Scientists and educators examined long-term national and world trends related to the web of interrelationships involved in climate, food production, population, land use, and environmental quality. Current information and projections for the next quarter century were discussed. In reviewing scientific findings, it was noted that global weather will fluctuate more in the next 25 years than it has during the last 2 decades. Discussions on how to decrease some of the 50 percent crop loss from rodents, insects, disease, waste, and spoilage were triggered by knowledge that world food demand today is the largest in history and that it will increase in future years. The fact that less developed countries will suffer most from food shortages and that famine, social unrest, and possible political chaos may not be far away was of considerable concern. In pinpointing new land for conversion to crops, it was noted that people create five times more desert than cropland, that expanding world population means urban encroachment on prime food producing land, and that atmospheric pollution by people may be modifying the climate enough to significantly alter the boundaries of existing croplands for the next 25 years. (JN)