The Fatal Harvest Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture

by Andrew Kimbrell

Fatal Harves t takes an unprecedented look at our current ecologically destructive agricultural system and offers a compelling vision for an organic and environmentally safer way of producing the food we eat. It gathers together more than forty essays by leading ecological thinkers including Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, David Ehrenfeld, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Vandana Shiva, and Gary Nabhan. Providing a unique and invaluable antidote to the efforts by agribusiness to obscure and disconnect us from the truth about industrialized foods, it demostrates that industrial food production is indeed a "fatal harvest"--fatal to consumers, fatal to our landscapes, fatal to genetic diversity, and fatal to our farm communities.

As it exposes the ecological and social impacts of industrial agriculture's fatal harvest,  Fatal Harves t details a new ecological and humane vision for agriculture. It shows how millions of people are engaged in the new politics of food as they work to develop a better alternative to the current chemically fed and biotechnology-driven system. Designed to aid the movement to reform industrial agriculture, Fatal Harvest  informs and influences the activists, farmers, policymakers, and consumers who are seeking a safer and more sustainable food future.

Genres: Environment, Agriculture, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2002

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly disappointing.

When I saw this book, I was excited to see something that finally went in to great detail on the environmental impact of industrial plant agriculture. Large scale mono-crop agriculture is something that needs to be addressed more, but unfortunately this is overshadowed by all the attention given to industrial animal agriculture (and worse, perhaps, is the false dichotomy in all of this).

While some articles did a great job of exposing the centuries-old myth of over-population and the importance of healthy topsoil, others went down a path of pseudoscience, fanning the flames of chemophobia. I prefer my foods locally grown and organic too, but folks, the health argument isn't there. I used to believe otherwise, and then I got trained as a health coach, looked at the science, and had to accept the evidence.

Since this is a collection of articles, and not a proper book, sadly there is an extreme lack of citations for these claims. What a shame, since the book was intended to provide ammunition for activists.

Overall, I have to give this 2 1/2 stars for a lack of a proper bibliography which is incredibly frustrating for those not trained in health and environmental science (and even for those who are, since it requires a good deal of fact checking), and the sad and completely unscientific chemophobia that gets promoted. I love and agree with so much of the anti-industrial agriculture statements, but without the science to back it up, it's little more than an unchecked theory for someone else to find a citation for.

[Steves · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best sort of compendium of issues related to agricultural practices in the United States and how they effect eating habits and the environment. Explanatory without being condescending, the articles also don't overwhelm the reader or beat them over the head. One of the more sensible in this category.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for most people who want to get a better understanding as to why industrial agriculture is "The Fatal Harvest". I would stress finding a simple source that can explain 'negative' vs 'positive' feedback loops. In my edition my class found two articles where the authors had miss used the concept. Other wise, this is easy to read and well explained.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is seriously depressing. And it seems like a lot of their facts aren't backed up. I'd like to see the sources for the articles.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worthy read for the information it contains, though I think some of it is old and a little outdated; but some of the essays aren't particularly well written and are difficult to follow.