Help please :)

[Nichola]

Ok, im a university student studying Environmental Health. I have 3 months until i return. So i (being a geek) thought it would be a good idea to read up on environmental issues (such as food safety, environmental protection and social issues).
So has anyone got any recommendations?

[Maureen]

Not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but I would recommend Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. A very interesting read about where our food comes from.

[Katie]

If you're still looking for something, I read Last Oasis Facing Water Scarcity Worldwatch Environmental Alert by Sandra Postel for an environmental seminar in college. It's an examination of current and impending water crises and their almost apocalyptic consequences. As a PoliSci major, it was eye opening for me to read about the political conflicts that arise from environmental damage.

[Dree]

Are you looking for well-researched intense non-fiction, or works for popular consumption? I have a bunch of food-related books on my to-read shelf, I got them off a website (maybe the Ethicurean?). But I haven't read them yet.

[Donna]

I have wanted to read Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond for some time but instead I watched the DVD. It was very enlightening.

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Guns, Germs, and Steel is a great book! I vote for it.

[Emily]

Plan B 3.0 Mobilizing to Save Civilization
Hot, Flat, and Crowded Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America
Cradle to Cradle Remaking the Way We Make Things
I can give you a few more if you're interested in over population/reproductive health stuff.

[Andrea]

The World Without Us It's been sitting waiting to be read on my bookshelf for a while. All about how long it would take the environment to recover if we all just disappeared.

[Jason]

Fast Food Nation has a section that looks at some of the food safety issues related to fast food. The Botany of Desire A Plant's-Eye View of the World is an interesting look at our relationship to the plants we cultivate.

[Rachael]

I second "Fast Food Nation." We read a chapter of it in English class this year as a parallel to "The Jungle" which I would also recommend. It was published in the early 1900s and exposed the corruption and the meat industry as well as the terrible oppresiveness of life for immigrants. Though it was obviously an propaganda book (at the end the author very blatantly supports socialism with a pages-long speech defending it) it was obviously historical and ended up causing legislation to be passed in congress. It really made me think: this is what me ancestors had to go through. ANyways, both are very informative and will gross you out as well as make you think