Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization [Hardcover]

Richard Manning (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0865476225 | ISBN-13: 978-0865476226 | Publication Date: February 15, 2004 | Edition: 1st

In this provocative, wide-ranging book, Richard Manning offers a dramatically revisionist view of recent human evolution, beginning with the vast increase in brain size that set us apart from our primate relatives and brought an accompanying increase in our need for nourishment. For 290,000 years, we managed to meet that need as hunter-gatherers, a state in which Manning believes we were at our most human: at our smartest, strongest, most sensually alive. But our reliance on food made a secure supply deeply attractive, and eventually we embarked upon the agricultural experiment that has been the history of our past 10,000 years.

The evolutionary road is littered with failed experiments, however, and Manning suggests that agriculture as we have practiced it runs against both our grain and nature's. Drawing on the work of anthropologists, biologists, archaeologists, and philosophers, along with his own travels, he argues that not only our ecological ills-overpopulation, erosion, pollution-but our social and emotional malaise are rooted in the devil's bargain we made in our not-so-distant past. And he offers personal, achievable ways we might re-contour the path we have taken to resurrect what is most sustainable and sustaining in our own nature and the planet's.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this controversial and prodigiously researched condemnation of our current and past systems of growing grain, Manning (Food's Frontier: The Next Green Revolution) argues that the major forces that have shaped the world-disease, imperialism, colonialism, slavery, trade, wealth-are all a part of the culture of agriculture. He traces the beginnings of agriculture to the Middle East, where plants were abundant and easily domesticated in coastal areas; hunter-gathers, who became fishermen, formed settlements near river mouths. Manning skillfully details the historical spread of agriculture through the conquest of indigenous peoples and describes how this expansion led to overpopulation, famine and disease in Europe, Asia and Africa. Sugar agriculture was supported by slaves and farming by laborers who grew produce for the rich while the workers ate a high carbohydrate diet (potatoes, rice, sugar, bread) and ingested no protein. In the U.S., modern agriculture has evolved into an industrial system where agribusiness is subsidized to grow commodities like wheat, corn and rice, not to feed people but to store and trade. According to Manning, agricultural research focuses on just these few crops and is profit driven. Although he succeeds in drawing attention to critical problems caused by agriculture, such as water pollution and malnutrition, he is pessimistic about reform coming from political systems. He romantically advocates hunting animals for food and hopes that such citizen movements like urban green markets and organic farms can lead to better nutrition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

A growing body of somewhat controversial scholarship ties the beginnings of war to the "culture of scarcity" that emerged with the invention, sometime in the Neolithic era and probably in the eastern Mediterranean, of agriculture. Before that, these theorists contend, humans lived as hunter-gatherers who were, far from the common vision of the half-starved caveman, quite comfortable and well-fed, because their diet was both varied and seasonal. The investment of time and energy to grow a few crops led, paradoxically, to both great excess and horrific want; when the crops failed, famine followed among people whose population had swelled beyond the small tribes of the earlier peoples. These theories are regularly bruited about at academic meetings, but rarely are they the subject of popular writing (Daniel Quinn's 1992 novel Ishmael constitutes an exception). Manning brings theory to life with well-crafted essays that cover such diverse subjects as the Irish potato famine and the controversy over bioengineered plants. Readable and well-researched, this book unsettles as it informs. Patricia Monaghan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: North Point Press; 1st edition (February 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865476225
• ISBN-13: 978-0865476226
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,202,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deceptively easy-to-read book on a complex topic, February 23, 2004

By 

C. Naylor (Deerfield, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization (Hardcover)

In many ways Manning has written a remarkable book. The basic thesis, very gently stated by the author, is that the advent of agriculture has caused the loss of what it means to be human by replacing our ancestral senses of the many flavors and varieties of nature with the dull security of industrial monoculture based overwhelmingly on just three crops. It has also heralded the breakdown of social egalitiarianism, led to vast numbers of malnourished poor worldwide, and is ultimately unsustainable on its current scale.

In making his argument, Manning wanders through numerous disciplines: cultural anthropology, archaeology, evolutionary biology, climatology, cognitive science and ecology, even religion. He begins with an explanation of how agriculture developed and spread despite its apparent disadvantages to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle (worse nutrition, less leisure-time) and then develops these disadvantages more fully, surveying the prevalence of famine in agricultural societies throughout history and moving through the detrimental social and ecological effects of industrial agriculture such as how it enabled the feeding of high concentrations of cheap labor.

