"Lester Brown has produced another 'planetary survey' book that tells us how to get off the wrecking train we are on by courtesy of a dozen environmental assaults such as climate change. The better news (and there’s plenty) is that turning problems into opportunities generally puts money into our pockets." —Norman Myers, 21st Century School, University of Oxford on World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse
"For years -- even decades -- Earth Policy Institute president and Grist contributor Lester Brown has issued Cassandra-like warnings about the global food system. His argument goes something like this: Global grain demand keeps rising, pushed up by population growth and the switch to more meat-heavy diets; but grain production can only rise so much, constrained by limited water and other resources. So, a food crisis is inevitable...Coming from a man who's been studying agricultural productivity since the 1960s, and who was in fact a booster of the original "Green Revolution" -- the push by U.S. policymakers and foundations to prod farmers in the global south to use "modern" agriculture technologies such as hybrid seeds, industrial fertilizers and pesticides, and heavy irrigation -- this is a significant statement," writes Tom Philpott, senior food and agriculture writer on Grist.org in a release titled 'The ‘food bubble’ is bursting, says Lester Brown, and biotech won’t save us.' Posted January 12, 2011.