- Hardcover: 390 pages
- Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company (6 April 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0618606238
- ISBN-13: 978-0618606238
- Product Dimensions: 23.7 x 17.3 x 2.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,600,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
PRAISE FOR 'THE END OF OIL' 'A tour de force...an oustandingly clear, lucid, and readable book about a highly complex issue that is central to our times' Michael Meacher, The Guardian 'A necessary and brilliantly accessible work' Observer 'A combination of reportage, interviews and analysis, this investigation of energy consumption is a highly readable introduction to a frightening future' Irish Times
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
With an insightful global approach, Paul Roberts investigates the startling truth about the way we make, market, consume, and even think about food, and how this system is no longer compatible or safe for the billions of consumers that it was built to serve. The emergence of large-scale and efficient food production changed forever our relationship with food and ultimately left a vulnerable and paradoxical system in place. Over 1.1 billion people worldwide are 'over-nourished,' according to the World Health Organization, and are at risk of obesity-related illness, while roughly as many people are starving. Meanwhile, the natural systems all food is dependent upon have been irreparably damaged by chemicals and destructive farming techniques.The pressures of low-cost food production cause contamination and disease, and big food consumers such as China and India are already planning for tightened global food supplies - the era of superabundance seems to be behind us. Vivid descriptions, lucid explanations, and fresh thinking make "The End of Food" uniquely able to offer a new and accessible way to understand the vulnerable miracle of the modern food economy. Roberts presents clear, stark visions of the future and helps us identify the decisions both personal and global that we must make to survive the demise of food production as we know it.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I love these books that look at the truth behind the apparent bountiful food harvest we enjoy right now and look at the harsh realities of it all. This is one of the best books I ever read on the subject, as Paul Roberts unveils a theory I agree with of a coming catastrophe in global food supply.
Only downside, and hence the 4 stars, is that the author lets his personal views on the topic pervade some of the examples of food and agricultural processes and seems to think governments should do more to help fix the problem, whereas while I read the book, it became pretty obvious government intervention is the major cause of the problem (price supports, etc. to win votes).
Sadly, I think we have to accept the crisis will occur, and from an investing point of view, I never saw clearer evidence that I should be socking a load cash into places like Brazil and Argentina who will become the agricultural powerhouses of the 21st century, usurping the USA.
Only downside, and hence the 4 stars, is that the author lets his personal views on the topic pervade some of the examples of food and agricultural processes and seems to think governments should do more to help fix the problem, whereas while I read the book, it became pretty obvious government intervention is the major cause of the problem (price supports, etc. to win votes).
Sadly, I think we have to accept the crisis will occur, and from an investing point of view, I never saw clearer evidence that I should be socking a load cash into places like Brazil and Argentina who will become the agricultural powerhouses of the 21st century, usurping the USA.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a very readable book. The pace and tone flows well and is rather like that of a TV documentary. This may not be everyone's cup of tea but appealing to those of us who enjoy that format. I'm not too far into the book but everything that Paul Roberts has stated is plain, simple and obvious. By that I mean that he has gathered facts together and predicted the future. I didn't know many of these facts, now I do, the possibilities for the future are obvious. This is a scary book.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Journalist Paul Roberts investigated the global food-delivery system and he reports that food product production and prices have advanced like the production and prices of other contemporary consumer goods. The economics of the food system push an ever-faster product cycle driven by supply-and-demand pressures. The infrastructure that delivers food to consumers uses ever-advancing technology. However, food itself is not an ordinary consumer "product." Inexpensive food is an illusion, because the process externalizes many food production costs as cheap labor or cheap oil. Roberts explains why the food-delivery system is mired in economic, political and cultural problems, and examines the crisis that looms if it runs out of fuel or water, or both. getAbstract recommends this investigation to readers who want to understand the production, market and consumer implications involved in feeding the people on our planet.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Interesting book
There was a lot of interesting information in this book and it was exciting at the beginning but as I got further through it there was little that kept me interested (apart from... Read more
Published 10 months ago by A. Parsons
Dull.
I've read a lot of books on the subject of food production, and this one didn't add much that I didn't already know. Read more
Published on 16 Jan 2009 by Piers Finlayson
Listmania!
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