Includes bibliographical references and index.

Pushing beyond the earth's limits -- Stopping at seven billion -- Moving up the food chain efficiently -- Raising the earth's productivity -- Protecting cropland -- Stabilizing water tables -- Stabilizing climate -- Reversing China's harvest decline -- The Brazilian dilemma -- Redefining security. 1. Pushing beyond the earth's limits -- Losing agricultural momentum -- Growth : the environmental fallout -- Two new challenges -- The Japan syndrome -- The China factor -- The challenge ahead -- 2. Stopping at seven billion -- A new demographic era -- Population, land, and conflict -- The demographic transition -- The demographic bonus -- Two success stories -- Eradicating poverty, stabilizing population -- 3. Moving up the food chain efficiently -- Up the food chain -- Shifting protein sources -- Oceans and rangelands -- The soybean factor -- New protein models -- 4. Raising the earth's productivity -- Trends and contrasts -- Fertilizer and irrigation -- The shrinking backlog of technology -- Future options -- 5. Protecting cropland -- Losing soil and fertility -- Advancing deserts -- Converting cropland to other uses -- Conserving topsoil -- Saving cropland -- 6. Stabilizing water tables -- Falling water tables -- Rivers running dry -- Cities versus farms -- Scarcity crossing national boundaries -- Raising water productivity -- 7. Stabilizing climate -- Rising temperatures, falling yields -- Temperature trends and effects -- Raising energy efficiency -- Turning to renewable energy sources -- 8. Reversing China's harvest decline -- Grainland shrinking -- An aquacultural initiative -- Water shortages spreading -- Turning abroad for grain -- A new food strategy -- 9. The Brazilian dilemma -- World's leading source of soybeans -- Feed supplier for the world? -- Meat exports climbing -- Domestic demand growing -- Expansion : the risks and costs -- 10. Redefining security -- The tightening food supply -- The politics of food scarcity -- Stabilizing the resource base -- A complex challenge. Environmental analyst Lester R. Brown documents the ways In which human demands are outstripping the earth's natural capacities--and how the resulting environmental damage is undermining food production.--From publisher description.