Agriculture and the Citizen

The purpose of Agriculture and the Citizen is to help people understand the way in which agriculture operates, providing the information necessary to enable them to arrive at an informed view on major issues: can the increasing world population be adequately fed without unacceptable pollution to the environment? Is the food and water we consume safe? Will we run out of natural resources such as land, fuel or water? Is the current use of agrochemicals necessary or dangerous? Is intensive farming sustainable or would organic farming be better? How can we help developing countries? Is food aid a good thing or not? How far should the genetic manipulation of plants and animals be allowed to go? This important book will appeal to all concerned with such issues, including all those studying and teaching agricultural and environmental sciences, research scientists, policy makers, and libraries, it is written in language that non-specialists can understand.

Inhalt

Preface. Acknowledgements. Lists of tables, figures and boxes. Introduction. World agriculture. Feeding the world. Helping developing countries. The role of plants. The role of animals. Agriculture as a system. Energy and water in agriculture. The concept of efficiency. Agriculture and the environment. Sustainability. Animal welfare. Agriculture and human health. The concerned citizen. Education of the citizen. The need for research. The future. Bibliography. Appendix A: Proverbs. Appendix B: Glossary. Index.