Food, Energy, and Society

The main authors (both of Cornell U., one as a professor of ecology and agricultural science and the other as a senior lecturer in the Division of Nutritional Sciences, College of Human Ecology) and their collaborators examine, as indicated by the title, the triangular relationship between food production and consumption, energy resources, and the shape of society in this updated third edition of a text first published a quarter of a century ago. They include chapters discussing solar energy in natural and managed ecosystems; ecological systems, natural resources, and food supplies; manipulating ecosystems for agriculture; hunter-gatherers and early agriculture; early livestock systems and animal power; livestock production and energy use; energy use in grain and legume production; energy use in fruit, vegetable, and forage production; energy inputs in crop production in developing and developed countries; environmental and economic costs of the application of pesticide primarily in the United States; agricultural and environmental issues of water resources; soil erosion as a food and environmental threat; conservation of biological diversity in agricultural, forestry, and marine systems; food processing, packaging, and preparation; transport of agricultural supplies and foods; current and potential issues of renewable energy; biomass as food and fuel; ethanol and biodiesel production; and benefits and costs of US energy conservation and efficiency. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)