World Agriculture and the Environment: A Commodity-By-Commodity Guide To Impacts And Practices (Paperback)

by Jason Clay (Author) "I was born on a small farm in Northwest Missouri half a century ago..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, European Union, United Kingdom (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
oÝClay has synthesized into this accessible reader an impressive volume of facts, figures, and trends on the state of world agriculture and its myriad environmental impacts....ClayAEs commodity-by-commodity guide is a rich reference.o --BioScience

Product Description

World Agriculture and the Environment presents a unique assessment of agricultural commodity production and the environmental problems it causes, along with prescriptions for increasing efficiency and reducing damage to natural systems. Drawing on his extensive travel and research in agricultural regions around the world, and employing statistics from a range of authoritative sources including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization,the author examines twenty of the world?s major crops, including beef, coffee, corn, rice, rubber, shrimp, sorghum, tea, and tobacco. For each crop, he offers comparative information including:

? a ?fast facts? overview section that summarizes key data for the crop
? main producing and consuming countries
? main types of production
? market trend information and market chain analyses
? major environmental impacts
? management strategies and best practices
? key contacts and references

With maps of major commodity production areas worldwide, the book represents the first truly global portrait of agricultural production patterns and environmental impacts.


See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 570 pages
• Publisher: Island Press; 1 edition (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559633700
• ISBN-13: 978-1559633703
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #378,029 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #50 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Sustainable Agriculture
  #51 in	Books > Science > Agricultural Sciences > Sustainable Agriculture
  #83 in	Books > Business & Investing > Economics > Agricultural

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb reference, May 17, 2004

By	E. N. Anderson (Riverside, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: World Agriculture and the Environment: A Commodity-By-Commodity Guide To Impacts And Practices (Hardcover)

This is a superb and unique reference. It provides an incredible amount of detail on crops that enter world trade, and their impact on the environment.
The very best thing about this book is that it is not strident and does not blatantly advocate a particular political agenda. It is written in a scientific, objective tone that makes it far more convincing than the rhetorical works. Only when he comes to tobacco (a crop that ruins the environment AND then ruins the consumers) does he use a few value-laden words!
The reader is struck by what a mess the world is in, and how easily we could fix a lot of that. The book provides enormous detail on soil erosion, chemical use, biodiversity reduction, and the rest of our woes, but it presents equal detail on how to prevent those problems. Only a few crops (notably cotton, salmon, chocolate) would be hard to manage well.
Two social themes stand out: first, the very rapid concentration of commodity trade in the hands of a very few firms; second, the degree to which governments subsidize production-at-any-cost as opposed to production-with-environmental-protection. (Subsidizing includes nonlegal subsidies, such as letting the rich get away with breaking environmental laws and dumping huge costs on poorer neighbors.) One cannot escape the conclusion that changing this subsidy structure would fix most of the damage, worldwide.
Environmentalists should think more about subsidies!
Meanwhile, what can a concerned reader do? The book tells how to seek out shade-grown coffee, responsibly raised beef and paper, and so on. It is much harder, at least in the US, to find decently-produced soybeans or corn or wheat, but you can do it. Cotton is a special problem, and the alternatives to it are mostly worse. The hemp advocates will be vocal!
We are in such a mess, and it would be so easy to do so much.... This is not a time to lose hope or give up. By providing the big picture, this book should make every concerned citizen stop and think. The few errors I could spot in the book are trivial ones.
This is an absolute must-read and must-have for anyone who works on problems of production and environment or on problems of world food supply and health.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Quick review, February 28, 2006

By	M. Intriago (Ecuador, Quito) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

World Agriculture and Environment in my opinion is a very interestig book, in which you can find, besides the basic information of agricultural production, techniques that help to reduce damage to natural systems, and also this book gives important evaluations of modern agriculture and its failure.

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Qualification, April 9, 2008

By	John P. Pullis - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

How is someone who works for the World Wildlife Fund qualified to write a book and explain the global agriculture industry?