`Against The Grain' hits a weak spot in looking at modern agricultural corporations, in particular ADM. At this point, he draws less from his apparent strengths as a writer and person - his awareness and appreciation of nature and his solid understanding of the historical breadth and scope of agriculture's effects - and loses his effectiveness as his underlying anger is displayed. Fortunately he leaves himself time to recover and does so in discussing the formation and driving force behind the modern industrial agricultural diet, arguing that its intention is more to promote efficient (and profitable) agriculture than good nutrition. He ends with a plan for reversing the worst of agriculture's effects through small steps - advocating the patronage of farm stands that are now prevalent in most urban centers (including my Chicago suburb), and giving us a glimpse of how he himself practices food sustainability.

Any book treating a subject as complex as the effects of agriculture on human society, even one with such a narrow focus as this one, could fill volumes of plodding data and cite vast numbers of bibliographical sources. Instead, Manning treats the subject nimbly, almost dancing through his arguments with a sense of precision and conciseness. He uses the term `gracile' in his book to denote speed and quickness while making a point about antelope, but the term could just as well apply to the book itself. Nevertheless, while I find many of his conclusions convincing, and the ideas themselves both engaging and thought-provoking, I found myself often wishing for more substantial backup for his assertions or a better system of citation. I have read a few books tangential to this material (particularly Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond which alludes to similar conclusions) and am familiar with many of the facts and events used by Richard Manning in developing his ideas, and still it seemed a little light. Someone reading this book without having read anything similar or related might well walk away unconvinced of his credibility or even his earnestness, and that would be a shame.

The book is deceptively easy to read. Despite Manning's obvious passion for the topic, he thankfully doesn't beat you over the head with his rhetoric. But I found that I needed to re-read some sections in order to catch the subleties of his argument (and as I write this I'm wondering when, with the stack of books I keep adding to, I'll have time to read it again). If you read 'Against The Grain' you may find you agree or disagree with Manning's conclusions, but regardless, you should feel that it was worthwhile.

33 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Questioning Common Wisdom*, June 28, 2004

By 

tom abeles (minneapolis, mn USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization (Hardcover)

I received this volume for review at the same time that Manning's article, Super Organics: Inside the New Science of Smart Breeding, appeared in the May 2004 issue of "Wired" magazine (1). In the article, Manning describes the ability of scientists to tag genetic elements which have been identified as yielding desirable traits. This innovation allows one to more effectively carry out conventional breeding on an accelerated time-table, giving more certainty as to outcome and none of the concerns of the possibility of the claim of creating "Franken Foods" which has plagued the genetic engineered crops. Given Manning's concerns regarding human footprints on the environment, one can almost hear a sigh of relief and feel the hope that this technology might foreshadow a kinder and gentler approach towards agricultural practices, globally, as well as herald the loosening of the economic grip which many believe the multinational agri-business firms hold on the world's food supply.

Manning is part of a growing cadre of non-academic public intellectuals whose presence is being felt, not just in conventional venues, but even more so on the Internet via web pages, blogs, email lists, and similar electronic venues. Many of these articles, books and electronic materials are researched with the same care and documentation found within the scholarly art. Others, including, "Against the Grain", are lightly and selectively researched and adopted, often lacking in thorough documentation, and anecdotally argued.

It takes little research to raise questions with the intellectually underpinnings of Manning's thesis once one rubs the romantic patina off the surface. "Against the Grain" is one of these pieces, more eloquent than reasoned, and more thoughtful than grounded in substance, though giving the appearance of being researched in a scholarly manner. Manning, in his response to his own question, "Why Agriculture?" says, (the question) is so vital, lies so close to the core of our being that it probably cannot be asked or answered with complete honesty. Better to settle for calming explanations of the sort Stephen Jay Gould calls `just so stories'."

What Manning would have us believe is that the calming stories of agriculture are those of conventional wisdom which tell of human progress due largely to the ability of society to grow because of agriculture. "Against the Grain", he believes is a counter perspective which demonstrates that agriculture, in many ways, is hostile to both the quality of life for humans and, also, the very fabric of the planetary ecosystem.

