Alternative agriculture in an energy- andresource-depleting future

Industrial principles of specialization, simplification and concentration began to be applied to agriculture after the SecondWorld War with positive production results. But it is now widely recognized that this agriculture and food system facesdaunting challenges in the decades ahead, including increased human population growth, natural resource depletion,ecological degradation, climate change and escalating energy costs. These challenges have refocused the attention ofagriculturalists and food scientists on the question of how we can continue to feed the human species. But these challengesalso provide opportunities to rethink and redesign our food system. Agriculturalists are recognizing that resilience is at leastas important to food security as maximum production, and consumer concerns provide us with unprecedented opportunitiesfor farmers and consumers to come together as ‘food citizens’ to determine appropriate changes in our food system. To thatend it is important to examine the various production systems and infrastructures in an effort to select the most viableoptions for long-term sustainability