Rethinking Food and Agriculture by Kassam, Amir; Kassam, Laila;

Long description:

Given the central role of the food and agriculture system in driving so many of the connected ecological, social and economic threats and challenges we currently face, Rethinking Food and Agriculture reviews, reassesses and reimagines the current food and agriculture system and the narrow paradigm in which it operates.

Rethinking Food and Agriculture explores and uncovers some of the key historical, ethical, economic, social, cultural, political, and structural drivers and root causes of unsustainability, degradation of the agricultural environment, destruction of nature, short-comings in science and knowledge systems, inequality, hunger and food insecurity, and disharmony. It reviews efforts towards 'sustainable development', and reassesses whether these efforts have been implemented with adequate responsibility, acceptable societal and environmental costs and optimal engagement to secure sustainability, equity and justice. The book highlights the many ways that farmers and their communities, civil society groups, social movements, development experts, scientists and others have been raising awareness of these issues, implementing solutions and forging 'new ways forward', for example towards paradigms of agriculture, natural resource management and human nutrition which are more sustainable and just.

Rethinking Food and Agriculture proposes ways to move beyond the current limited view of agro-ecological sustainability towards overall sustainability of the food and agriculture system based on the principle of 'inclusive responsibility'. Inclusive responsibility encourages ecosystem sustainability based on agro-ecological and planetary limits to sustainable resource use for production and livelihoods. Inclusive responsibility also places importance on quality of life, pluralism, equity and justice for all and emphasises the health, well-being, sovereignty, dignity and rights of producers, consumers and other stakeholders, as well as of nonhuman animals and the natural world.????

Table of Contents:

1. Setting innovation free in agriculture
2. Agriculture planted the seeds of alienation from nature
3. Political-economy of the global food and agriculture system
4. Neo-colonialism and the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition: A gendered analysis of the development consequences for Africa
5. The myth of a food crisis
6. Animal Ethics as Critique of Animal Agriculture, Environmentalism, Foodieism, Locavorism, and Clean Meat
7. A food system fit for the future
8. Why change the way we grow, process and consume our food?
9. Two paradigms of scienceï¿1⁄2- and two models of science-based agriculture
10. Paradigms of Agriculture
11. Soil health and the revolutionary potential of Conservation Agriculture
12. Climate change adaptability and mitigation in Conservation Agriculture
13. Will gene-edited and other GM crops fail sustainable food systems?
14. Sustaining agricultural biodiversity and heterogeneous seeds
15. Healthy diets as a guide to responsible food systems
16. Knowledge systems for inclusively responsible food and agriculture
17. Social movements in the transformation of food and agriculture systems
18. Alternatives to the global food regime: Steps towards system transformation
19. Co-creating responsible food and agriculture systems
20. Towards inclusive responsibility