Friday, February 19, 2016

Food for thought

I just realized this is my first post of 2016. I've really been slacking at the blogging. Happy, uh, New... eh forget it. This one was for World Wildlife Magazine not too long ago. I just got the issues in the mail, so I figured I'd post while I have a minute. I worked with Pentagram, who art directs/designs the magazine. My piece accompanied an article about a recent simulation game on the future of food (in)security.


The game, called Food Chain Reaction: A Global Security Game, was hosted by WWF, the Center for American Progress, Cargill, and Mars, Inc. Based on the results of the game (which is constructed with real life events around the globe in mind, particularly climate events such as floods, droughts, etc.), future food crises are a very real threat unless people act now to mitigate them. As the article points out: "By 2050, the world's population will approach 10 billion people and the demand for food will double." A scary, scary thought. Whenever I hear about simulation games like this I think of the Eschaton in Infinite Jest. I don't think this game ended with participants beating each other senseless, or anyone's head stuck in a computer monitor, but it did show how dire the situation is.
And here's my issue:


Thank you so much to Carla, DJ, and Sarah!