Book Description

A riveting tale of the battle over genetically engineered foods, and an inside look at a biotech food empire.

Once confined to the research laboratory, the genetic engineering of plants is now a big business that is changing the face of modern agriculture. Giant corporations are creating designer crops with strange powers-from cholesterol-reducing soybeans to plants that act as miniature drug factories, churning out everything from vaccines to insulin. They promise great benefits: better health for consumers, more productive agriculture-even an end to world hunger. But the vision has a dark side, one of profit-driven tampering with life and the possible destruction of entire ecosystems. In Lords of the Harvest, Daniel Charles takes us deep inside research labs, farm sheds, and corporate boardrooms to reveal the hidden story behind this agricultural revolution. He tells how a handful of scientists at Monsanto drove biotechnology from the lab into the field, and how the company's opponents are fighting back with every tool available to them, including the cynical manipulation of public fears. A dramatic account of boundless ambition, political intrigue, and the quest for knowledge, Lords of the Harvest is ultimately a story of idealism and of conflicting dreams about the shape of a better world. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Great storytelling
Daniel Charles' "Lords of the Harvest" succeeds in bringing perspective to the biotech industry and the contentious issue of genetically modified food. The author does this by personalizing the protaganists at the heart of the story: the scientists who were driven mainly by the quest for knowledge and discovery; the businesspeople who sought dollar returns from their laboratory investments; and the environmentalists who felt that genetic engineering was simply the latest ugly manifestation of an out-of-control agribusiness industry. The result is a highly entertaining and readable book that should interest a wide audience.

The scientists who invented and nurtured the industry tend to get much better treatment from Charles than either the businesspeople or the environmentalists. As a former science reporter for NPR, Charles seems most comfortable painting psychological portraits of the researchers at Monsanto and elsewhere. Charles lovingly details the innovative and pioneering work that these scientists undertook and the intriguing problems they solved. Charles shows how these early projects gave shape to the modern biotech industry, and his writing in these sections is vivid and interesting. And in the chapter "Infinite Horizons", Charles enthuses about the potential of biotechnology to help solve the world's problems. Throughout, Charles' enthusiasm for science and biotechnology is unmistakable.

On the other hand, the businesspeople of biotech get beat up pretty badly in the book. You get the feeling that Charles seems slightly upset that big business can't figure out how to bring the benefits of painstaking scientific discovery to the people. Specifically, Charles relates the numerous and sometimes humorous mistakes made by executives at Monsanto and Calgene (the inventor of the ill-fated "Flavr Savr" tomato) in their quests to dominate their respective markets. Charles successfully uses these case studies to add color and context to the larger story that he is telling (for example, the author's profile of Monsanto CEO Robert Shapiro and his messianic-like appeal to the company's scientists to help save the world with biotechnology). Charles does an excellent job describing the corporate cultures and the motivations of key individuals, rendering his descriptions of the business wheeling-and-dealing that went on behind the scenes that much more interesting. However, I think that Charles is correct in concluding that it was the arrogance of Monsanto's top executives, more than any other single factor, that ultimately led to the company's demise and the public backlash against biotechnology.

Unfortunately, the environmentalists don't get treated much better. Although Charles appears to have abundantly interviewed scientists and businesspeople to gather original material for the book, it doesn't seem that he had much success contacting environmentalists; the profiles of well-known biotech opponents such as Jeremy Rifkin and Benny Sharlin appear to have been drawn from secondary sources. Consequently we don't enjoy the same level of insight regarding their motivations compared with the scientists. So although Charles does a respectable job of reporting why the environmentalists opposed biotech products and the actions that they took, the author's sympathies do not appear to lie with the environmentalists. Instead, Charles deftly swats aside several of the well-known studies that purport to show risks associated with genetically modified crops (such as Dr. Pusztai's rat and John Losey's Monarch butterfly studies). In fact, a certain level of hostility arises when the author makes the charge that environmentalists nevertheless publicized such "murky and ill-defined" (p. 208) studies purporting risk merely as a way to further their own agendas. But it does not seem to occur to Charles that many environmentalists might have organized the challenge to genetically modified food out of genuine concern for the welfare of consumers.

