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A piece in the New York Times today (part of the brilliant, groundbreaking Food Chain series that looks like it's being positioned for the Pulitzer Prize) explains in crystal-clear fashion how the high cost of fertilizer and its limited supply are contributing mightily to both the high cost of food in general and the devastating food shortages in many parts of the world.

Because certain kinds of fertilizer containing nitrogen create dead zones where rivers meet the sea and kill marine life, environmentalists are demanding changes that will limit the use of chemical fertilizer. Recently a United Nations panel recommended that farmers use increased crop rotation with legumes because legumes are natural nitrogen carriers.

Other folks, including Norman Borlag, "an American scientist who was awarded a Nobel Peace Price in 1970 for his role in spreading intensive agricultural practices to poor countries," say "changes like 'increased crop rotation won't begin to produce enough crops to meet the world's rising demand for food and biofuel.'" Borlaug told the Times, "This is a basic problem, to feed 6.6 billion people. Without chemical fertilizers, forget it. The game is over."

What Would Michael Pollan Do?

So what would someone like Michael Pollan or Alice Waters say about this profound dilemma—producing enough food for the world or protecting our marine life and saving our waterways?

Pollan in his recent book In Defense of Food talks about how we and other people around the world should eat less meat, and that by doing so there would be less pressure on grain supplies, which are used to fatten animals. This increase in worldwide meat consumption combined with the rising production of biofuels has translated into rising fertilizer demand, high fertilizer prices, and not enough fertilizer to go around.

So can we feed the world's burgeoning population affordably, well, and sustainably without endangering our environment? That, serious eaters, is the trillion dollar question, with millions of lives hanging in the balance.