Customer Reviews

Saving the Planet Through Pesticides and Plastics

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Through the years I have learned that in order to evaluate the validity of any studies one should look at where the financing comes from. As I read through this book it was apparent to me that the book was probably funded by companies that benefit from this type of publicity. To say that chemical fertilizers do not have an impact on the environment is grossly irresponsible. Anyone who has made a concerted effort in gardening with both methods understands the importance of organic farming. There is more solid research coming out everyday about soil structure and the way it nourishes plants, but it is not funded by big business and does not get the same type of public exposure. When I did research on the Hudson Institute, I found they are supported by Cargill, Conagra,
Eli Lilly, DuPont, Dow-Elanco, Ciba-Geigy,Sandoz, Monsanto and Procter and Gamble. All the supporters of the Hudson Institute are chemical companies that benefit from this type of propaganda. Unfortunately people living in areas where they cannot conduct their own chemical versus organic trials themselves will be gullible enough to believe this book. Anyone has the ability to write a book whether it be supported by facts or not. The key is for the reader to dig deeper and find the motivations of the author.

Avery tries to pass his chemical company advocacy off as science. If you are familiar with real science, you might just want to read this for the laughs. If you are looking for actual information, don't read this--it will only confuse you.

The latest edition of Dennis Avery's book, "Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic," was published in 2000, but given the green mania that is presently sweeping the Western world, it is still a timely and important work. As the author admits, the idea that pesticides and plastic will literally save the planet is just an attention-getting exaggeration, but he neatly pulls together the evidence from nearly all reputable researchers and official bodies in the fields of agronomy, soil science and ecology that pesticides, when properly used, present no significant risk to the environment or human health. Avery effectively makes the case for industrial fertilizers as a vital input to modern agriculture. He also shows how the growing practice of mass indoor feeding of livestock is both humane and enviromentally beneficial. This should be required reading for animal-rights activists and their urban sympathizers, though I doubt that nothing short of a religious conversion could ever change their minds.

One of the most important parts of the book is Avery's critique of organic farming. At one time, organic farming could be dismissed as a relatively harmless fad that serviced a boutique North American market. Now, eight years after this book's publication, organically-grown food is becoming a mainstream component of consumer tastes. The most serious failing of organic farming is its invariably mediocre crop yields. Avery (and other agricultural professionals) have calculated that in order to feed by organic and other traditional farming the projected 9 billion people populating the world in the mid-21st century, a land area equal to South America and Europe will have to be cleared off just to grow crops. You can kiss the Amazon rainforest and the North American temperate forests goodbye. The organic food movement, for all its endless declarations of environmental sensitivity and "sustainable living", is apparently incapable of grasping the irony. Organic farming is manifestly unsustainable in the real sense of the term, but as its alleged "sustainability" hardens into popular dogma all over the developed world, I fear for the environment and the world's wilderness areas.

This book is testimony to the ignorance of many men. This book is written by a man who profits from plastics and pesticides. It cannot be trusted in the least. All of the data goes against common sense. This is one of those books that will have a place in museums in future years, showing future generations how and why our earth is in the state of chaos it will surely be in thanks to garbage like this.

I'm a brazilian and (unemployed) agronomist.This book is really good about this subject.This books shows to the general public, many realities about pesticides and his goods efects in economy and farms.The GREEN MAFIA is also quacking in USA, not only in Brazil.

Growing more per area is responsible for saving more land to the nature and High-yield Conservation is supported by two nobel peace prize laureates (Dr Norman Borlaug and Dr Oscar Arias) and many others. See the declaration at http://www.highyieldconservation.org/. The book's tittle is a bit "drama oriented" in my oppinion: it seems that Mr Avery is trying to use the same tool that most environmentalist do.

Pesticide is a poison. If you think spraying poison on our food is going to improve anything, you've got another think coming. Sustainable agriculture puts back what it takes from the environment. Factory farming pollutes our air, water and soil. According to a study conducted by the Department of Economics at the University of Essex , industrial farms cause $34.7 billion worth of environmental damage in the U.S. each year. True, there have been cases of E. coli bactiria, but the is the result of improper handling, using fresh manure instead of allowing it to decompose properly first. And it isn't only organic foods that were grown in maure. And non-organic food is also sometimes grown in manure. And the pesticides kill bugs, not E. coli bacteria.

Recent studies have shown that sustainable crops contain higher levels of nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants, including vitamin C, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and polyphenols. Organic crops also have lower levels of certain toxic heavy metals. Better soil management (crop rotation, cover crops and composting) used in organic and sustainable farming helps enrich the soil and increase the concentration of vitamins and minerals in the plants. Chemical fertilizers, used on conventional, factory farmed crops, lower the nutrient content of the soil, increase the level of potentially harmful nitrates, and can contain certain toxic heavy metals which can be absorbed by the plants.

Pesticides are one of the most common toxic substances found in food. They can impair the immune system and cause diseases.

Pesticides can also affect the nervous system, endocrine (glands and hormones) system, immune system and reproductive system. Pesticides have been linked to Parkinson's disease, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, emotional disorders, weakened immune systems, and birth defects. Long after their use, pesticides remain in the soil and water. Despite being banned in 1972, DDT has been found in the breast milk of over 99% of all mothers in America. The American Association of Poison Control Centers estimates that in 2002, 69,000 children suffered from pesticide related poisoning or exposure to poisonous pesticides. According to Cornell entomologist David Pimentel, "It has been estimated that only 0.1% of applied pesticides reach the target pests, leaving the bulk of the pesticides (99.9%) to impact the environment."

Truly the best read I have had in years.

Avery's arguments are rational and truly challenge the messages delivered in today's media.

I have placed Avery's book on the "special" bookshelf for my young children. The shelf is to reflect the world that I was raised in and includes fictional accounts by Rifken and like.

This non-fictional view of the world weighs risk against benefit, and challenges the layers of "environmental" issues.

I feel better about our food, water, and agriculture systems. I spoke with my elderly mother and she reaffirmed the benefits accrued over the years from our agriculture systems, medicines, water and waste systems, etc. The childhood diseases of 1930 were pretty scary.

Read the book and enjoy it. You will pass it on to others to both enlighten and challenge. Perhaps worthwhile as part of a school curiculum.

This is the most bogus piece of propaganda I've had the misfortune of stumbling across in a long time. Makes me wonder which agribusiness is behind this one. I will never cease to be amazed at the shamelessness of some people. Need I remind "mad dog" Avery that -cid (as in pestiCIDe) comes from Latin and means "killing". Somehow this seems a little incongruous in a sentence with words like "saving" , "environmental" and "triumph".

I only rated this 4 stars instead of 5 since Avery could have shortened the book a bit by avoiding repetition. Excellent exposé of the flawed paranoia being peddled by environmentalists, conservationists and others who need something to do and keep discovering new "crises" to spend your money on.....