Global Food Futures

Global Food Futures presents a highly accessible account of the global food situation up to 2050, tackling the widespread assumption that world agriculture will fail to feed a projected population of 9 billion.

We face the challenges of developing a global food system that will feed a growing and more affluent population while preserving sensitive ecosystems, competing for limited natural resources, increasing agricultural productivity growth while mitigating and adapting to climate change and other threats, and contributing to rural area well-being. This report develops three contrasting scenarios to illustrate alternative futures, based on several global economic models and extensive discussions with relevant stakeholders, and outlines policy considerations to help ensure that future needs are met in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable manner. The scenarios highlight the fundamental uncertainties surrounding forward-oriented decision making, and point to the crucial importance of international co-operation across multiple policy areas.

By 2050 the world will be faced with the enormous challenge of feeding 9 billion people despite being affected by climate change, rising energy costs and pressure on food growing land and other major resources. How will the world produce 70% more food by 2050 to feed a projected extra 2.3 billion people? What will be the impact of food shortages and high prices on areas in crisis such as sub-Sahara Africa? Where will future production growth come from? And how do we balance the need for environmental protection with sustainable agricultural production methods? This is the first text to present a scholarly, balanced approach to the contentious area of food production and supply up to 2050 - offering a readable and well-informed account which tackles the global food situation in all its totality, from agricultural production, technological advance, dietary concerns, population changes, income trends, environmental issues, government food and agriculture policy, trade, financial markets, macroeconomics and food security. Highly accessible and written by a specialist author with experience as an agricultural analyst, policy advisor and researcher, Global Food Futures synthesises the key issues in one volume.

Securing sustainable food for everyone is one of the world's most pressing challenges, but research, policy, and programmes remain fragmented, and effective solutions have been slow to emerge. This book takes on these challenges by proposing a range of solutions that can advance pathways towards sustainable food futures. Complete with recipes, this book is structured so that readers are taken in a logical progression through discussions of solutions, highlighting the need to recognise the importance of place and the importance of participation, and to challenge dominant descriptions of markets, through to re-designing food systems. The solutions presented in this book are based on real-world cases, but discussions remain deliberately broad to encourage thinking in new ways. Cases are drawn from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America. The book is of relevance to those interested in sustainable food futures, and can serve as a supplementary textbook for a wide range of courses in food studies and related disciplines.

First Published in 2011. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The Global Food Economy examines the human and ecological cost of what we eat. The current food economy is characterized by immense contradictions. Surplus 'food mountains', bountiful supermarkets, and rising levels of obesity stand in stark contrast to widespread hunger and malnutrition. Transnational companies dominate the market in food and benefit from subsidies, whilst farmers in developing countries remain impoverished. Food miles, mounting toxicity and the 'ecological hoofprint' of livestock mean that the global food economy rests on increasingly shaky environmental foundations. This book looks at how such a system came about, and how it is being enforced by the WTO. Ultimately, Weis considers how we can find a way of building socially just, ecologically rational and humane food economies.

A global transformation in food supply and consumption is placing our food security at risk. What changes need to be made to the ways we trade, process and purchase our food if everyone in the world is going to have enough wholesome food to eat? Is there genuine scope for creating food futures that embrace considerations such as ecological sustainability and social equity as well as placing good food on the table - and making money? Drawing upon examples of innovative food chains in Europe, Canada, Africa and Latin America, leading academics and practitioners challenge the idea that individuals are powerless in the face of global supply chains and the legal apparatus protecting them. The authors do not, however, underestimate the scale of the task at hand. They explore the tensions and dilemmas inherent in innovative practice - such as the ethics of mainstreaming, balancing a variety of goals and the ways in which success is defined - as well as presenting success stories and explaining how they were achieved. Creating Food Futures provides you with inspiring examples of what is being done and thought-provoking suggestions for future work.

If we are to better understand and negotiate current and future problems in the food supply chain, it will be essential to pay more attention to the role and position of professionals involved. 'Professionals in food chains' addresses questions as: What are the main ethical challenges for professionals in the food supply chain? Who within this complex field holds responsibility for what? What does it mean for the food-related professions to operate in an atmosphere of immense social tension and high expectations? Which virtues are required to do a 'good' job? In brief: What can be said about the roles, responsibilities, and ethics of professionals across this dynamic field? Topics covered include general issues on professional roles and responsibility, sustainable food supply chains, novel approaches in food production systems, current food politics, the ethics of consumption, veterinary ethics, pedagogical/educational and research ethics, as well as aquacultural, agricultural, animal, and food ethics.