It currently takes 38 percent of Earth's ice-free surface to feed seven billion people, and yet two billion more mouths will need to be fed by mid century.
On the arid plains of Spain, produce is grown under the world's largest array of greenhouses and trucked northward to various distribution centers. The global challenge today is to increase sources of protein, which is essential for many key body functions, particularly in locations where food production is now deficient.
For more about the challenges of modern agriculture and the Age of Man, see the March 2011 issue of National Geographic Magazine.
Source: epod.usra.edu
