Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Follow the Author
OK
Hot, Hungry Planet: The Fight to Stop a Global Food Crisis in the Face of Climate Change Hardcover – May 9, 2017
| Lisa Palmer (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Price | New from | Used from |
Enhance your purchase
Earth will have more than 9.6 billion people by 2050 according to U.N. predictions. With resources already scarce, how will we feed them all? Journalist Lisa Palmer has traveled the world for years documenting the cutting-edge innovations of people and organizations on the front lines of fighting the food gap. Here, she shares the story of the epic journey to solve the imperfect relationship between two of our planet’s greatest challenges: climate change and global hunger.
Hot, Hungry Planet focuses on three key concepts that support food security and resilience in a changing world: social, educational, and agricultural advances; land use and technical actions by farmers; and policy nudges that have the greatest potential for reducing adverse environmental impacts of agriculture while providing more food. Palmer breaks down this difficult subject though seven concise and easily-digestible case studies over the globe and presents the stories of individuals in six key regions―India, sub-Saharan Africa, the United States, Latin America, the Middle East, and Indonesia―painting a hopeful picture of both the world we want to live in and the great leaps it will take to get there.
- Print length256 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSt. Martin's Press
- Publication dateMay 9, 2017
- Dimensions5.8 x 0.92 x 8.53 inches
- ISBN-101250084202
- ISBN-13978-1250084200
An Amazon Book with Buzz: "The Golden Couple" by Greer Hendricks annd Sarah Pekkanen
"The Golden Couple is propulsive and thrilling. It grabbed me from the first page and didn't let go. A page-turner that will keep you guessing until the very end." –– Taylor Jenkins Reid Learn more
Frequently bought together
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Editorial Reviews
Review
"This lively, concise book is packed with practical and often surprising ideas for meeting the profound challenges of global food scarcity. Lisa Palmer is a clear-eyed realist, but her fascinating tour of our Hot Hungry Planet will leave you more optimistic than you may have thought possible."―Dan Fagin, Pulitzer-prize-winning author of Toms River:A Story of Science and Salvation
“A penetrating and sensitive analysis of the urgent need for a sustainable global food system despite widespread socioeconomic inequality, swelling population, and ominous climate change.”― Richard C. J. Somerville, Ph.D., climate scientist
“The global food crisis is a critical issue. Producing more food is key but insufficient by itself. Palmer speaks in no uncertain terms about the peril we find ourselves in. But she also manages to find the bright spots―areas of hope that those of us in the environmental, business, and policy communities can address to cope with and even reverse some of the most alarming trends.”―Jason Clay, Senior Vice President, Food & Markets, World Wildlife Fund
"The time to talk about diet for the health of people without addressing the health of the planet is past. With inspiring examples of sustainable agriculture, thoughtful attention to matters as disparate as biodiversity and family planning, and precautionary tales from around the globe, Hot, Hungry Planet gives us a clear-eyed view of the perils we face, and the promise of overcoming them by truly understanding them."―David Katz, M.D. President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and author of Disease-Proof, The Way to Eat, and The Flavor Point Diet
"A deep dive into the realities of some of the Sustainable Development Goals. Through moving personal stories Palmer shows how increased food security and addressing climate change are mutually reinforcing. We can and we must do both at the same time."―Christiana Figueres, diplomat and executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 2010-2016
“Hot, Hungry Planet is a sober analysis of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in feeding a changing and growing world. Palmer takes her readers on a journey from Vermont through Colombia, India, and the shores of Lake Victoria, examining innovations for sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture all along the way. Her work trumpets the benefits of smaller, more varied systems of food production that increase yields without the ecological harms of monoculture. Above all else, Palmer pens a passionate plea for the inclusion of women in all levels of food production through education and smart investments that forge a path toward a planet that can feed itself in a hotter, more crowded future.”―Shenggen Fan, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute
"The reporting delivers welcome hope that humans may avoid famine in the face of climate change."―Library Journal
"Palmer illuminates the cruel choices food crises force upon women, ... explains the dire consequences of a growing global middle class, ... [and] sees hope in new and diverse economic opportunities based on restoring and nurturing the environment."―Booklist
About the Author
Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Product details
- Publisher : St. Martin's Press (May 9, 2017)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 256 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1250084202
- ISBN-13 : 978-1250084200
- Item Weight : 12.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.8 x 0.92 x 8.53 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,473,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,520 in Environmental Policy
- #2,207 in Climatology
- #2,522 in Food Science (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Lisa Palmer is an award-winning journalist and senior fellow at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) who has written about science, the environment, sustainability and social challenges of a changing global environment for over 17 years for publications around the world. Her first book is Hot, Hungry Planet: The Fight to Stop a Global Food Crisis in the Face of Climate Change, to be published by St. Martin's Press in May 2017. The book brings readers on a global journey that explores the human story behind complex hot-button issues of food security and the environment, and it documents innovations by people and organizations working on the front lines of fighting to improve food security. You can read more about the book, her writing, and events at www.hothungryplanet.com.
