Land of Plenty, Land of Want

Investigates a fundamental dilemma facing farmers throughout the world: how to feed Earth's growing population without endangering the environment. Locations include:

Zimbabwe : Affected by climate change and the vestiges of colonial rule, small scale farmers on marginal land struggle to survive a drought.

France : The remote mountain villages of central France suffer the loss of farmers fleeing to places like Brittany where intensive agriculture has polluted the water and affected the local fisheries.

China : An agricultural revolution has enabled farmers to feed the world's most populous nation but an industrial boom is rapidly displacing agricultural land, forcing farmers to work the soil more intensively, threatening environmental damage.

United States : In Iowa, farmers use high technology to dramatically increase yields, while, in Pennsylvania, no-till farming preserves some of the richest topsoil in the world.

Topics covered: drought, loss of topsoil, water pollution, misuse of chemical and pesticides and loss of farmland to urbanization.

Learn more about this episode of Journey to Planet Earth and watch video exerpts on PBS.org/journeytoplanetearth.