Resetting the Table
Straight Talk About the Food We Grow and Eat
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- 7,99 €
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- 7,99 €
Publisher Description
A bold, science-based corrective to the groundswell of misinformation about food and how it's produced, examining in detail local and organic food, food companies, nutrition labeling, ethical treatment of animals, environmental impact, and every other aspect from farm to table
Consumers want to know more about their food--including the farm from which it came, the chemicals used in its production, its nutritional value, how the animals were treated, and the costs to the environment. They are being told that buying organic foods, unprocessed and sourced from small local farms, is the most healthful and sustainable option. Now, Robert Paarlberg reviews the evidence and finds abundant reason to disagree. He delineates the ways in which global food markets have in fact improved our diet, and how "industrial" farming has recently turned green, thanks to GPS-guided precision methods that cut energy use and chemical pollution. He makes clear that America's serious obesity crisis does not come from farms, or from food deserts, but instead from "food swamps" created by food companies, retailers, and restaurant chains. And he explains how, though animal welfare is lagging behind, progress can be made through continued advocacy, more progressive regulations, and perhaps plant-based imitation meat. He finds solutions that can make sense for farmers and consumers alike and provides a road map through the rapidly changing worlds of food and farming, laying out a practical path to bring the two together.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Paarlberg (Starved for Science), a professor of public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School, presents this astute look at food production in the U.S. Noting that food sources and producers Big Ag, trans fats, GMOs, beef production, the sugar lobby, and farm subsidies have been charged as contributors to the shortcomings of America's food system, he redirects the blame, instead, to Big Food a term for the powerful and persuasive industry that manufactures and markets what people consume. Citing multiple studies and case histories, Paarlberg rejects positions of popular voices on the subject, such as Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman, that organic farming and locavorism are the answers, although he is in favor of eating less red meat, and highlights modern practices such as precision agriculture and ecomodernism, which reduce waste of natural resources and limit environmental damage. For poor and wealthy Americans alike, Paarlberg says, having too much to eat is now a bigger health problem than having too little. But he leaves the reader with course corrections that seem reasonable. Big Food, faced with the one-two punch of evolving advances in modern farming and a more progressive push at promoting better eating, will, he hopes, respond in positive ways. Environmentally conscience readers will find much food for thought in this informative narrative.
