Diet for a Sustainable Ecosystem

This book explores a specific ecosystem in depth, in order to weave a story built on place and history. It incorporates the theme of a journey to help reveal the environment-human-health-food system-problem. While drawing on a historical approach stretching back to the American colonial era, it also incorporates more contemporary scientific findings. By crafting its story around a specific place, the book makes it easier for readers to relate to the content, and to subsequently use what they learn to better understand the role of food systems at the global scale.

Brings to life a story of the Chesapeake Bay as a case study readily applicable to other ecosystems where the food system has damaged the health of the environment and its people Combines historical ecology, human history, economics, ethics, climate change studies, nutrition science and aquatic science to construct a cohesive narrative for understanding the intersection of environmental sustainability and human health Constructs a virtual timeline of the Chesapeake Bay and its food system that extends from the distant geological past to the challenging future of an Earth undergoing rapid climate change Presents the science that enables readers to see the consequences of their dietary choices for their own health and that of the environment Documents the consequences of both the Standard American Diet, and the industrialized chemical agriculture that supports it

Auteur
Prof. Benjamin Cuker has studied arctic lakes, southern ponds and the Chesapeake Bay. His work on diversifying the aquatic science community garnered him a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation (1999) and awards from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (1993, 2009). Having been a Professor of Marine and Environmental Science at Hampton University since 1988, he also knows the Chesapeake well as a cruising and racing sailor who won the "Down The Bay" race in 2014 and 2015.

Contenu
Part I. Introduction and Background.- Introduction: Starting the Journey to a Sustainable Ecosystem and Healthy People.- The Bay and Its Watershed: A Voyage Back in Time.-
Scientific Concepts for Understanding the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its people.- Part II. Foundations of the Chesapeake Bay Food System and the Consequences of Over-Extraction.- The Algonquin Food System and how it Shaped the Ecosystem and Interactions with the English Colonists of the Chesapeake Bay.- A Fishing Trip: Exploiting and managing the commons of the Chesapeake Bay.- Menhaden, the Inedible Fish that Most Everyone Eats.- Blue Crabs: Beautiful Savory Swimmers of the Chesapeake Bay.- The Chesapeake Bay Oyster: Cobblestone to Keystone.- Passenger Pigeon and Waterfowl: Flights to Extinction and Not.- Part III. Industrial-chemical Agriculture Reshapes the Bay's Ecosystem.- The journey from Peruvian Guano to Artificial Fertilizer ends with too Much Nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay.- Pesticides bring the War on Nature to The Chesapeake Bay.- Livestock and Poultry: the Other Colonists who Changed the Food System of the Chesapeake Bay.- Part IV. Consequences of and Alternatives to the Standard American Diet: Human and Ecosystem Health.- Instead of Eating Fish: the Health Consequences of Eating Seafood from the Chesapeake Bay Compared to Other Choices.- Sugar Twice Enslaves: Consequences for the People of the Chesapeake.- Eutrophication: Obesity of the Bay and its People.- Finishing the Journey: Urine and Feces as Misplaced Resources.- Plastic Food System Waste Travels Far but Never Goes Away.- Part V. Looking to the Future: Ecology, Economics, Ethics, and Policy for Restoring the Health of the Bay and its People.- A New Food System for The Chesapeake Bay Region and a Changing Climate.- An Organic-Based Food System: A Voyage Back and Forward in Time.- What Nature, Politics and Policy Demand of the Chesapeake Bay and its Food System.- Ethics and Economics of Building a Food System to Recover the Health of the Chesapeake Bay and its People.