I also take slight issue with Charles on two other issues. First is his silence concerning regulation of the biotech industry. His techno-utopian bias leads him to claim that biotech is not substantially different compared with traditional plant and animal breeding practices, with the implication that the public should not be overly concerned about regulation of the industry. But the scientists' tools to recombine DNA in novel ways are so powerful and the effects are so little understood that it is not unreasonable to suggest that a greater level of corporate accountability should be required to ensure that the public interest is protected.

Second, Charles should have addressed the recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) controversy more adequately, given that this was a major Monsanto initiative (the heart of the book was about Monsanto and its scientists). His relative silence on this issue is defeaning: could it be that the environmentalists' charges about the risks of rBGH have at least some merit?

Still, I believe that Charles has done a good job of navigating some very tricky ideological terrain. "Lords of the Harvest" is probably as balanced a book on the subject of biotechnology as any other you'll likely find, and I highly recommend it.

Right facts, wrong story
As one of Daniel Charles's sources and a very minor character in this book, I was disappointed at how a writer with so much inside information about what happened could tell a story that got what happened so wrong in an effort to make it dramatic and appealing.

Arthur Hailey's novels Airport, Hotel, Wheels, etc. comprise some of the better books that expose and glamorize the inside workings of an otherwise mundane industry. Of course, if it were really that enjoyable and interesting, they wouldn't call it work, they'd call it fishing and we'd do it for free. But Arthur Hailey wrote fiction, and he was smart enough to stay off the farm. Not so with Daniel Charles.

The enterprise of agriculture is more mundane than most, if only because it takes months of gradual growth and development to produce a crop, and years of almost imperceptible change to develop a new product. Much of the time is spent just waiting. Turning science into technology can produce beautiful and interesting results without the process itself being either glamorous or interesting. It's people going to work and doing their jobs. Most of us working in the field believed we knew what could be done and thought we could figure out how to do it. What made the process so difficult were the different visions of that same reality, visions sufficiently disparate that two people coming out of the same meeting had diametrically opposite understandings about what had been said and what had been agreed to. If that sounds like standard operating procedure in corporate America, welcome to the real world. It's three steps forward, two steps back, day after day. You might as well try to glamorize a trip to the barber shop.

Fact-based? It is. Balanced? It may be. But to at least some of us who were (and are) there, it still reads like fiction.

A wonderful storyteller, a thoughtful book
In the epilogue of Lords of the Harvest, Daniel Charles talks about the power of stories to illuminate, and also to obscure. He talks about the mythologies that drive agribusiness and other competing mythologies that drive it's opponents. He can stand at a distance from both kinds of stories, and reflect on how well they are illuminating and obscuring.

On the other hand, Daniel Charles is himself a great storyteller.

I appreciated the way Daniel Charles helped me to think about both these kinds of stories, and what they have to do with food and science, religious faith and moral values in the 21st century. Mostly, Charles stays very close to the "everyday stories of ordinary people," end of the spectrum. How he managed to get so close to the lives of these people is something I wonder about! People on both sides of this issue obviously trust him a great deal, or he would never have been able to write this book.

The "grand myths" he talks about in the epilogue, this was a very nice way to wrap it all up. Part of the difficulty of these issues is that there is no overarching spiritual/ ethical framework that can encompass this conversation. Just competing ideologies, and very little common ground. (Where common ground does exist, Charles is good at finding it.)

It irritates me when scientists who write about agribusiness and genetic engineering castigate others who don't have their scientific credentials for being "sentimental" or ignorant. They do this in a way that intimidates ordinary people who do not have Ph.Ds, as if you have to have a particular diploma to discuss these issues. We need to fight this kind of arrogance and parochialism. Science may be an elite field, but food belongs to everyone.

Daniel Charles makes the discussion accessible to everyday people who want to know what is happening to our food, and who are trying to understand why it is happening.

Lord of Bias
If you are interested in a critical review of the Biotech issues, this is NOT the book for you. If you are searching for arguments against GMO', big business, and pro big government; you have found a source. Daniel Charles has hidden neither his bias nor his ignorance of the subject. He draws on old studies (Monarch Butterfly larvae) and does not discuss the latest findings, because the latest findings do not support his position. He hangs adjutives on employees of the business world to ensure the reader knows they are "evil". The ineptness of big government is never addressed. Having served as a military officer, I can tell you that if the military had been as one-sided in dealings with Mr Charles' employer (NPR), the military would have been brought to task... It is a shame we have not discovered the gene to improve critical thinking, Mr. Charles soarly needs the modification.

