Feed the Planet: A Photographic Journey to the World’s Food

Acclaimed photographer George Steinmetz documents the awesome global effort that puts food on our tables and transforms the surface of the Earth

Do you know where your food comes from? To find out, photographer George Steinmetz spent a decade documenting food production in more than 36 countries on 6 continents, 24 US states, and 5 oceans. In striking aerial images, he captures the massive scale of 21st-century agriculture that has sculpted 40 percent of the Earth’s surface. He explores the farming of staples like wheat and rice, the cultivation of vegetables and fruits, fishing and aquaculture, and meat production. He surveys traditional farming in diverse cultures, and he penetrates vast agribusinesses that fuel international trade. From Kansas wheat fields to a shrimp cocktail’s origins in India to cattle stations in Australia larger than some countries, Steinmetz tracks the foods we eat back to land and sea, field and factory. He takes us places that most of us never see, although our very lives depend on them.

With an introduction and informative captions by veteran environmental journalist Joel K. Bourne Jr. and a foreword by Michael Pollan, Feed the Planet brings the impact of visual images, accompanied by clear explanations and accurate information, to one of humanity’s deepest needs, greatest pleasures, and most pressing challenges: Bringing nutritious and sustainably produced food to the Earth’s growing population, in the face of destabilizing climate change. It’s the rare book that reveals how the world works, laying the groundwork for thinking about how our personal choices shape the future well-being of everyone.

George Steinmetz is an award-winning documentary photographer whose large-scale projects on pressing global issues have been published in National Geographic magazine, the New York Times, and many other leading publications. To create Feed the Planet, he visited more than 36 countries, 24 US states, and 5 oceans over the past decade. His books for Abrams include The Human Planet (2020), New York Air (2015), Desert Air (2012), Empty Quarter (2009), and African Air (2008). He lives in New Jersey with his wife, journalist Lisa Bannon. Joel K. Bourne Jr. is an award-winning environmental journalist and the author of The End of Plenty: The Race to Feed a Crowded World (2015). He is a former Senior Editor for the Environment at National Geographic magazine, where he remains a frequent contributor covering agriculture, energy, and environmental issues around the globe. He lives with his family in Wilmington, North Carolina.