Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual

by Yvon Chouinard

Research has proved that the green revolution in agriculture with its reliance on GMO seeds, chemical fertilizer, insecticides, and unsustainable use of water has temporarily allowed us to feed more people, but it is not sustainable. It comes at the cost of destroying topsoil; poisoning the sky, land, and water; displacing the small farmer; and adding carbon emissions—and in the end it produces less food per acre than more natural farming. Industrial agriculture continues to be the existing paradigm because of massive government subsidies to farmers and the fossil fuel industry. Modern food production is one of the main culprits in the destruction of our planet. With close to 30 percent of the world’s habitable land and 70 percent of its water used for pasture and farming,23, 24 it’s doubtful there’s any other industry with such deep and widespread impact.

agriculture