The War on Bugs
Published on 1. January 2008
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-1-933392-46-2 (ISBN)
Description
In the early nineteenth century, as the American population grew rapidly, demands on crop output increased. Seeing an opportunity to play upon fears from market demand, chemical companies declared war on the vile, profitsucking, output-wreaking, arch-nemesis of the average American farmer - bugs. With precision, pesticide manufacturers delivered a 'shock and awe' media campaign, that can only be compared to the current blitzkrieg from today's pharmaceutical companies. Bugs were the threat to the American dream - and there was a cure available to every farmer in spray, granule, dust, or systemic form that could be applied to your crops. Will Allen's The War on Bugs reveals how advertisers, editors, scientists, large scale farmers, government agencies, and even Dr. Seuss, colluded to convince farmers to use deadly chemicals, hormones, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in an effort to pad their wallets and control the American farm enterprise. Utilizing dozens of original advertisements and promotions to illustrate the story, Allen details how consumers and activists have struggled against toxic food. The War on Bugs shouts that the time to stop poisoning our food, water, air, and ourselves is now!
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
White River Junction
United States
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 234 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-933392-46-2 (9781933392462)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Will Allen has been farming organically since 1972 in Oregon, California, and Vermont, where he now co-manages Cedar Circle Farm. He founded the Sustainable Cotton Project and is a board member of the Organic Consumers Association, Rural Vermont, and is a co-chair of Farms Not Arms.
Content
Preface
Introduction
1. The Roots of Farming in the Americas
2. Americais First Farm Revitalization Movement
3. The Birth of the Rural Journals
4. Guano and the Birth of the Rural-Industrial Mouthpiece
5. Liebig and the Industrialists
6. The Fertilizer Merchants
7. The Medical Ancestry of Pesticides
8. Ratcatchers, Quacks, and Early Pest Control in America
9. The Populist Farmersi Movement
10. Pain Pigments and Other Lethal Poisons
11. Arsenic Regulation, the FDA, and Other Regulatory Hoaxes
12. The First Advertised War on the Farms
13. Populist Farmers, the Red Scare, and the Origin of the Modern Organic Movement
14. Pesticide Spray Devices, Household Poisons, and Dr. Seuss
15. Medical Heroes, War Heroes, and More Regulation Struggles
16. The Pesticides of the 1930s
17. Bombs and Fertilizers
18. War Toys
19. Animal Confinement and the Pharmaceutical Farm
20. DDT and Other Second-Generation Pesticides under Attack
21. Twenty-First-Century Populism: Organic Farming and the Anti-factory-farm movement
22. Designer Genes: A Leap of Faith
23. 160 Years of Poisonous Advertising
24. Who Invited These Chemicals to Dinner? A Leap of Hope
Appendix: Analysis of Pesticide Use on Certain Popular Crops from California
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Introduction
1. The Roots of Farming in the Americas
2. Americais First Farm Revitalization Movement
3. The Birth of the Rural Journals
4. Guano and the Birth of the Rural-Industrial Mouthpiece
5. Liebig and the Industrialists
6. The Fertilizer Merchants
7. The Medical Ancestry of Pesticides
8. Ratcatchers, Quacks, and Early Pest Control in America
9. The Populist Farmersi Movement
10. Pain Pigments and Other Lethal Poisons
11. Arsenic Regulation, the FDA, and Other Regulatory Hoaxes
12. The First Advertised War on the Farms
13. Populist Farmers, the Red Scare, and the Origin of the Modern Organic Movement
14. Pesticide Spray Devices, Household Poisons, and Dr. Seuss
15. Medical Heroes, War Heroes, and More Regulation Struggles
16. The Pesticides of the 1930s
17. Bombs and Fertilizers
18. War Toys
19. Animal Confinement and the Pharmaceutical Farm
20. DDT and Other Second-Generation Pesticides under Attack
21. Twenty-First-Century Populism: Organic Farming and the Anti-factory-farm movement
22. Designer Genes: A Leap of Faith
23. 160 Years of Poisonous Advertising
24. Who Invited These Chemicals to Dinner? A Leap of Hope
Appendix: Analysis of Pesticide Use on Certain Popular Crops from California
Notes
Bibliography
Index