Perilous Bounty

Kind of like Jared Diamond's [b:Collapse 475 Collapse How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed Jared Diamond https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1441419222l/475.SY75.jpg 1041106] except written in present tense instead of past: water scarcity and quality; cataclysmic droughts then floods; labor availability and cost; megacorporations who (spoiler alert!) might not necessarily have humankind's long-term interests in mind; monoculture, toxic runoffs; political rentseeking; the destructive mining of our soil, our aquifers, our people, our future. What if we could see collapse coming and do something to prevent it?None of the above is new information to even the most minimally informed reader; in fact you've probably already skipped on to reading about some other book, Happy Fluffy Bunnies or Ostriches Don't Stick Their Heads In The Sand But Humans Do. If you're still here, maybe you're wondering why you should read this book, and all I can say is: it will make you much, much better informed about the specifics of the problem, and that in turn can make you a better voter and advocate — especially if you live in Iowa or California, but regardless, every food choice we make matters.In this unexpectedly enjoyable book Philpott offers potential solutions, or at least ways to give us breathing space. They're simple but not easy: farmers have to resist pressure from Big Ag, accept a little short-term inefficiency for the sake of long-term sustainability; large megafarms need to give way to smaller, more diversified midsize ones; and consumers have to eat less meat and maybe pay a little more for healthy food. I really want to write something snarky here, but I won't, choosing instead to believe that it's possible. It'll take time and determination, but the alternative is not worth contemplating.