Category: social commentary

If all the knowledge in the world were represented by a giant cake, then we might say a researcher specializes in one teeny tiny crumb of that cake. It's hard to communicate why a tiny crumb matters. Generally speaking, researchers make two mistakes. First, they immediately go into the technical details of their crumb and it confuses everyone and makes them bored. Or second, they claim that without their crumb, the whole goldarned cake wouldn't exist and their crumb is single-handedly responsible for the magnificence of this baked good. Neither of these approaches is a good strategy.

World hunger has risen for a third consecutive year, according to the United Nations’ annual food security report. The total number of people who face chronic food deprivation has increased by 15 million since 2016. Some 821 million people now face food insecurity, raising numbers to the same level as almost a decade ago.

My publisher Island Press is having a flash sale until Sunday the 7th of October. Everything is 50% off. If you were thinking of buying How to Feed the World, now's a good time.

This post includes an excerpt from an op-ed I wrote for Thomson Reuters News Foundation and links to the full article. In the op-ed, I argue that our collective attention is spent so obsessively on marginal food security issues that it comes at the expense of more pressing matters.

I'm very pleased to share that after several years of hard work, "How to Feed the World" is out now! If you’d like to purchase a copy of the book from Island Press, use the code 4FEED, which is good for a 20% discount.