Some have argued that the earth's capacity to produce food is virtually unlimited and that human inventiveness, together with the economic forces of supply and demand, will solve future resource problems and food needs (88). Others, in contrast, have warned that the developing world may be headed for serious food shortages in the next century as population grows by the billions and shortages of natural resources occur (9, 13, 23). FAO and the World Bank, while pointing to serious problems with food production and to population growth trends, have argued that better land-use practices and advances in agricultural technologies accompanied by soil enhancement measures that do not depend on fertilizers and pesticides in effect, a "greener" Green Revolution could push back the limits to food production (99, 128).

The level of resource consumption per person has a powerful effect on efforts to meet the needs of rising numbers of people. If the entire world were to have a standard of living like the average in Western Europe or the United States, it would require three planet Earths to provide enough natural resources at current levels of consumption, waste, and technology (95). The developed world, with only 20% of the world's population, consumes 80% of the natural resources used each year.

The US population, at over 260 million and growing by over 25 million each decade, consumes most (75). As the US President's Council on Sustainable Development concluded in 1996, "For America's future, the United States must strive to manage its resources, reduce waste products, and stabilize population so that the total impact of its activity is sustainable" (75). The same could be said of the entire planet.