Pros, cons of food production explored

It's cheap, it's available and it's selling — but is it good for us, or our environment, for food to be mass produced?

Or is there a way out there to keep a lid on continually rising food prices, plus have enough to go around, through other food-production methods?

Such questions will be explored Monday evening by Paul Roberts, author of "The End of Food," in a free public lecture at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. The lecture is part of the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy's Ambassador John Price and Marcia Price World Affairs Lecture Series, in partnership with American Express and Westminster College's Weldon J. Taylor Executive Lecture Series.

"If the question is, is this food system sustainable ... and can we produce more food because we need to feed more people, the story can be kind of discouraging," Roberts said.

Roberts is a journalist who examines economics, technology and the natural world. "The End of Food" follows his successful book "The End of Oil" that in 2004 examined factors contributing to today's energy crisis. His latest book examines hyper-efficient industrialized food production.

While industrialized food production makes more food available at low cost, the system is hitting the point of "dangerously diminishing returns" in nutritional quality and risks for food-borne illness, the book contends.

Some farming practices have compromised soil, water systems and other natural food-production infrastructure, perhaps to the breaking point. Another problem is that 1 billion people worldwide are overweight or obese, while another 1 billion don't get enough to eat.

How to strike a balance?

"We're always going to have a global food system, and we're always going to have an industrialized food system, too," Roberts said. "But I think there's a lot of room for compromise and hybridization."

Some "encouraging" options — such as skyscraper farms and rooftop greenhouses — are being discussed, he said. "We have a long way to go, but we haven't been asking these questions in a meaningful way for very long."

If you go...

What: Paul Roberts, author of The End of Food, is speaking at Westminster College as part of a free public lecture series.

When: Monday, Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Vieve Gore Concert Hall, Emma Eccles Jones Conservatory, 1840 S. 1300 East, Salt Lake City

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com