Did you know starvation kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined? Around the world, millions go to bed hungry every night. Farmers produce enough food to feed everyone, but the food does not get to the people who need it most. In some places, food has become a precious commodity almost like gold.

Why is food scarce in some places and abundant in others? In this book, author Kathlyn Gay explores the complicated interaction between food, business, politics, and the environment. She examines the international food aid system; giant factory farms, which grow and slaughter animals using assembly-line techniques; and the genetic engineering of seeds, plants, and animals. These systems promise to get more food to the people who need it but the promises don't always pan out. Worse, many modern agricultural practices are harmful to the environment, to workers, and even to consumers. Food politics will only become more complicated as Earth's climate grows warmer, bringing rising sea levels, shifting growing seasons, and shrinking freshwater supplies.

But despite these dreary predictions for the future of food and agriculture, the news is not all bad. Around the world, people are forging a new food future to provide good food for everyone and to do so in ways that nurture the soil and water, keeping farmland healthy and productive for generations to come.