Concerns about food are hardly new.  Thomas Malthus’ eloquent 1798 Essay on Population crystalized the dilemma for modern times in the West – so much so that the word Malthusian entered English to denote a population-based food crisis.  Malthus argued that humanity was doomed to poverty and famine because the human population grew exponentially, while mankind’s ability to produce food could only increase at a linear rate.