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Food. In some ways the world food situation hasn’t changed for decades. There are still millions of starving people. There are still places where so much food is grown that it has to be thrown away. Fertilizers and pesticides pollute the countryside; soil erodes; groundwater tables drop. Every year when the new statistics come out, I flip through and think, “Ho hum.”

It’s easy to become inured to tragedy if it goes on long enough on a big enough scale. This year, though, I took time to read the fine print in the food and agriculture section of the Worldwatch Institute’s annual book Vital Signs. I found some surprises, which I will convey here in the form of a quiz, to see whether they are news to you, too. 1. A. The answer is China by a long shot (1999 harvest 395 million tons). By the way, the numbers above demonstrate clearly that America does not “feed the world.” 2. A. 70 percent b. 55 percent c. 37 percent The answer is c. 3. A. Soybeans, the fastest growing crop in the world. 4. A. 5. A. Food Network - Easy Recipes, Healthy Eating Ideas and Chef Recipe Videos. Civil Eats. Eater National : The National Restaurant, Bar, and Nightlife Blog.