Gene Traders: Biotechnology, World Trade, and the Globalization of Hunger (Paperback)

~ Brian Tokar (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

" …a gold mine of in-depth investigations showing exactly how corporations… are systematically manipulating governments, farmers and public opinion…" -- Frances Moore Lappé, May 2004

"…Clear, concise, well-reported, and appropriately angry, Gene Traders is an important document in a crucial debate" -- Bill McKibben, author of "The End of Nature" and "Enough"

Product Description

Genetically engineered agriculture is spreading around the world due to global trade agreements and the aggressive tactics of international financial institutions, governments, and agribusiness corporations. In this broad and comprehensive survey, seven authors show how the interplay of trade policy, "development" politics and biotechnology increases dependency and hunger, while compromising the survival of traditional farmers and their communities.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: Toward Freedom (July 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974693510
• ISBN-13: 978-0974693514
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,037,122 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must-read" for anyone concerned about world starvation, November 12, 2004

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Gene Traders: Biotechnology, World Trade, And The Globalization Of Hunger is a selection of seven essays by learned authors questioning the spread of genetically engineered agriculture worldwide. Revealing ways by which developments in biotechnology cn actually increase dependency and hunger, while compromising the survival of traditional farmers and their communities, as well as the evolution of the global movement for food sovereignty brought about by genetic engineering. Specific topics include how the World Trade Organization's "intellectual property" rules promote monopolies and biopiracy, how Zambia's food aid crisis has forced tough choices, how food aid can become food dumping and displace agricultural communities, deconstructs common myths about "feeding the world", and much more. A highly recommended, keynote discussion and an absolute "must-read" for anyone concerned about world starvation.

5.0 out of 5 stars Let's globalize sustainable agriculture, not poverty, hunger and ecological destruction!, October 21, 2007

By	wildflowerboy (planet earth) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

If you're interested in understanding the global movement for food security inspired by the biotechnology controversy, then read this book. Edited by the brilliant social ecologist Brian Tokar, this brief anthology of essays reveals how the biotech industry displaces agricultural communities, contaminates the environment, and increases poverty and world hunger. Backed by financial monopolies like the WTO and the World Bank and international trade agreements like NAFTA, CAFTA, and the FTAA, the biotechnology corporations are endangering public health, destoying the landbase, and undermining the democratic rights of the world's citizenry to make collective decisions about food policy. Simply put, this is an urgent book about one of the most important ecological and social problems confronting us today and I hope it gets widely read. I also recommend reading any of Vandana Shiva's excellent books on this crucial topic and (if you can) to only buy locally grown, organic food.