World on the Edge Released 2012
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Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity

Lester R. Brown

With food scarcity driven by falling water tables, eroding soils, and rising temperatures, control of arable land and water resources is moving to center stage in the global struggle for food security. In this era of tightening world food supplies, the ability to grow food is fast becoming a new form of geopolitical leverage. What will the geopolitics of food look like in a new era dominated by scarcity and food nationalism?

Table of Contents:

Preface

1. Food: The Weak Link

2. The Ecology of Population Growth

3. Moving Up the Food Chain

4. Food or Fuel?

5. Eroding Soils Darkening Our Future

6. Peak Water and Food Scarcity

7. Grain Yields Starting to Plateau

8. Rising Temperatures, Rising Food Prices

9. China and the Soybean Challenge

10. The Global Land Rush

11. Can We Prevent a Food Breakdown?

Index

Acknowledgements & About the Author