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Resource Pointer #289
(Challenging Industrial Agriculture)
August 21, 2002

For copies of the following resources, please contact the appropriate publishers or organizations directly.

*The Fatal Harvest Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture, 2002* Andrew Kimbrell, ed. Foundation for Deep Ecology. Collection of essays from today’s leading ecological and agrarian thinkers analyzes and depicts the current agricultural system and its impacts on the environment, human health and farm communities. Essay themes: 1) Corporate lies: Busting the myths of industrial agriculture, 2) Agrarian versus industrial worldviews, 3) Industrial agriculture’s toxic trail and 4) Organic and beyond: Revisioning agriculture for the 21st Century. Authors include Wendell Berry, Jim Hightower, Gary Nabhan, Helena Norberg-Hodge, more. 321 pages. US$16.95. Contact Island Press, P.O. Box 7, Covelo, CA 95428; phone (800) 828-1302; fax (707) 983-6414; email orders@islandpress.org; Web site http://www.islandpress.org.

*Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance: Transforming Food Production in Cuba, 2002* Fernando Funes and others. Food First/Institute for Food Development and Policy. Chronicles the transformation of Cuba’s chemical and fertilizer intensive agricultural production to a more sustainable system that includes organic farming, urban gardens, smaller farms, animal traction, and biological pest control. Includes a history of agriculture in Cuba, descriptions of alternative practices, and detailed case studies. Translated from Spanish. 280 pages. US$18.95. Contact Food First Books, LPC Group, 22 Broad Street, Suite 22, Milford, CT 06460; phone (800) 343-4499; fax (312) 432-7603; email lpc-info@lpcgroup.com; Web site http://www.coolbooks.com.

*The Functional Foods Revolution: Healthy People, Healthy Profits? 2001* Michael Heasman and Julian Mellentin. Examines functional foods-foods professed to promote human health beyond basic nutrition, and how they have captured the attention of the global food industry. Discusses the marketing strategies and business assumptions of the food industry. Topics include risk, regulation, and policy dilemmas, global marketing and strategic challenges. 282 pages. UK$16.95. Contact Earthscan Publications Ltd, 120 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JN, UK; phone (44-20) 7278 0433; fax (44-20) 7278 1142; email earthinfo@earthscan.co.uk; Web site http://www.earthscan.co.uk.

*Lords of the Harvest: Biotech, Big Money, and the Future of Food, 2001* Daniel Charles. Explores the development and direction of the agrochemical biotechnology business empire and the public opinion debate over genetically engineered food. Examines cutthroat research and business tactics between industry giants, like Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred, and campaign tactics of anti-biotech public interest groups. 348 pages. US$27.00. Contact Perseus Publishing, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142; phone (617) 252-5200; fax (617) 252-5275; Web site http://www.perseuspublishing.com.

*Seeds of Suicide: The Ecological and Human Costs of Globalisation of Agriculture, 2002* Vandina Shiva, Afsar Jafri, Ashok Emani and Manish Pande. Links global market forces and seed company strategies with increased cost of farming in India and increased farmer suicides. Discusses loss of public sector support and growing corporate influence on local feudal systems and seed markets. Chapters address privatization and monopolization of seed, Indian agricultural economics and regional suicide case studies. 151 pages. Contact Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, A-60, Haus Khas, New Delhi 110 016, India; phone (0091-11) 696 8077; fax (0091-11) 685 6795; email vshiva@vsnl.com; Web site http://www.vshiva.net.

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