Sustainable Food Production - (Columbia University Earth Institute Sustainability Primers) by Shahid Naeem & Suzanne Lipton & Tiff Van Huysen

About the Book

"Industrial agriculture is responsible for widespread environmental degradation and undermines the pursuit of human well-being. With a projected global population of 10 billion by 2050, it is urgent for humanity to achieve a more sustainable approach to farming and food systems. This concise text offers an overview of the key issues in sustainable food production for all readers interested in the ecology and environmental impacts of agriculture. It details the ecological foundations of farming and food systems, showing how knowledge from the natural and social sciences can be used to create sustainable alternatives to the industrial production methods used today. Beginning with a discussion of the role of agriculture in human development, the primer examines how twentieth-century farming methods are environmentally and socially unsustainable, contributing to global change and perpetuating inequalities. The authors explain the principles of environmental sustainability and explore how these principles can be put into practice in agrifood systems. They emphasize the importance of human well-being and insist on the centrality of social and environmental equity and justice. Sustainable Food Production is a compelling guide to how we can improve our ability to feed each other today and preserve the ability of our planet to do so tomorrow. Appropriate for a range of courses in the natural and social sciences, it provides a comprehensive yet accessible framework for achieving agricultural sustainability in the Anthropocene"--

Book Synopsis

Industrial agriculture is responsible for widespread environmental degradation and undermines the pursuit of human well-being. With a projected global population of 10 billion by 2050, it is urgent for humanity to achieve a more sustainable approach to farming and food systems.

This concise text offers an overview of the key issues in sustainable food production for all readers interested in the ecology and environmental impacts of agriculture. It details the ecological foundations of farming and food systems, showing how knowledge from the natural and social sciences can be used to create sustainable alternatives to the industrial production methods used today. Beginning with a discussion of the role of agriculture in human development, the primer examines how twentieth-century farming methods are environmentally and socially unsustainable, contributing to global change and perpetuating inequalities. The authors explain the principles of environmental sustainability and explore how these principles can be put into practice in agrifood systems. They emphasize the importance of human well-being and insist on the centrality of social and environmental equity and justice.

Sustainable Food Production is a compelling guide to how we can improve our ability to feed each other today and preserve the ability of our planet to do so tomorrow. Appropriate for a range of courses in the natural and social sciences, it provides a comprehensive yet accessible framework for achieving agricultural sustainability in the Anthropocene.

Review Quotes

Sustainable Food Production brings a broad subject area with many terms and concepts into a coherent framework. Naeem, Lipton, and van Huysen provide a big picture view for students of sustainability and other readers interested in the environment, natural resources, agriculture, and human impacts.--Mark Rasmussen, director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University

One of today's greatest environmental challenges is to feed a hungry planet without jeopardizing the sustainability of our food production systems or the Earth's ecosystems and biodiversity. Written in a highly engaging style, this short book does an incredible job of explaining how to address this challenge. Broadly sweeping in scope, from historical context to forward thinking, it offers an indispensable overview of how to draw together social, ecological, and economic principles to enhance the sustainability of food, farming, and agriculture.--Oswald J. Schmitz, Oastler Professor of Ecology, Yale University School of the Environment

A little book with a big scope, this primer focuses on the social and ecological context for how agriculture fits into the global agenda for environmental sustainability. Timely and succinct, it is a useful resource for understanding interdisciplinary issues in development and for shifting toward more equitable and environmentally sound food systems. It could serve as an excellent add-on textbook for courses in sustainability science, agricultural policy, and agricultural ecology.--Louise Jackson, professor emerita, University of California Davis

About the Author

Shahid Naeem is chair of the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology at Columbia University and director of the Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability.

Suzanne Lipton is currently pursuing a PhD in agroecology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and she previously worked in the food systems nonprofit sector and was assistant director of the Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability.

Tiff van Huysen has a PhD in ecosystem ecology, previously managed the Executive Education program for the Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability, and currently works for the USDA Agricultural Research Service.