Palmer is a recipient of many grants and awards for her writing. She has been a grantee of the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, a media fellow at the Vermont Law School’s Environmental Law Center, and a fellow of the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. She was previously a public policy scholar at The Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., where she conducted research on global food security, resilience, and policies related to sustainable agriculture. Palmer serves as a mentor to journalists in the Women in Public Service Project, and she has professional memberships in the Society of Environmental Journalists, the National Association of Science Writers, and the D.C. Science Writers Association. She is a graduate of Boston University and earned her master's degree at Simmons College in Boston.
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
“In [this book], you will meet the skilled guides to a sustainable future. As their experiences and stories make clear, leveraging the changes in science and technology must be accompanied by improvements in education and women’s rights, data and insights, policy shifts, and wise choices to meet the food needs of our planet.”
The above comes from this interesting book by Lisa Palmer. She is a journalist and senior research fellow at the National socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (in Maryland). Palmer has documented the scientific, environmental, and social challenges of a changing global environment for almost twenty years.
This book is based on two facts: the world is on the cusp of a global food crisis and that climate change is real.
It address what needs to happen to reconcile two extreme global threats: climate change and global hunger. The author makes it clear that these two extremes are definitely not mutually exclusive.
This book focuses on key concepts that support food security and resilience in a world where climate change predominates.
This, as you can imagine, is a complex topic. Palmer effectively reduces this complexity by using case studies. That is, by using true stories of people in key regions around the world: India, sub-Saharan Africa, the United Stated, Latin America, the Middle East, and Indonesia.
Throughout you will learn about such things as soil types, “Sylvian” pastures, biodiversity, the environment and environmental sustainability, deforestation, droughts, population growth, health (not just of people but also of the planet), “climate-smart” agriculture, aquaculture, and “hot” fish.
Finally, in roughly this book’s center are over fifteen black & white glossy pictures. My favourite has the following caption:
“The author…speaking with [a farmer] at his farm in India. Water, energy, and food security are inextricably linked. Here, in [his] village…[the farmer] uses solar panels to pump water to irrigate his banana, rice, and wheat crops.”
In conclusion, this tome holds hope in stopping a global food crisis in the face of a changing climate!!
(2017; acknowledgments; 3 sections or 10 chapters; main narrative 195 pages; notes; index)
<<Stephen PLETKO. London, Ontario, Canada>>
XXXXX
The advance praise for Hot, Hungry Planet is clear:
"This lively, concise book is packed with practical and often surprising ideas for meeting the profound challenges of global food scarcity. Lisa Palmer is a clear-eyed realist, but her fascinating tour of our Hot Hungry Planet will leave you more optimistic than you may have thought possible."—Dan Fagin, Pulitzer-prize-winning author of Toms River:A Story of Science and Salvation
“A penetrating and sensitive analysis of the urgent need for a sustainable global food system despite widespread socioeconomic inequality, swelling population, and ominous climate change.”— Richard C. J. Somerville, Ph.D., climate scientist
“The global food crisis is a critical issue. Producing more food is key but insufficient by itself. Palmer speaks in no uncertain terms about the peril we find ourselves in. But she also manages to find the bright spots—areas of hope that those of us in the environmental, business, and policy communities can address to cope with and even reverse some of the most alarming trends.”—Jason Clay, Senior Vice President, Food & Markets, World Wildlife Fund
"The time to talk about diet for the health of people without addressing the health of the planet is past. With inspiring examples of sustainable agriculture, thoughtful attention to matters as disparate as biodiversity and family planning, and precautionary tales from around the globe, Hot, Hungry Planet gives us a clear-eyed view of the perils we face, and the promise of overcoming them by truly understanding them."—David Katz, M.D. President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and author of Disease-Proof, The Way to Eat, and The Flavor Point Diet
"A deep dive into the realities of some of the Sustainable Development Goals. Through moving personal stories Palmer shows how increased food security and addressing climate change are mutually reinforcing. We can and we must do both at the same time."—Christiana Figueres, diplomat and executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 2010-2016
“Hot, Hungry Planet is a sober analysis of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in feeding a changing and growing world. Palmer takes her readers on a journey from Vermont through Colombia, India, and the shores of Lake Victoria, examining innovations for sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture all along the way. Her work trumpets the benefits of smaller, more varied systems of food production that increase yields without the ecological harms of monoculture. Above all else, Palmer pens a passionate plea for the inclusion of women in all levels of food production through education and smart investments that forge a path toward a planet that can feed itself in a hotter, more crowded future.”—Shenggen Fan, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute
"The reporting delivers welcome hope that humans may avoid famine in the face of climate change."—Library Journal
"Palmer illuminates the cruel choices food crises force upon women, ... explains the dire consequences of a growing global middle class, ... [and] sees hope in new and diverse economic opportunities based on restoring and nurturing the environment."—Booklist
