Sustainable agricultural, forest, fishing and food systems are essential for food security and sovereignty and can enforce the human right to food. This is the common conviction of the authors of the book 'Future of Food': Experienced and young scientists from Asia, the Americas, Africa and Europe share the belief that family farms, vivid regional and local markets, appropriate technology and renewable energies are the future of farming and food systems. 'Future for Food' demonstrates that agricultural and food systems (again) need to be recognized as fundamental parts of all societies. To that end, it is - as the book argues - high time to end sectoral thinking and policy-making regarding agriculture. Sustainable development, as characterized by the Brundtland report in 1987 and resolved by the UN Conference on Environment and Development 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, must build on the great transition of agricultural and food systems toward sustainability.

Stephan Albrecht established the Centre for Technology Assessment on Modern Biotechnology at the University of Hamburg, Germany. He has published widely on technology, democracy, and sustainable development issues. From 2003 to 2009 he was board member and chairman of the Federation of German Scientists.