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Earth Policy Institute: Podcast


Sep 27, 2012

Environmental analyst Lester R. Brown discusses the global struggle for food security and other themes in his new book, Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity. The U.S. Great Drought of 2012 has raised corn prices to the highest level in history. The world price of food, which has already doubled over the last decade, is slated to climb higher, ushering in a new wave of food unrest. “In this era of tightening world food supplies, the ability to grow food is fast becoming a new form of geopolitical leverage. Food is the new oil. Land is the new gold,” Brown writes. He explains the factors leading to higher demand for food and the new challenges to food production in the U.S. and worldwide.