Holy cow (har!), this is dense. Not for the mathematically or philosophically faint of heart, but it's a very intriguing read.

Fairlie walks through exhaustive analysis of efficiency and ecological impacts of all kinds of food production methods over the course of 17 chapters. I learned some fascinating things: the concept of stockfree agriculture, for example, was totally knew to me; and the idea of livestock (particularly pigs) as a hedge against lean crops years makes a lot of sense. It also made me rethink a reliance on imported, soy-based products as a way to reduce animal product consumption.

I felt like I should have received 3 or 4 undergrad credits after working my way through. But even without those, it was worthwhile. Fairlie's well-supported argument for small-scale, integrated, rural livestock farming is a challenge to viewpoints at every extreme.