The author finds it perplexing that hunter gatherers would want to give up the life of leisure, gamboling through the ecosystem, picking berries in season and killing a choice animal for meat as needed, or desired. He builds a case for sedentary life coming before agriculture, largely around water, rich with easily obtainable aquatic protein. This sedentary life allowed for the tilling of the soil and the planting of crops, the curse of God on Adam and Eve when expelled from the Garden. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground." Manning sees grains (wheat, corn, rice) as the cross that the planet must carry. Storable, tradable, commodities are controllable. Rulers can use them to subjugate farmers, build armies, and conquer free persons and their properties and enslave them. Sedentary populations under rulers could be commanded and humbled. Yesterday, it was the armies of the Greeks and Romans, and today, the giants of the international grain trade and their agribusiness partners.

Manning is a "hunter" who believes that humans are constructed to thrive on protein, red meat from the "kill"; and the cultivation of grains, a storable, fungible commodity is not only detrimental to human health but allows wealth in grains, like precious metals, to be concentrated in the hands of a few who then control the larger population.

The land, Nature's precious soils, are scared by the plow and insulted by rubbing agri-chemicals into the wounds while precious top soils pollute the waters, the source of life. Unsustainable agricultural practices are subsidized to produce unnecessary surpluses of primary grains, wheat, corn, and rice. Of course, land ownership also restricts hunters and their natural prey. Yet, Manning realizes that because of agriculture, populations have risen, perhaps, in his mind, not as healthy as hunter/gatherers. Manning suggests that human physiology has suffered because of the restrictive grain diets and the subjugation via economics and physical coercion once agriculture dominated the arena of food production.

Since we can't return to Manning's Eden of innocence and the idyllic life of the hunter/gather, what are realistic alternatives to continued abuse of the land for production of tradable grains controlled by multinationals? Manning suggests that we return to locally produced foods, animals raised humanely and vegetables produced on community support agriculture operations. Permaculture gets a passing nod as does the "Slow Food" movement which not only suggests that we take more time to appreciate what we eat but also how we obtain it. Do we live to eat or eat to live? Perhaps, Manning suggests, that we should stop to smell the roses, concern ourselves more with appreciating the world around us and less time trying to expedite our consumption of the necessary basics for our biological engines.

The reader identifies with the author's point of view which tends to draw one in while reducing the critical eye of a more academic analysis. Jared Diamond's, now almost classic, Guns, Germs and Steel, (2) represents the opposite end of the public intellectual spectrum. Rather than seeing Manning's work as providing new insights, historic perspectives, or cogent intellectual arguments for sustainability, one needs to yield to this volume as to one might to a historical novel.

1) Manning, Richard, Super Organics, Wired Magazine, May 2004, pp 176-180,215.
2) Diamond, Jared, Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1997

*Abridged from a review in The Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (in press)

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful assessment of the sorry state of agriculture., September 28, 2004

By 

Paul Tognetti "The real world is so much more... (Cranston, RI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization (Hardcover)

Walk into to any supermarket and you probably feel very good about all of the choices you have. After all, the average supermarket carries over 25000 items these days. But if you are like most people, the vast majority of the items you will wind up purchasing are highly processed and contain precious little in the way of nutritional value. Did you know that nearly 2/3 of the calories the average American consumes come from just three crops--corn, wheat and potatoes?

Author Richard Manning sure got my attention with this fascinating book "Against The Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization". Manning argues that for the vast majority of history human beings were "hunter-gatherers". That is, people would migrate to where the food was and partake of a vast assortment of foods, everything from fruits and vegetables, to nuts and legumes and fresh meat. This all began to change about 10000 years ago with the advent of agriculture. Over the centuries people came to rely on fewer and fewer crops for survival. Manning notes that the pattern was virtually identical all over the world. Soon human beings came to rely on just a handful of crops, all high in carbohydrates, for survival. In recent decades the rise of huge conglomerates like ADM (Archer Daniels Midland) has further exacerbated the problem. Corporate entities do not view crops as food. Rather, they view crops as commodities and it is for this reason that family farms have all but disappeared, people in poor nations go unfed despite massive crop surplusses and those in rich nations wind up eating a largely bland and less than nutritious diet.

For those of us like myself who are poorly informed on these issues this book is certainly an eye-opener. Manning not only exposes the serious flaws in our current system but also proposes reasonable fixes to a number of these problems. Perhaps when we become aware of all those "empty" calories we ingest each day we will begin to think more carefully about the foods we eat. "Against The Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization" is extremely well written and kept my attention throughout. I would recommend it to just about anyone eager to learn more about these extremely serious issues.