The Deutsche Bank and University of Wisconsin researchers have collaborated on a major analysis of what has to be done about agriculture to feed the world. The report, which has lots of economic charts and diagrams, takes a tough look at
resources and the environmental and climate-change consequences of
agricultural practices.
It concludes that agriculture needs lots of money invested in fertilizers, irrigation, mechanization, farmer education, and land reclamation, and that both organic as biotechnological approaches will be needed to maximize production. The facts and figures are worth perusing. But what to do with them is always a matter of interpretation. It will be interesting to see who
uses the report and how, or whether it, like most such reports, ends
up in a dusty drawer.
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Marion Nestle
Marion Nestle is professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. She is the author of Food Politics, Safe Food, What to Eat, and Pet Food Politics. She writes Food Matters for the San Francisco Chronicle. full bio
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