Food Security - (Point of View) by Ralph C Martin (Paperback)

About the Book

Today, mainstream agriculture pushes excess food while depleting soil, water, air, and energy instead of growing just enough for adequate, healthy consumption.

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

Ralph challenges us to consider the complexities of agriculture, the impact agriculture has on individual farmer...consider their consumer habits and the effects their choices have on our environment and on the plight of poorer nations of the world.-- "Catherine Van Arkel, Van Arkel Farms, Dresden, ON"

Ralph weaves his personal experiences growing up on a farm in Wellington County, with his professional experiences as an agriculturalist, teacher, mentor and researcher.-- "Laurent Van Arkel, Van Arkel Farms, Dresden, ON"

So much more than a treatise on food security... It's spiritual ecology in practice and at its finest.-- "Anita Stewart C.M. LLD; Food Laureate, University of Guelph & Founder of Food Day Canada"

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.-- "Jane Rabinowicz, Executive Director USC Canada"

This is a deeply personal but also profoundly analytical treatise on how to save ourselves and other species...Ralph Martin is Canada's Wendell Berry.-- "Rod MacRae, PhD; Associate Professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University"

About the Author

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 lives in Guelph, Ontario.