Who Really Feeds the World?: The Failures of Agribusiness and the Promise of Agroecology book cover

Who Really Feeds the World?: The Failures of Agribusiness and the Promise of Agroecology by Vandana Shiva Summary

Who Really Feeds the World?: The Failures of Agribusiness and the Promise of Agroecology
Vandana Shiva
3.94 (423 Reviews)
Society
Economics
Politics
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Overview of Who Really Feeds the World?: The Failures of Agribusiness and the Promise of Agroecology

Vandana Shiva's revolutionary manifesto exposes how corporate agriculture fails humanity while small farmers - primarily women - actually feed 70% of the world. Endorsed by environmental leaders and sparking global seed-saving movements, this book reveals the shocking truth about who controls your dinner.

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Key takeaways

1

The Food Revolution We Need Now

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Our world stands at a critical crossroads. While industrial agriculture claims to feed humanity, it's actually creating an unprecedented crisis of ecological devastation, farmer impoverishment, and widespread malnutrition. Physicist and activist Vandana Shiva challenges this destructive paradigm, exposing how corporate food systems threaten our very survival while offering a hopeful vision for sustainable alternatives. For ten thousand years, humans practiced ecological farming in harmony with nature. Yet in just fifty years, we've witnessed a devastating shift to chemical-intensive agriculture that treats soil as lifeless and plants as machines. This isn't progress - it's warfare against Earth itself. The consequences are catastrophic: desertified soils, depleted aquifers, and farmers poisoned by the very chemicals promised to save them. What's most shocking? Despite industrial agriculture's claims, small-scale farmers using agroecological methods already provide 70% of the planet's food while using only 30% of resources. The true foundations of our food system are living soil, pollinators, biodiversity, and local knowledge - not chemical corporations.

2

Living Soil and Disappearing Pollinators

3

Biodiversity: Nature's Insurance Policy

4

Small Farms, Big Impact

5

Seeds of Freedom and Slavery

6

The Hidden Costs of Global Food Systems

7

Cultivating Paradise: Our Path Forward

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@Raaaaaachelw
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"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum
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108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC
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254
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"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore
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