Farmbrarian

Author and photographer Lisa Hamilton features three farmers who decide eschew conventional agriculture for methods they (and we) view as healthier for people and the planet. The value of this book is in the more realistic evaluation of forgoing conventional practices. Namely, running an organic farm, or simply refusing to use conventional pesticides, makes life more difficult in a lot of ways. Growing a diverse crop and listening to the land is hard work and for the farmers featured here things are not as rosy as we might idealize. Hamilton focuses on the people, the farmers, and this is an important distinction if we are to foster more farmers like these brave souls.

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Author David Montgomery accomplishes quite a feat with his 2007 work, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations. He takes a potentially mundane topic, dirt, and transforms it into an entertainingly educational trip through history.

As the name implies, societies throughout history rely on little more than their land’s ability to produce food. In fact, as the author shows, civilizations have been destroyed so many times in the past due to eroded and depleted soil that it is essentially predictable in any society. And after all, according to Wendell Berry, “what we do to the land, we do to ourselves” (1).

Certainly today we face enormous challenges with respect to our soil. Around the globe the earth faced abusive agriculture for hundreds or thousands of years, and with our current population, this pressure will only increase. We have undoubtedly increased crop yields using synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, but this high output, monocrop agriculture is clearly taking faster than it replenishes. Further, those impressive yields are no longer increasing and may even be declining. This inevitably leads to the usage of marginal lands to grow food. Unfortunately, history holds that this “fencerow to fencerow” and beyond system of agriculture only serves to erode a civilization until it is just a memory. This memory, of course, will also stand as a warning for all other civilizations willing to listen before it is too late.

You might also like: Pandora’s Seed: The Unforeseen Costs of Civilization by Spencer Wells

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The Viarsa, a fishing vessel registered in Uruguay but owned in Spain, has loaded up on illegally caught Patagonian toothfish (commonly called Chilean Sea Bass), and is now on the run. In pursuit is Southern Supporter, a Fisheries and Patrol vessel belonging to the Australian government. Unarmed and unsure how to proceed, Southern Supporter decides to pursue the chase. What results, is probably the longest pursuit on the high seas in history. At stake, ultimately, is the fate of our world’s oceans, which were once thought to be an endless source of food. Author G. Bruce Knecht articulates this incredible true story in his book Hooked: Pirates, Poaching and the Perfect Fish (2006).

The Southern Supporter’s actions, along with many others attempts to thwart illegal pirating, have helped shape the current international policy on protecting fisheries around the world.

While parts of the book read like fiction, the rest is an interesting and informative look at the state of global fishing stocks and what is being done to ensure the survival of endangered species and ecosystems. I started the book with the understanding that sustainable fishing is important. I didn’t realize, however, how important it truly is, and just how severely overfished many species and areas are. Perhaps most shocking though, is the regular consumer’s complete lack of understanding and general apathy about the fish on their plate and the fish remaining in the sea.

This is a message that absolutely must be heard, and author G. Bruce Knecht does his part with the enlightening and entertaining book Hooked.

Keep an eye out in April as we post two more reviews on books about sustainable fishing and the current state of the world’s fishing stocks.

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The monumental shift in agriculture from local food economies to food supplies driven by gross domestic product and corporate profit gave rise to the modern food movement. Many now understand the frightening implications for our own health and that of and our communities. Mostly, the topic is contemplated with a strictly western perspective, even though it is lesser developed countries who have suffered the most; a pattern that isn’t likely to change. One such country is India, and it was Indian author and environmentalist Vandana Shiva who provided new insight on the issue in her 2000 book Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply.

India has traditionally been an agrarian culture. One in which farming is a common occupation, which is a far cry from the current American economy which aims to distance people from farming as much as possible. This lifestyle has obvious effects on Indian culture. For example, in India, the cow is considered sacred “because it is at the heart of the sustainability of an agrarian civilization.” (75) Furthermore, scattered across India are Chakki Wallas (local flour mills), which produce almost all the flour consumed. In fact, less than one percent of their flour is actually a brand name. (87)

Shiva explains the many ways companies like Monsanto (specifically accused) and organizations like the WTO (World Trade Organization) have deeply hurt India on a local community level. As an example she details Monsanto’s promotion of the Bollgard cotton seed, which is genetically engineered to defend itself against bollworm. While Monsanto’s marketing in India reported a 50% increase in yield, another evaluation found essentially the same yields as traditional seeds. (100) In addition, of course, farmers are legally prohibited from reusing seeds from Monsanto’s Bollgard cotton plant, despite the fact that seed-saving is as old as agriculture itself.

This book has certainly done its part to promote organic, sustainable farming, or what Indians call ahimsic krishi, which means “non-violent agriculture.” (119) Stolen Harvest delivers, in a small and readable package, an important, yet under-represented perspective on the current food system. I can only hope the world begins to hear the stories of this and other similarly vandalized cultures.

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Joel Salatin is the famed owner of Polyface Farms located in Virginia and widely featured in the sustainable agriculture movement.  Author Michael Pollan featured Polyface in his best-selling book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which contrasted Salatin’s idyllic method of agriculture with more industrial, less earth-friendly agribusiness; and the documentaries Fresh and Food, Inc. also spotlight Polyface Farms.

In Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal (2007), as you might guess, Salatin spells out his frustration with the government (occasionally referred to as the “chicken police”) over issues such as raw milk, custom beef, salmonella, farmer’s markets, organic certification, taxes and plenty more.

Readers will discover the many legal challenges Salatin faces as a result of laws designed for large agribusinesses that catch his small farm in an all-encompassing net.  For example, large dairy operations are required, and happy, to pasteurize their milk for safety reasons.  The mandate is a result of over-crowded, mis-fed and antibiotic filled cows, which are incomparable to Polyface’s small, pasture-raised herd.  Even though his milk doesn’t need to be pasteurized for the sake of its consumers, his farm (and many others just like it) receive no exemption from the law.

The book raises awareness of the many barriers that impede sustainable farming efforts. Understanding the obstacles faced by our small farmers is critical to the survival of the sustainable agriculture movement.

Quotes:

• “The system thinks we’re a successful culture because we have more prisoners in America than farmers” (XV).
• “[Farming] is not just a business, it is a sacred calling…serving people who seek truth and are willing to travel dirt roads to get it” (59).
• “A democracy that worships money and power is no better than a socialist society that holds the same values” (230).
• “Unless and until government policy encourages a local food chain, America’s food chain will be increasingly vulnerable to bioterrorism” (266).
• “If you want to know what good food is, as a rule of thumb, whatever was available in 1900 is probably okay” (322).

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Where Our Food Comes From traces the path of Nikolay Vavilov, a Russian scientist who embarked on a mission to collect and store seeds from around the world. According to Nabhan, Vavilov was the first to fully articulate the connections between food diversity, health and food security–all of which are hot topics in agriculture and nutrition (23). Vavilov’s journey and contribution to science and agriculture was certainly profound.

The book follows Vavilov’s path, a small part of which was recently retraced by Nabhan himself. Entwined in the story is that of the WWII era communist government of the Soviet Union, which was ultimately responsible for Vavilov’s premature death, despite his extraordinary and successful efforts to preserve plants for future generations.

A clear picture of Vavilov’s life is painted, but the book reads a bit like a history lesson. Hopefully the book inspires others to continue Vavilov’s life work, however it is unlikely to provide much in the way of entertainment.

Quotes:

• “Today, America educates its rural youth to aspire to be anything but a farmer” (137).
• “[Vavilov is] the man who more than anyone else in history helped humankind appreciate where our food has come from” (190).