Washington, D.C. (June 28, 2018)—Our world’s food system is marked by paradox: we use crops for animal feed and biofuels while people go to bed hungry, we may be simultaneously obese and malnourished, and we throw away more than 30 percent of all food even with 815 million malnourished people worldwide. Meanwhile, unsustainable farming pushes the environment to the limit and extreme weather events threaten farmers in every nation. Can we fix the global food system before it’s too late?
In Nourished Planet (Publication Date: June 28, 2018), the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition offers a hopeful but practical global plan for feeding ourselves sustainably. Edited by leading food advocate and Food Tank co-founder Danielle Nierenberg, the book assembles a diverse group of internationally renowned experts to chart a bold path forward. Their vision will provide concrete solutions to hunger and obesity, stop food loss and food waste, promote nutrient-dense and indigenous crops, and realize the vision of a more equitable food system. Essays and interviews with “voices of the new food movement,” including Hans Herren, Vandana Shiva, Alexander Müller, Pavan Sukhdev, and others, offer a truly planetary perspective.
Chapter topics range from “Barriers to Food Access and Affordability” and “The Food Pyramid Reimagined” to “The Water Economy” and “Corporate Influence on Dietary Choices.” Stories highlighting individuals and organizations working on the ground around the world provide inspiration and practical guidance. Success stories include urban farmers in Nairobi, Kenya, who developed vertical gardens credited with saving thousands from food insecurity and a national network in Egypt that has cut grain waste from nearly 50 percent to less than 5 percent.
Throughout, the book highlights the key role that farmers, women, and youth have played in the food movement and stresses the importance of recognizing and investing in these groups. Examples include female PhD students from Jamaica who developed workshops for small farmers on climate-adaptive irrigation strategies and women dairy farmers in Ghana who started a co-op to pay for their children’s healthcare and education.
Nourished Planet is a recipe for creating a more economically viable, environmentally sustainable, and socially just food and agriculture system around the globe. It is an essential read for farmers, eaters, businesses, policymakers, academics, funders, and anyone interested in contributing to a food system that is better for us all.
The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation (BCFN Foundation) is a private nonprofit think tank, analyzing the effects of economic, scientific, social, and environmental factors on food. The BCFN Foundation produces valuable scientific content that can help people make conscious choices every day about food and nutrition, health, and sustainability.
In 2013, Danielle Nierenberg founded Food Tank, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on building a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters. Food Tank is a global convener, research organization, and non-biased creator of original research impacting the food system.
Nourished Planet
Publication Date: June 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-61091-894-7
Book page: https://islandpress.org/books/nourished-planet
Founded in 1984, Island Press works to stimulate, shape, and communicate the information that is essential for solving environmental problems. Today, with more than 1,000 titles in print and some 30 new releases each year, it is the nation’s leading publisher of books on environmental issues. Island Press is driving change by moving ideas from the printed page to public discourse and practice. Island Press’s emphasis is, and will continue to be, on transforming objective information into understanding and action. For more information and further updates be sure to visit www.islandpress.org.
Press Contacts: Jamie Jennings, 202-232-7933×44 jjennings@islandpress.org
Bernard Pollack, 3120843-8612 bernard@foodtank.com
###
