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Book Cover for: How to Feed the World: The History and Future of Food, Vaclav Smil

How to Feed the World: The History and Future of Food

Vaclav Smil

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"Vaclav Smil is my favorite author."--Bill Gates

An indispensable analysis of how the world really produces and consumes its food--and a scientist's exploration of how we can successfully feed a growing population without killing the planet

We have never had to feed as many people as we do today. And yet, we misunderstand the essentials of where our food really comes from, how our dietary requirements shape us, and why this impacts our planet in drastic ways. As a result, in our economic, political, and everyday choices, we take for granted and fail to prioritize the thing that makes all our lives possible: food.

In this ambitious, myth-busting book, Smil investigates many of the burning questions facing the world today: why are some of the world's biggest food producers also the countries with the most undernourished populations? Why do we waste so much food and how can we solve that? Could the whole planet go vegan and be healthy? Should it? He explores the global history of food production to understand why we farm some animals and not others, why most of the world's calories come from just a few foodstuffs, and how this might change in the future.

How to Feed the World is the data-based, rigorously researched guide that offers solutions to our broken global food system.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Viking
  • Publish Date: Mar 4th, 2025
  • Pages: 272
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.24in - 6.38in - 1.02in - 0.92lb
  • EAN: 9780593834510
  • Categories: Philosophy & Social AspectsEnvironmental Science (see also Chemistry - Environmental)Agriculture - General

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About the Author

Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of over forty books on topics including energy, environmental and population change, food production and nutrition, technical innovation, risk assessment, and public policy. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, in 2010 he was named by Foreign Policy as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers. He is the author of Numbers Don't Lie, Size, and the New York Times bestselling How the World Really Works.

More books by Vaclav Smil

Book Cover for: How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Energy and Civilization: A History, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Creating and Transforming the Twentieth Century, Revised and Expanded: Technical Innovations and Their Lasting Impact, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Invention and Innovation: A Brief History of Hype and Failure, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Size: How It Explains the World, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Energy Myths and Realities: Bringing Science to the Energy Policy Debate, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: El Tamaño de Las Cosas / Size: How It Explains the World, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Natural Gas, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Should We Eat Meat?: Evolution and Consequences of Modern Carnivory, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Energies: An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization, Vaclav Smil
Book Cover for: Energy Transitions: Global and National Perspectives, Vaclav Smil

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