Customer Reviews

Shattering: Food, Politics, and the Loss of Genetic Diversity

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

 

 

I am novice plant lover and read this book given to me by a farmer who is saving seeds in Idaho. It is excellent reading for anyone interested in our children's future as the threat to genetic diversity happening now will affect their welfare. EVERYONE should consider saving seeds! It covers complex issues in a readable manner and is worth having in your reference home library along with information on heirloom seeds. It puts a new spin on the potatoe famine in Ireland and outlines how realistically we should be concerned about famine here and abroad. "if diversity is to be saved, it may have to be saved by amateurs." A wonderful book.

Fowler and Mooney have produced the most accessible -- and frightening -- book yet covering the ongoing loss of crop genetic diversity.

You think the Irish Potato Famine was bad? We may not have seen anything yet.

The sad fact is, all genetic material wears out with generations of propagation. Plants, animals, and people, the genetic material dies out, more quickly without genetic diversity. Not evolution, dissipation of gene integrity. Eventually, sterility and death of a species is possible.
With shattering of seeds and genetic diversity, plant species grow many variations and hardy ones persist or newer strains are produced. This book is a must read for anyone interested in FACTS about plant genetics; readable for a lay person with a 9th grade education yet deep and thought provoking. So glad this was conveniently available on Amazon.