Empires of Food

Customer Reviews

• A Disappointment

  I was planning to assign this book for my graduate "Food and Culture" class this fall - it looked like it would be a good start for the class, putting food in the grand sweep of human history. Last time I used "Feast" which turned out to be very uneven. I am very glad I had time to order the book and read it thoroughly before the start of the semester (yes, professors do indeed assign books they have not read thoroughly), because it gave me time to cancel the order. Why? Partially because of an issue of balance. Just because in the past too many historians and archaeologists have left food entirely out of their reconstructions of the past, the answer is not to write a book in which food explains everything. The book reminds me of the work of Jared Diamond, also a geographer without formal training in archaeology, anthropology or theories of human cultural evolution. So the book becomes a selective trek through human history with the goal of telling a pretty simple-minded story. People learn to grow food; they clear land and increase productivity so population grows. Eventually they overshoot their productivity, they exhaust the soil, there is some climate change and there is a famine. End of civilization. Now, this model is still a minority position in archaeology, but most of us who studied cultural ecology back in the 1970s read a lot of work which poked huge holes in the theory. It only stands up if you ignore the counter-cases, like Tokugawa Japan. Or if you totally ignore the life work of important human ecologists like Robert McC. Netting, who spent his career finding examples of civilizations which maintained high population densities through sustainable agriculture and population control. Even better - he showed why some farming/social systems are sustainable and maintain high levels of fertility, controlling erosion, while others destabilize, lose their diversity and flexibility, and crash.
  
  It sure would have been nice if the authors of this book had done their homework. But instead I fear they have chosen to tell a simple-minded little story with an obvious and misleading moral about inevitable catastrophe. Instead we need intelligent and informed analysis which will explain why systems sometimes fail, so we can work on practical measures to make sure we do not see billions of people starve in the next few decades, a ghoulish prediction which this book casts as inevitable.

• Learning Food Lessons from History

  This is the most comprehensive book to date on the history of food systems and their important (and usually neglected) role in the collapse of civilizations. "The lesson from history," the authors write, "is that big civilizations are built on ground no firmer than the mud under their rice paddies. They, and we, are slaves to food."
  
  Food empires? The authors are talking about the networks of a civilization's farms, plantations, orchards; its imports from abroad; its processing plants; and its distribution channels. The larger and more complex the civilization, the more complex the food networks must be--to the point where they deplete existing resources of soil and water, then falter, then fail. Interacting with climate variables and local geological factors (volcanoes, earthquakes), food empires are far more fragile than they appear to the people who live within them, who often take their available food for granted. When these systems fail, the civilization begins to fall apart, usually with a whimper rather than with a bang.
  
  And our own industrial food empire? Despite our advances in technology, our food supply system is as fragile as those of the Romans, Mayans, or medieval Europe. But now, the problems are global. Every nation under the sun is facing soil depletion, water issues (including fertilizer pollution), and a dangerous dependence on limited fossil fuels to grow, process, and transport food to burgeoning populations. The result? "Modern agribusiness has the potential to translate a dry month in Brazil into red ink on a ledger in China into an empty shopping cart in New Jersey," Fraser and Rimas write. "There are no buffers left."
  
  And no easy answers. Local food, slow food, bioregional systems that "nest" within a global trading network. But "easier posited than done," as the authors admit. What's really needed: a public insistence that their politicians begin to acknowledge and address these crucial issues. Again, easier posited than done.
  
  What I like about this book: its breadth, inclusiveness, new-paradigm thinking, engaging writing. I also admire the authors for not trying to pull last-chapter rabbits out of the hat when it comes to solutions. Their message: don't expect answers to be handed to you on a plate.
  
  What I dislike about the book: its hop-skip-jump presentation, which reminded me of the TV series "Connections." But even this now-here, now-there organization has its advantages: readers must actively participate in the authors' arguments in order to follow them. Lazy or uninvolved readers won't want to bother. But then, they're probably not the authors' intended audience.
  
  Bottom line: an extraordinarily important book that offers important insights into a global challenge facing not just one country but all civilizations. I hope, by the time you finish it, you'll have decided that your lawn might be put to better uses than growing grass.

• an in-depth look at our food systems

  When I read this book, I kept thinking about the refrain from Ecclesiastes, "there is nothing new under the sun." It was really interesting to read about the food empires and systems from long ago, and then compare it to where we're at today. It was really well written, although I must confess to skimming over a bit of the more historical chapters. Although they were quite entertaining (the authors have a great sense of humor), I wanted to focus more on today. I suppose that's my American impatience coming through.
  
  The book didn't provide any easy answers (surprise!), but I do feel like I learned more about the context of our food system, and it doesn't seem quite so overwhelming, which is kind of strange because the solutions proposed are a bit more macro in scale than the other books I've read recently but somehow it seems doable. If you don't mind a bit of historical detail, it's a great book to help you think through the systems theory of our "food empire" and puts into perspective the threats that everyone keeps talking about. It also provides great motivation for eating local.
  
  disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy from the publisher. I was not obligated to do a review nor did it influence my opinions.

• A revelation in how food shaped history

  Highly recommended.
  
  Empires of Food is equal parts entertaining and enlightening - perfect summer reading for any foodie, environmentalist or history buff. Fraser and Rimas blend history with science to create a thoroughly enjoyable read that explores the impact of food on human history.
  

• A Mental Feast

  Empires of Food was a feast for my grey-cells! I love reading well-written history books(while sipping a crisp Provence rose and nibbling on a slice of local goat's cheese).Fraser and Rimas made me think about the historical origins of these delicacies(monks in the Middle Ages),their impact on our planet,(emerging China,water,climate,and population growth)and my own role as a concerned citizen as I make choices as to what I eat and where to buy it. A must read for all who care about the future of our food supply and the health of our planet.