"The aerial images are revelatory sometimes unsettling and surprisingly beautiful" (New York
Times Book Review) Shortlisted for the 2025 Wainwright Prize for Best Illustrated Book.
Acclaimed photographer George Steinmetz documents the awesome global effort that puts food on
our tables and transforms the surface of the Earth. Acclaimed photographer George Steinmetz
documents the awesome global effort that puts food on our tables and transforms the surface of
the Earth With a foreword by Michael Pollan and an introduction and informative captions by
veteran environmental journalist Joel K. Bourne Jr. Feed the Planet brings the impact of
visual images accompanied by clear explanations and accurate information to one of humanity's
deepest needs greatest pleasures and most pressing challenges: Bringing nutritious and
sustainably produced food to the Earth's growing population in the face of destabilizing
climate change. It's the rare book that reveals how the world works laying the groundwork for
thinking about how our personal choices shape the future well-being of everyone. Do you know
where your food comes from? To find out photographer George Steinmetz spent a decade
documenting food production in more than 36 countries on 6 continents 24 US states and 5
oceans. In striking aerial images he captures the massive scale of 21st-century agriculture
that has sculpted 40 percent of the Earth's surface. He explores the farming of staples like
wheat and rice the cultivation of vegetables and fruits fishing and aquaculture and meat
production. He surveys traditional farming in diverse cultures and he penetrates vast
agribusinesses that fuel international trade. From Kansas wheat fields to a shrimp cocktail's
origins in India to cattle stations in Australia larger than some countries Steinmetz tracks
the foods we eat back to land and sea field and factory. He takes us places that most of us
never see although our very lives depend on them.
