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Transforming food systems: The quest for sustainability

Code: 9781786764553
Publication Date: 09/07/2024
Extent: 456 pages
Series No: 99

Dr Dave Watson

Description

There is an almost universal recognition that modern agri-food supply chains are unsustainable. They are seen as both contributing to and vulnerable to climate change, too reliant on environmentally-damaging synthetic inputs, as undermining biodiversity, generating significant losses and waste and failing to deliver the nutritious food required for a healthy, balanced diet.

Transforming food systems: The quest for sustainability addresses one of the greatest global challenges of our time: how to reform food systems so they are more sustainable but still able to produce the food we need. The book traces the evolution of the current global food production system and reviews competing approaches to achieving more sustainable production, starting with ‘reformist’ approaches which promote new technologies as a way forward, such as genetic modification and synthetic foods.

This collection also considers the pros and cons of ‘progressive’ approaches, such as regenerative and organic agriculture, as well as the more radical solutions which seek to achieve a more fundamental reform of the food system.

As the world tackles the central question of how food should be produced in the future, this book provides readers with an authoritative guide to the various solutions on offer and how to assess which road we should take.

Key Features

  • Sets out the historical context for understanding the current challenges facing food production
  • Gives a unique overview of the range of reformist, progressive and radical solutions to reforming the global food system
  • Provides a framework for comparing the relative strengths and weaknesses of different solutions

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£150.00
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Table of Contents

Part 1 The global food system

  • 1.Emergence of the global food system
  • 2.Trouble at t'mill
  • 3.Drivers and outcomes of change

Part 2 Competing paradigms of food production

  • 4.Neo-productivist food systems
  • 5.Reformist food systems
  • 6.Progressive food systems
  • 7.Radical food systems

Part 3 The golden chalice of sustainability and the evolution of food systems

  • 8.The golden chalice of sustainability
  • 9.Food system evolution
About the Author

Dr Dave Watson is a leading authority on sustainability issues affecting agriculture. He has taught at the University of Hull, UK as well as managing research programmes for the International Livestock Research Institute, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.

What others are saying about this book...

“The depth of the analysis and the wealth of references in Dave Watson’s book provide a solid foundation for understanding the implications of the pressing environmental challenges we face, particularly the global food crisis. His engaging style makes this book not only informative but also inspiring. It encourages us to rethink our relationship with food, to value our culinary traditions, and to promote systems that nourish not only individuals but also our planet.” (Book Review Published in International Journal of Environmental Studies – Professor Nadia Boutaleb, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco)

"Written from a supply side perspective, this is an excellent, well-written and comprehensive synthesis of a huge volume of literature on ways to improve the sustainability of food systems. I enjoyed reading it." (Professor Tim Benton, Distinguished Fellow - Environment and Society Centre, Chatham House - Royal Institute of International Affairs, UK)

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