Empson introduces his review of a new book entitled Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat by Philip Lymbery with Isabel Oakeshott with the following statement:
It is impossible to read Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat without coming to the conclusion that the world’s food and agriculture system is screwed. This is a system that produces enormous quantities of food, yet sees up to a third of that wasted. It’s a highly technological system requiring enormous quantities of oil, pesticides and chemicals to produce vast quantities of food; yet it’s a system that fails to feed the hungry.Further on Empson reaches the following observation based on the book's examination:
Ultimately people go hungry because the agricultural system is driven by profit and there isn’t any profit in feeding the poor.