Fatal Harvest Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture / Edition 1

by Andrew Kimbrell

Overview

Fatal Harvest takes an unprecedented look at our current ecologically destructive agricultural system and offers a compelling vision for an organic and environmentally safer way of producing the food we eat. It gathers together more than forty essays by leading ecological thinkers including Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, David Ehrenfeld, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Vandana Shiva, and Gary Nabhan. Providing a unique and invaluable antidote to the efforts by agribusiness to obscure and disconnect us from the truth about industrialized foods, it demostrates that industrial food production is indeed a "fatal harvest"—fatal to consumers, fatal to our landscapes, fatal to genetic diversity, and fatal to our farm communities.

As it exposes the ecological and social impacts of industrial agriculture's fatal harvest, Fatal Harvest details a new ecological and humane vision for agriculture. It shows how millions of people are engaged in the new politics of food as they work to develop a better alternative to the current chemically fed and biotechnology-driven system. Designed to aid the movement to reform industrial agriculture, Fatal Harvest informs and influences the activists, farmers, policymakers, and consumers who are seeking a safer and more sustainable food future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2901559639445
Publication date:	05/01/2002
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Andrew Kimbrell is a public interest attorney, activist and author. He has been involved in public interest legal activity in numerous areas of technology, human health and the environment. After working eight years as the Policy Director at the Foundation for Economic Trends, Kimbrell established the International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) in 1994 and the Center for Food Safety (CFS) in 1997. Kimbrell has written several books and given numerous public lectures on a variety of issues. He has been featured on radio and television programs across the country, including The Today Show, the CBS Morning Show, Crossfire, Headlines on Trial, and Good Morning America. He has lectured at dozens of universities throughout the country and has testified before congressional and regulatory hearings. In 1994, the Utne Reader named Kimbrell as one of the world's leading 100 visionaries.

Table of Contents

Prologue Douglas Tompkins
Acknowledgements
Introduction Andrew Kimbrell
 
PART I. Corporate Lies: Busting the Myths of Industrial Agriculture
Chapter 1. Seven Deadly Myths of Industrial Agriculture
-Myth One: Industrial Agriculture Will Feed the World
-Myth Two: Industrial Food Is Safe, Healthy, and Nutritious 
-Myth Three: Industrial Food Is Cheap 
-Myth Four: Industrial Agriculture Is Efficient 
-Myth Five: Industrial Food Offers More Choices 
-Myth Six: Industrial Agriculture Benefits the Environment and Wildlife
-Myth Seven: Biotechnology Will Solve the Problems of Industrial Agriculture
 
PART II. The Agrarian and Industrial Worldviews
Chapter 2. Understanding the Agrarian Ethic
-The Whole Horse: The Preservation of the Agrarian Mind Wendell Berry
-Agricultural Landscapes in Harmony with Nature Joan Iverson Nassauer
-Global Monoculture: The Worldwide Destruction of Diversity Helena Norberg-Rodge
-Farming in Nature's Image: Natural Systems Agriculture Wes Jackson
 
Chapter 3. Understanding Industrial Agriculture
-Hard Times for Diversity David Ehrenfeld
- Machine Logic: Industrializing Nature and Agriculture Jerry Mander
-Industrial Agriculture's War against Nature Ron Kroese 
-The Impossible Race: Population Growth and the Fallacies of Agricultural Hope Hugh H. litis
 
PART III. Industrial Agriculture's Toxic Trail
Chapter 4. Technological Takeover
-Artificial Fertility: The Environmental Costs of Industrial Fertilizers Jason McKenney
-Hidden Dimensions of Damage: Pesticides and Health Monica Moore
-Untested, Unlabeled, and You're Eating It: The Health and Environmental Hazards of Genetically Engineered Food Joseph Mendelson Ill
- Nuclear Lunch: The Dangers and Unknowns of Food Irradiation Michael Colby 
 
Chapter 5. Ecological Impacts
-Tilth and Technology: The Industrial Redesign of Our Nation's Soils Peter Warshall
-Water: The Overtapped Resource Mark Briscoe
-Our Forgotten Pollinators: Protecting the Birds and the Bees Mrill Ingram, Stephen Buchmann, and Gary· Nabhan
-Can Agriculture and Biodiversity Coexist? Catherine Badgley
-Wildlife Health Kelley R. Tucker
 
PART IV. Organic & Beyond: Revisioning Agriculture for the 21st Century
Chapter 6. Name the Enemy
-The End of Agribusiness: Dismantling the Mechanisms of Corporate Rule Dave Henson
-Intellectual Property: Enhancing Corporate Monopoly and Bioserfdom Hope J. Shand
-Globalization and Industrial Agriculture Debi Barker
 
Chapter 7. Going Organic & Beyond
-Uncle Ben: Coin' Organic Just Like We Used To Jim Hightower
-Organics at the Crossroads: The Past and the Future of the Organic Movement Michael Sligh
-The Ethics of Eating: Why Environmentalism Starts at the Breakfast Table Alice Waters
-Fully Integrated Food Systems: Regaining Connections between Farmers and Consumers Rebecca Spector
-Community Food Security: A Promising Alternative to the Global Food System Andrew Fisher
-Eco-Labels: Promoting Alternatives in the Marketplace Betsy Lydon
-Farming with the Wild: A Conservation Approach to Agriculture Daniel Imhoff
 
Afterword
Hope Wendell Berry
Contributors
Selected References and Readings
Organizational Resources
Index