Sequences of many nationalities eating, contrasted with hunger: 'Food is all growth, all vitality. But there has always been starvation... at least half of mankind is malnourished or undernourished.' The commentary refers to the 50 million extra people per annum and their resource needs. By the end of the century, it asserts, there will be twice as many people to feed as in 1962: where, it asks, is the extra food to be found? However, only one tenth of the earth's land area is farmed, one acre per person alive, and not all equally productive.

An FAO meeting in Rome, concentrating on actions to render the 10 per cent under cultivation more productive; chemical fertilizers, hydroponics, new plant strains, electrically-heated seed beds. An Argentinean voice explains the scientific study of insects to develop new pesticides. A sequence on animal husbandry stresses the necessity for proteins, especially to children. The importance of disease control for animal populations is stressed. A sequence features the conversion of South Australian desert scrub into grazing by means of analysis of soil and supplementation with trace elements. A section on ocean fisheries stresses the use of technology: echo-locators, diesel motors, deep-freeze holds, suction-fishing, nylon nets. East Asian fish farming is shown. The commentary notes that 'experts believe' that such measures could double food production, and asks, 'why not apply them now, while there is still time?'

This question is explored by introducing a 'typical farmer of the twentieth century', noting his anxiety, his financial insecurity and his lack of self-determination. The importance of education is stressed, using the example of India. The narrator concludes that hunger will only be abolished by the efforts and investment of small farmers.

A survey of the expensive and difficult means to extend the cultivated tenth: in Asia, multi-purpose dams; in Holland, land reclamation; in Venezuela, desalination plants. The conclusion stresses urgency: 'Food - or famine? We have twenty years or less to find the answer'.