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"In
Food Fight, Richard Sexton's analysis of the policies and challenges we face to feed a hungry world paints a stark picture of the problems we must overcome. It will be up to society's ingenuity and determination to resolve these difficult realities for a more sustainable future."--Emiliano Escobedo, Executive Director, Hass Avocado Board
"Sexton presents a realistic and brilliant critical review of our food system and agricultural economy. He traces how the pursuit of important concerns results in regulations that threaten the availability of food. This book is a must-read to understand the economics and policies affecting agriculture and food systems."--David Zilberman, Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley
About the author
Richard J. Sexton is Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at University of California, Davis. He is founder and coeditor of
Agricultural and Resource Economics Update, a University of California magazine devoted to contemporary food and environmental issues. He has published extensively in leading economics and agricultural journals.
Summary
Society's most basic challenge is arguably to produce and distribute enough food for its citizens. In 2023, 733 million people faced hunger, and 2.3 billion were moderately or severely food insecure. Feeding a growing world population is becoming more difficult as food demands rise in the face of climate change, pest resistance to traditional treatments, and misguided government policies that limit how much food ends up on our plates. Policies to support biofuels, organic agriculture, local foods, and small farms and to oppose genetically modified foods all reduce food production on existing land. This leads to higher food prices, increased carbon emissions, and less natural habitat as cropland expands. Food Fight documents the challenges to adequately feeding the world in the twenty-first century and illustrates the ways in which contemporary food policies in the United States, Europe, and beyond imperil food security. Richard J. Sexton provides a window into the world of modern agriculture and food-supply chains. He separates the wheat from the chaff to distinguish policies that will limit, or expand, the global food supply, and he explains how we can construct a food system that forestalls future hunger and environmental degradation.