Bravo!
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a fair and reality-based account of the world of plant genetic engineering--that also happens to be an entertaining and well written page-turner. I have been studying, working, and ever wondering at the world of plant molecular biology and genetic discovery since the 1980's. Though I've remained a fairly secure civil servant, I could see from the people that passed through our labs and the general panic and depression in the field that somewhere... something other than the interest of healthy crops and feeding people was driving research and key decisions at high levels. Mr Charles gives a truly excellent educational and entertaining account of what was going on at the lab bench as well as the accounting department--from the consumers in Europe to activists in America. I appluade Mr. Charles for his accurate and unbiased account of exactly how Monsanto impacted the field--changing the research environment and general morale so negatively and irrevocably. His accounts of the complexities of the resistance movement and the swings of opinion and policy worldwide are clear and based in reality. I'm glad someone was willing to get the real story out there in a fair, honest and very well-informed manner. Thanks Mr. Charles! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Throughout the developed world, debate is raging over the use of genetically modified (GM) food and food additives. This debate, Canadian agricultural scientist McHughen holds, is not well-informed. "Everyone, it seems, is concerned about GM food," he writes, "but most admit they don't really know much about it." This is especially true in North America, where millions of acres of GM crops are now produced and GM foods are widely consumed, although it is no less true of Europe, where production and consumption alike are comparatively low.

McHughen recognizes that some of these concerns are well-founded, even if the discussion is not, and his book is a thoughtful examination of some of the basic scientific issues involved in whether genetic modification may turn out to yield harmful (or, conversely, beneficial) results. These issues, he goes on to say, are of two broad kinds: first, whether a GM product is safe for the environment, and whether it can be prevented from "escaping" into nature; and second, whether a GM product is safe for the animal or human consumer. His answers may not always please activists on either side of the issue, for he suggests that while in the main GM production is likely to be a good thing, particularly in areas of the world where agricultural yields are low, there may yet be unanticipated risks involved--especially because "nature has no plan for agricultural systems based on high chemical inputs and low biodiversity." --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (2)

PROPOGANDA!!!
The author Allen McHughen promises the reader an unbiased view on GM, especially the potential and hazards or risks associated with it. In the end however, he clearly explains the benefits, but belittles the REAL problems of GM which he avoids. It is a gross manipulation of the truth. He is funded by MONSANTO, a totally pro GM company whose products have ruined farmers in India. He calls all the hazards of GM mere myths - invented by the media. He fails to address any hazards and tells only half the truth. How can he provide an unbiased viewpoint when he has genetically modified food himself? If you read VERY carefully between the lines you will realize he contradicts himself several times. The uncareful reader is easily swayed by his complex yet empty arguments into thinking that GM is only good and has no risks. It is just a book of lies!!

Scientific answers to World hunger?
My thoughts have been centered on Geneticaly Modified food for some time, so was delighted to discover Allan McHughen's book "The Potential and Hazards of Genetic Modified Foods' on Amazon.com. Living in S. Africa, we are very much aware of the shortage of food for large numbers of people on the African continent as well as in many other areas of the world. The need is not just bulk to ease the pangs of hunger, but food with high nutritional value. There is also a need for the scientific knowledge of how to grow proper food in carefuly nourished ground. I do hope that the scientific value to the human race can outweigh the risk of any commercial gain, and that the people who's needs are the greatest, can benefit from the work being done. ... Read more

Book Description

As our economic structure grows increasingly complex, so does the significance of package engineering. Now more than ever, anyone involved in packaging must have a one-stop resource to keep them abreast of new developments.

Now in its third edition, the Handbook of Package Engineering is still considered the standard industry reference on packaging materials and engineering. This text is a useful source of information for anyone involved in packaging. Designed as a refresher on packaging fundamentals, this complete guide also provides up-to-date information on recent changes in the materials and structures of packaging.

