Natalie Bennett, a member of the UK House of Lords and former leader of the Green Party, discusses concerns about the concentration of global food production in her new book, Green Thinking, according to an April 10 announcement. Bennett argues that half of all calories consumed worldwide come from just three crops—wheat, rice, and maize—grown in limited locations.
This focus on a small number of crops and regions is described as leaving the world vulnerable to food insecurity. The system is said to serve only a few large corporations while exposing populations to risks from disease, geopolitical tensions, and climate change.
Bennett writes: "On a scale of dysfunctional systems, this is right at the top of the measure. Although of course that depends on your aim. If it is to feed people well, to ensure future productivity with healthy soil and a stable climate, yes, this is stupidity of unbelievable proportions. If you want to scoop up a lot of short‑term money, then it makes perfect sense if you are one of the handful of global companies that makes huge profits from producing farm inputs, selling the outputs as commodities or processing them into highly palatable pap."
The book highlights research showing that three-quarters of all human calories come from just twelve plants and five animals. Bennett also points out inefficiencies in modern agriculture; whereas US farms in 1940 produced more than two calories for every calorie used as input energy, current methods require about ten calories input for every calorie produced due to factors like transportation distances and ultra-processing.
Bennett suggests alternatives rooted in indigenous experience such as permaculture and agroecological approaches. She draws inspiration from practices like El Salvador’s 'campesino a campesino' (farmer-to-farmer) method developed during its civil war era—a model she says offers lessons for more resilient farming systems elsewhere.
According to Bennett's work in Green Thinking, learning from diverse agricultural traditions may help address social injustices tied not only to food security but also education biodiversity loss political leadership climate change.
