Toward a Well-Fed World by Don Paarlberg

Abstract

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 181 packaging and the development of preservation techniques that enable the transport of finished product halfway around the world and storage over extended periods of time. But however sophisticated this industrialization process might be, it still depends on the life cycle and biological needs of animals, just as the production of grain crops ultimately rests on the timeworn cycle from seed corn to harvest. Industrial substitutionism bypasses this and seeks to fabricate its product in a more direct fashion. This began with materials like Bakelite (substituting for wood and iron) and nylon (substituting for silk and cotton). It has moved through the creation of fertilizer from coal and gas feedstocks to the fabrication of fermented protein as a foodstuff generated out of any old carbohydrate residue. Both of these elements are, of course, familiar to those interested in agricultural development and the technologies of food processing, but what is so useful about this book is the way that the industrial processes relating to artificial fertilizers, synthetic textiles, and food additives are treated as part of the same general story, which is in turn linked to the development of mechanization in agriculture, canning, and refrigeration. A coherent account of the technological evolution of the agro-food system thus becomes possible. In closing, the authors point out the political and economicconsequences for the international economy. On the one hand, the advances of substitutionism in industrialized countries marginalize Third World producers of basic crops such as rice, sugar, and sisal. On the other hand, the ability of biotechnologies to employ a whole range of carbohydrate feedstocks represents a potential market for producers of cassava or potatoes. The new technologies will certainly change the rural landscape of Europe and North America; the question of whether this will be for good or ill is one that applies with equal force to the structure of the international economy. Keith Tribe Dr. Tribe is with the Department of Economics and Management Science at the University of Keeie. His most recent publication is Governing Economy: The Reformation ofGerman Economic Discourse 1750—1840 (Cambridge University Press, 1988). Currently he is studying the development of commercial and economic education in Britain from 1890 to 1930. Toward a Well-Fed World. By Don Paarlberg. Ames: Iowa State Univer­ sity Press, 1988. Pp. xviii + 270; tables, references, index. $24.95. Don Paarlberg, one of the nation’s most respected agricultural economists, recounts the achievements of some forty scientists, farm­ ers, businessmen, government officials, inventors, economists, and others in applying technology to the conquest of hunger. Today, he says, there is reason to hope that, not only are famines coming to an 182 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CUL TURE end, but that in the not-too-distant future everyone in the world can be well fed. The first of the forty “hunger fighters”—ten of whom were still living when the book was written—discussed by Paarlberg is the Reverend Thomas Malthus, who defined the problem. Population tends to increase by a geometric ratio, while food production tends to increase by an arithmetic ratio. The ultimate check on population growth is limitation in the food supply. Its effects range from starvation resulting from famine to diseases and weaknesses brought about by food shortages. Throughout history mankind has sought ways to overcome the threat of famine, but with little success until comparatively recent times. An Englishman, Jethro Tull, demonstrated early in the 18th century that drilling seed rather than scattering it broadcast, planting in rows, spacing to permit the use of draft animals, furrowing the land, and the use of legumes would increase production. Tull had taken a first step toward ending famine. A more substantial step was taken in the 19th century byJustus von Liebig, who, according to Paarlberg, marked the transition of agri­ culture from tradition to science. Other 19th-century men discussed are Louis Pasteur, the French pathologist; Cyrus McCormick, the American inventor; and Gregor Mendel, the Austrian geneticist. During the same century, the land-grant college system, including the universities and the experiment stations and, in 1914, the extension service, was founded. This system, with the United States Department of Agriculture, has provided a broad...