Just ahead of next week's EC4004 jump into inequality and macroeconomics, here's a great talk on the processes of actually feeding a city (ht: Tim Berry). Important bits from the talk:

1. We lose about 47 million acres of rainforest every year. And at the same time, we lose about 50 million acres of farm land to salinization and erosion.
2. Half the food produced in the USA is thrown away.
3. A billion of us are obese while another billion starve.
4. 80% of global trade in food is controlled by five corporations.