The Fatal Harvest Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture [Paperback]

Andrew Kimbrell (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2002 | ISBN-10: 155963944X | ISBN-13: 978-1559639446 | Edition: 1

The Fatal Harvest Reader brings together in an affordable paperback edition the essays included in Fatal Harvest (see page 21), offering a concise overview of the failings of industrial agriculture and approaches to creating a more healthful and sustainable food system.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Island Press; 1 edition (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155963944X
• ISBN-13: 978-1559639446
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #300,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very convincing, January 16, 2004

By 

DAVID-LEONARD WILLIS (Thessaloniki Greece) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fatal Harvest Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture (Paperback)

When I received this book recently as a gift I was completely overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the considerateness of the donor. Overwhelmed by the high quality of the production. Overwhelmed by the large number of "big names" who had contributed. Overwhelmed by the quality and meaningfulness of the photographs. Overwhelmed by the quality of the message that it gets across. Overwhelmed by the ammunition it gives me in my own personal drive for safer, more reliable food. Overwhelmed by how helpful it will be to the waverers who have not yet plucked up the courage to break their links with the chemical establishment.

Let me start with the photos which are not only high quality but extremely helpful because side by side we are given a picture of crops grown under two systems which represent the two poles of producing our food. The text on the left page goes like this: "Industrial Eye: see what you are looking at: MELONS: More than half the melons sold in the U.S. are grown in California where industrial melon farms stretch for miles and miles ... Two of the most heavily used toxins in industrial melon production are ... Life is also difficult for the melon pickers ..." On the right page we have: "Agrarian Eye: See what you are looking at: MELONS: These melons are one crop among dozens at the Live Earth's 23-acre farm near Santa Cruz, CA. The melons are part of a diverse system of annual and perennial fruit and vegetable crops that rely on soil health to support the plant's natural ability to deter pests. But it's not done so easily - there are many challenges ... Coastal fog also poses potential fungal problems for melons, which Broz addresses by using fungal-resistant varieties of melons ... The melons are sold at local farmers' markets and through the farm's community supported agriculture (CSA) program, where families receive a weekly box of seasonal fruits and vegetables throughout the growing season."

Next the text. "Part One: Farming as if Nature Mattered: Breaking the Industrial Paradigm" is composed of seven articles such as "Global Monoculture: The Worldwide Destruction of Diversity". Then "Part Two: Corporate Lies: Busting the Myths of Industrial Agriculture" is composed of articles each addressing one of the seven myths such as "Myth Two: Industrial Food is Safe, Healthy and Nutritious". The book continues through to "Part Seven: Organic and Beyond: Revisioning Agriculture for the 21st Century" with nine more articles such as "The Ethics of Eating: Why Environmentalism Starts at the Breakfast Table."

In these 370 pages we have all the information we need to convince those sitting on the fence that we must reduce our dependence on industrial agriculture. When confronted with this volume it is difficult to imagine how all those involved in the industrial agricultural chain will be able to put up an effective argument. On the contrary, it should be convincing to the thinking service organization that this is where their future profits lie and they should climb on the band wagon helping rather than hindering. For the farmer who is wavering - and probably for good reasons as his livelihood is affected - he will find in this volume the encouragement he needs; others have forged the trail and he can follow in the knowledge that the forerunners have solved the major problems.

Bravo to all those concerned with the preparation of this volume. You have done mankind a great service. It is a long tunnel down which we are travelling, but I for one can now see the light in the distance. Because of your initiative the rest of us will travel our own path with more confidence and with greater speed. At last we can hope for some sanity in our food production. If we can get this volume into the hands of enough people - people who care - then we really can change the world. If Silent Spring was the book that woke the world to the evils of indiscriminate chemical use, then this volume will go down as the one that banged home the last nail in the coffin of industrial agriculture.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars academic, April 6, 2008

By 

H+E (Albuquerque, New Mexico United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Fatal Harvest Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture (Paperback)

This is a collection of essays with a lot of intellectual ruminating. It is valuable for that reason, providing a collection of writings on commercial food production in one place. It is essential reading for those passionate about sustainability. It is for those who enjoy reading a certain style of writing that I call academic (I'm not one of those people, so I'm not the best judge). For something more approachable (some would call "pop") I would recommend Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Willis review for wrong book, November 30, 2005

By 

neoplop - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fatal Harvest Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture (Paperback)

Willis' review is for "Fatal Harvest" (ISBN 1559639407), NOT "Fatal Harvest Reader".