Feed the Planet

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.