Resetting the Table

by Author Robert Paarlberg

  • Publisher Knopf
  • Year published 2021
  • ISBN: ISBN 978-0525656449
  • Number of pages 368 pages
  • WorldCat

Resetting the Table book cover
About the Book
Book description

Consumers want to know more about their food - including the farm from which it came, the chemicals used in its production, its nutritional value, how the animals were treated, and the costs to the environment. They are being told that buying organic foods, unprocessed and sourced from small local farms, is the most healthful and sustainable option. Now, Robert Paarlberg reviews the evidence and finds an abundant reason to disagree. He delineates the ways in which global food markets have, in fact, improved our diet, and how "industrial" farming has recently turned green, thanks to GPS-guided precision methods that cut energy use and chemical pollution. He makes clear that America's serious obesity crisis does not come from farms, or from food deserts, but instead from "food swamps" created by food companies, retailers, and restaurant chains. And he explains how, though animal welfare is lagging behind, progress can be made through continued advocacy, more progressive regulations, and perhaps plant-based imitation meat. He finds solutions that can make sense for farmers and consumers alike and provides a road map through the rapidly changing worlds of food and farming, laying out a practical path to bring the two together. ebook icon Audio book icon

Robert Paarlberg headshot
About the Author
Author description

Robert Paarlberg is an adjunct professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and an associate at Harvard's Weatherhead Center. He has been a member of the Board of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the National Research Council, a member of the Board of Directors at Winrock International, and a consultant to the International Food Policy Research Institute, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is the author of Starved for ScienceFood Politics, and The United States of Excess. He lives in Massachusetts.


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