We need a food revolution – one that will transform the face of the planet and our relationship with it. That will be George Monbiot’s rallying cry when he came to Intelligence Squared to talk about the themes of his major new book Regenesis: Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet. 

As Monbiot argued, farming is the world’s greatest cause of environmental destruction – and the one we are least prepared to talk about. We have ploughed, fenced and grazed great tracts of the planet, felling forests, killing wildlife, and poisoning rivers and oceans to feed ourselves. Yet millions still go hungry. But, as Monbiot claimed, there is a solution. Drawing on new scientific breakthroughs, he revealed how technology could allow us to grow more food with less farming. He discussed the extraordinary pioneers who are changing the way we get our food, from the farmers who are freeing the land from ploughs and poisons to the scientists who are finding new ways to grow protein, fats and carbohydrate in the lab – with the possibility of making the arguments about plant-vs meat-based diets ultimately irrelevant. 

Is Monbiot’s vision of an almost farm-free future viable or even desirable?

Praise for George Monbiot’s Regenesis 

‘Regenesis weaves the poetry of soil into the politics of farming to shake the ground on which we all grow. This is Monbiot’s masterpiece: an urgent and exhilarating journey into remaking what and how we eat’ – Kate Raworth

‘Regenesis speaks to us like a poem … It must be read’ – Yanis Varoufakis

‘Regenesis is a world-making, world-changing book; at once visionary and rigorous and practicable. It rings and sings throughout with Monbiot’s extraordinary combination of passion, generosity and justice.’ – Robert Macfarlane

Photo Credit: Guy Reece