - something the U.S. certainly has heated debates about but are vital to food security in parts of Kenya.
The global population is expected to reach 9.8 BILLION by 2050, with a projected two thirds of that population living in cities (for comparison, in August 2019 we are currently at 7.5 billion according to https://www.census.gov/popclock/world). Thirty years may seem like a long time, but current issues will only become more pressing as time passes and population increases. Shouldn’t we focus on fixing these issues before they can evolve into a crisis?