cheap food can be expensive

The article "What Happens Next?" lays out "5 crucibles of innovation that will shape the coming decade." Crucible 2 is what the authors refer to as the "productivity imperative" and it basically spells out the need for everyone and every country to become much more productive in the coming decades. A dwindling future workforce and an increase in future demand spells out a real challenge for markets to maintain the level of productivity and profit that they have become used to. The evidence presented in the article is compelling, but I feel like throughout the article the authors fail to mention problems that are even more basic. Specifically, the way food is produced and consumed in this country, and increasingly around the world, is precarious and troubling. The Green Revolution, which began in the 1940's and peaked in the 1960's, sought to tackle the same "productivity imperative" discussed in this article, with a focus on food production. The ideas behind this development were well-intentioned and hoped to benefit all people by finding new technology to help increase food production and decrease cost-- exactly the same effect current leaders will be striving to attain in relation to the production talked about by the authors. However, the Green Revolution, for all its good intentions, has become more of a curse than a blessing. The shift in food production away from small organic farming to large-scale factory farming has completely changed the way America eats, and I would argue not for the better. The innovation drivers discussed here are valid and important, but for all their good intentions, some innovation just doesn't improve quality of life, even if its meant to. I would be interested to see how these crucibles would be applied to issues surrounding our modern food system. Food security and sustainability are hot button issues these days, but I'm not sure where those issues fit in this discussion. Even when sustainability is mentioned in the article it seems to bypass this current issue surrounding our food supply. Sometimes focusing so much on this "productivity imperative" steers us in a direction that fails to take more important things into account. Is more food good? Yes. But what is the cost of that increased production?