The Fate of Food: What We'll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World book club questions

1. 1.

   Little argues that the binary between industrial and organic food is a false choice. Does that argument match your own thinking about food, or do you find the distinction important to preserve?

2. 2.

   Vertical farms can produce lettuce without sunlight, soil, or weather. What do you lose and what do you gain when food production is fully removed from natural systems?

3. 3.

   The book profiles smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe using a combination of traditional water-harvesting techniques and GPS technology. Does that model of combining old and new feel like a viable path to scale, or is it too site-specific?

4. 4.

   Precision agriculture reduces waste by optimizing inputs. Does a technology-intensive approach to farming feel more or less sustainable to you than a lower-tech approach, and why?

5. 5.

   If cell-based meat becomes cost-competitive with conventional meat, would you eat it? What drives your answer — taste, ethics, environmental concern, or something else?

6. 6.

   Little is sympathetic to the farmers and scientists she profiles across the political spectrum of food production. Does that even-handedness make the book more credible to you, or does it avoid necessary conclusions?

7. 7.

   The book suggests that food systems in wealthy countries will need to change alongside food systems in developing ones. What changes would you personally be willing to make in response to climate stress on food production?

8. 8.

   Aquaculture provides more protein globally than wild fisheries. Given the environmental problems of some fish farming operations, how should regulation balance protein production against ecological harm?

9. 9.

   Little argues that public acceptance is as much of a barrier to food technology adoption as technical readiness. Do you think that is true, and what shapes public acceptance of new foods?

10. 10.

    Which food technology featured in the book seems most promising for reducing climate impact, and which seems most likely to face insurmountable barriers?

11. 11.

    The book was published in 2019. What has changed in food technology or climate impacts since then that the book could not have covered?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.