| Description |
1 online resource (xv, 320 pages) : illustrations |
| Series |
Routledge introductions to environment series |
|
Routledge introductions to environment series.
|
| Contents |
1. Introduction: Why Environment and Food? --- 2. The Global Agri-Food System --- 3. The Ecological Basis of Primary Food Production --- 4. Global Challenges for Food Production --- 5. Final Foods: Transformation, Transportation and Waste --- 6. Food Security: Issues and Challenges --- 7. Towards A Sustainable Agri-Food System --- 8. Conclusions |
| Summary |
This timely book provides a thorough introduction to the inter-relationship of food and the environment. Its primary purpose is to bring to our attention the multiplicity of linkages and interconnections between what we eat and how this impacts on the earthʹs resources. Having a better idea of the consequences of our food choices might encourage us to develop more sustainable practices of production and consumption in the decades ahead. Although human societies have, over time, brought under control a large proportion of the earthʹs resources for the purpose of food production, we remain subject to the effective functioning of global ecosystem services. The author highlights the vital importance of these services and explains why we should be concerned about the depletion of freshwater resources, soil fertility decline and loss of biological diversity. The book also tackles some of the enormous challenges of our era: climate change -- to which the agri-food system is both a major contributor and a vulnerable sector -- and the prospect of significantly higher energy prices, arising from the peaking of oil and gas supplies which will reveal how dependent the food system has become upon cheap fossil fuels. Such challenges are likely to have significant implications for the long-term functioning of global supply chains and raise profound questions regarding the nutritional security of the worldʹs population. Taken together the book argues that a re-examination of the assumptions and practices underpinning the contemporary food system is urgently required. -- Book cover |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Food habits -- Environmental aspects
|
|
Food preferences -- Environmental aspects
|
|
Food supply -- Environmental aspects
|
|
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Infrastructure.
|
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Food supply -- Environmental aspects.
|
|
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- General.
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| ISBN |
0203013468 |
|
1134229011 |
|
9780203013465 |
|
9781134229017 |
|
