Canadians are failing to balance reasonable food consumption with sufficient and sustainable production.The modern agricultural system is producing more and more food. Too much food. The cost is enormous: excess nutrients are contaminating the air and water; soil is being depleted; species loss is plunging us toward the sixth extinction; and farmers, racking up debt, are increasingly vulnerable to economic and climatic shifts.At the same time, people are consuming too much food. Two-thirds of health-care costs in Canada can be attributed to chronic diseases associated with unhealthy eating. And then there is the waste — householders, food processors, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers collectively waste 40 percent of the food produced. A radical rethink is required. We need to move from excess to enough.
Ralph C. Martin is a professor of plant agriculture at the University of Guelph, where he also served as the Loblaw Chair in Sustainable Food Production from 2011 to 2016. In 2001, he founded the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada. Ralph livesin Guelph, Ontario.
ForewordIntroduction: More than Enough1Indigenous Food Systems as Millennial Models2Apparent Choice and Declining Freedom3Pushing Production to Address Population Growth4Balancing Production and Consumption5Food and Health6Wasted Food and Attendant Losses7Food for People, Feed for Livestock8Optimizing Energy and Nitrogen Use9Wonky Weather and Protean Production10The Foundation of Building Soil for Farming11Recovering Diversity12QuintessenceConclusion: Respect and Gratitude for Enough FoodAcknowledgementsBibliography
This book beautifully combines storytelling with scientific evidence. Martin contributes a unique perspective that seamlessly bridges his lived experience of family farming, and his distinguished academic career.