Fatal Harvest, edited by Andrew Kimbrell

Fatal Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture, edited by Andrew Kimbrell, Island Press: Washington, 2002.

A massive, well-thought-out compendium of essays from a disparate spectrum of people, all tied together under the umbrella of being distinctly anti-industrial agriculture. This book is full of perspectives, from academics interested in farm policy, to gourmet chefs, such as Alice Waters, who is known for her near-exclusive use of local food in her restaurants. Much like Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, this is a book written for the masses, but on the contrary, this hardly detracts from the content. Fatal Harvest does make an attempt to be all-encompassing – nearly every facet affected by industrial high-yield agriculture receives attention, from the environment, to farming communities, to even the big city. Also like The Omnivore’s Dilemma, is this book’s use of specific foodstuffs, such as corn and soybeans, to prove points, but minus Pollan’s even-handed approach. The arguments here, while certainly one-sided, are balanced from where they are sourced – those in academia have their say, just as much as those from other points in the sphere of influence. A major focus of this book is organic agriculture, and while its devotion to the topic is certainly understandable, Fatal Harvest does find room to critique certain aspects of the organic movement, such as the “Wal-Martification” of organics.