Food is available without regard to place or season and the costs of this long distance food system are discussed. Globalization complicates our food supply even further - over half of our fresh fruit in 2006 was imported with limited testing.  This is a threat to our health and security. Industrialized approach to agriculture is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. We need to move back to a sustainabile model of agriculture.

The Other Inconvenient Truth: How Agriculture is Changing the Face of Our Planet by Jonathan Foley, director of the Institute on the Environment (IonE) at the University of the Minnesota and leader of  the IonE’s Global Landscapes Initiative. Foley’s work focuses on complex global environmental systems and their interactions with human societies.

We typically think of climate change as the biggest environmental issue we face today. But maybe it's not? In this presentation, Jonathan Foley shows how agriculture and land use are maybe a bigger culprit in the global environment, and could grow even larger as we look to feed over 9 billion people in the future.

Over the last two years, Worldwatch's Nourishing the Planet (www.NourishingthePlanet.org) team has travelled to 25 sub-Saharan African nations - the places where hunger is greatest - and uncovered a treasure trove of innovations from farmers' groups, private voluntary organizations, governments and universities. This is a trailer of the movie, click on image to buy book.

Sustainability - John Fullerton of the Capital Institute talks about his journey from Wall Street to being a sustainability advocate. An early influence in his understanding of the sustainability crisis was the work of E.F. Schumacher author of the book, Small is Beautiful.

John goes on to discuss his work with Allan Savory, founder of Holistic Management, in restoring grasslands and, ultimately, carbon back to the soil. The interview was conducted by Ruth Ann Barrett of EarthSayers.tv in San Francisco on October 7th, 2010.

The mission of the Capital Institute is to stimulate the interaction and action of leaders, scholars, and society by raising awareness of the need to harness the power of capital and markets to advance a just, resilient, and sustainable economic system that will improve lives and preserve the planet.

The focus of the Allan Savory Institute is to restore the vast grasslands of the world through the teaching and practice of Holistic Management and Holistic Decision Making.

Founded in 1980 the mission of the Schumacher Society is to promote the building of strong local economies that link people, land, and community.

The University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment is discovering solutions to Earth's biggest problems, including the big question: how are we going to feed a growing world without destroying it? This slide show focuses on cross-issues of agriculture and population. More info at environment.umn.edu.