Surname 1
Name
Instructor
Course
Date
Article Summary: Can We Feed the World and Sustain the Planet?
1. The article is different in the way that it examines the problem comprehensively and gives
viable suggestions that could help to reduce the identified food and environmental problems.
2. Solving current problems of access to food and poverty is commendable, but one should look
at how sustainable the measures are.
3. Agriculture is an environmental threat because it requires the clearing of forests, farming of
the marginal lands, and growing crops on sensitive landscapes and the accompanying watersheds
(Foley 62).
4. The three major challenges are greenhouse emissions, biodiversity losses, and water use and
pollution (Foley 62).
5. The problem is more complex than expanding the area under faring because doing so would
create another problem, which is an increase in the agriculture footprint.
6. The food that people grow is consumed or stored, but a substantial amount goes to waste.
7. The author suggests five solutions to the food problem and environmental issues. First, there is
the need to cease expanding agriculture’s footprint. Second, there is the need to improve the
yields of current farmlands to avoid expanding agriculture’s footprints. Third, farmers should
emphasize the efficient use of the available resources, where they produce more crops per unit of
water, energy, and fertilizer. Fourth, people should be encouraged to diversify their diet and
reduce the intake of meat. Lastly, there should be minimal wastage of food.
