On the Future of Food
HRH the Prince of Wales
Rodale Books: $6.99
Five stars
With a forward by Wendell Berry and an afterward by Will Allen and Eric Schlosser, you hardly even need a middle, but by golly, Prince Charles’ speech, printed here in a small-book format, is a powerhouse argument for clarity, sanity and massive change about all-things-agriculture.
Prince Charles says — and these stats are well known — that one billion people on the planet are hungry, while another billion don’t get essential vitamins and nutrients in their diets. Meanwhile, over a billion people are considered obese. Prince Charles calls this “an increasingly insane picture. In one way or another, half the world finds itself on the wrong side of the food equation.”
The Prince advocates for a sustainable food system, one that relies on the small farmer, along with a reassessment of how we calibrate and operate the entire system. At present, damage to the environment by agri-giant farming is not factored into the system.
Moreover, the Prince says we need “to include in the bottom line the true costs of food production — the true financial costs and the true costs to the Earth.”
There is no more common sense, yet radical idea than this. And one that the Prince believes can upend our current system in lieu of something more sustainable.
This affordable, tidy tome fits in your pocket, will be great to pull out and share with others, at a party and over a meal. Read, learn and join the food fight.
