Amanda Little

I've read quite a few books that focus on climate change and how we as a global community will have to adjust to live in the new world. The Fate of Food deals exclusively with food science by looking at innovative farming techniques, robotic harvesting equipment, genetically modified foods, and cloned farm animals. (There's lots more she examines in rich detail but I don't want to spoil the excitement of discovery for you.) The author travels all over the world to see how different countries and individual farmers (of various sizes) are pivoting and adjusting the way that they manufacture and even distribute food.

One of the coolest sections of the book explores urban hydroponics centers where iron rich greens are farmed using seeds, a piece of cloth, misted water, and lots of monitoring technology. Think of the energy savings if you can get these foods using less water, less soil, and more efficient distribution routes! The overall theme of the book was one of hope for the future as long as we come together as a global community to create new and better ways to produce food in an ethical way that does not further damage our fragile planet. I believe (and so does Little I think) that this is absolutely possible so rather than being a "doom and gloom" depiction of how much we've messed up this is more of a "look at all of the cool things we're already doing!" approach which I really appreciated (and needed).

This is a great book for anyone who's feeling anxious about the state of the planet and/or interested in ways to decrease your carbon footprint and do some planting of your own. Sow the seeds of your own success!… (mais)