Sometimes spelled agri-foods, this term captures the increasingly long and complicated path food takes to our table. While we may like to think that the food we eat comes from a farm, it is only one place among many. Most farming is only possible with industrial inputs such as tractors and combines and chemical inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. Farmers often require loans each season to buy what is needed to produce their crop. Farming also depends on energy to run the machines, pump water, produce fertilizers, and transport the finished product to the consumer. Farmers need expert information on what and when to plant, how to diagnose and treat plant diseases and destroy pests, the weather, and when and at what price to ...