The Handbook of Package Engineering is designed to acquaint the technologist with the basic facts about the materials and containers of packaging. It reviews the essentials of production-packaging operations, line layout, and what machines are required to perform basic packaging functions. This text also introduces the increasing web of laws and regulations controlling virtually all packaged products, including the new determination by citizens that packaging shall not end up in their landfills, but be reused in new packaging and other products. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

VERY COMPLETE BOOK,INCLUDING TRANSFORMATION AND PACKAGES
THIS BOOK HAS A VERY COMPLETE INFORMATION ABOUT TRANSFORMATION PROCESS AND A GOOD DESIGN LITERATURA ABOUT EACH TYPE OF PACKAGE. ... Read more

Book Description

Volume 1 of this series presents all of the important techniques used to make the basic pastry preparations. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The Bible of Pastry
I am a student in a Culinary Program for breads and specialty desserts and my chefs stand behind these books 100%. The step by step instruction that includes illustration as well as the history of the preparation make these books invaluable if you are at all interested in baking.

THE PERFECT BOOK
I OWN A LOT OF PASTRY BOOKS THIS IS THE BEST.I RECOMMAND THIS BOOK TO THOSE WHO REALLY WANT TO LEARN THE GOOD PASTRY .IT CONTAINS ALL THE BASIC OF THE PASTRY.WITH STEP BY STEP PICTURES WHICH MAKE MORE EASY TO FOLLOW THE RECIPE.IN HERE WE DO NOT HAVE THE GOOD PASTRY SHOP LIKE IN EUROPE THIS IS ALLOWED ME TO PREPARE THOSE FRENCH PASTRIES : ECLAIRS,MADELEINE,LES TARTES WITHOUT FAILURE.I BOUGHT ALSO THE VOL2.SO GO AHEAD A BUY IT YOU WILL NOT REGRET I PROMIS

A very thorough book on basic doughs and batters
Have you ever wondered why your pies shrink, and what to do about it? How about differnt types of pie crust?

This books attempts to tell all about the basic preparations used for bases in french patisseries. It is very good, and with the red.food.cooking FAQ, you can convert measurements and ingredients to suit almost any part of the world.

Recipes are mostly professional quantities, with extra small-quantity versions for the home user.

The book gets five stars from be because it tells how to avoid the most common mistakes, and any tips or tricks which may help save something that has gone wrong.

basic training
All the basic procedures, techniques,and requirements to be professional pastry cook are covered. Color photos are very clear, visualy explaining the text. This book ( the first in a 4 part series ) gives all the information you need to know to be a pastry - cook. A good tradesman, if you will. It does not teach the innovative and artistic desserts techniques. But if you master these books, you'll be able to produce in any kitchen in the world. Also, very important: the recipes are based on european ingredients, some adjustments are neccessary. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Tremendous!
This is a well-researched book. I heartily recommend it to everyone who is wondering about endotoxins. ... Read more

Book Description

This second edition has been thoroughly updated to include recent advances and developments in the field of fermentation technology, focusing on industrial applications. The book now covers new aspects such as recombinant DNA techniques in the improvement of industrial micro-organisms, and includes comprehensive information on fermentation media, sterilization procedures, inocula, and fermenter design. Chapters on effluent treatment and fermentation economics are also incorporated. The text is supported by numerous clear, informative diagrams.
The book is of great interest to final year and post-graduate students of applied biology, biotechnology, microbiology, biochemical and chemical engineering. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The "bible" of fermentation
This book is a must for people interested in fermentation technology and bioprocess engineering. It covers a wide variety of topics: from microbial screening to effluent treatment. In between all the aspects of fermentation are covered: inoculum, sterilization, media development, monitoring and control, aeration and agitation, fermenter vessels and design, downstream processing, economics. I think that anyone in the biochemical engineering/biotechnology field should have it. ... Read more

Book Description

Craving hush puppies but you live in Boston? Need a peanut butter fix that Skippy won't satisfy? Search no further than Food Finds, the celebrated guide to America's diverse and delicious bounty of regional foods and specialty products. Fully updated and exhaustively researched by authors Allison Engel and Margaret Engel, this comprehensive resource contains up-to-date mail and online ordering information for more than 400 of America's best local and specialty food producers, from the Santa Barbara Olive Company to DiCamillo's Bakery to the candy-making nuns at Mount St. Mary's abbey. Also included are colorful anecdotes, photos, and visitor information. Engagingly written and cleary organized, Food Finds is the essential tool-time for favorite, or eaters interested in America's rich and varied culinary traditions.

Reviews (6)

An Excellent Culinary Excursion!
Extremely well written survey of various small out-of-the-way artisan specialty food manufacturers around the country. The coversational, yet concise writing style is a pleasure to read. The book is fun to just randomly skim through for ideas. There is a noble emphasis on preservative and additive-free products made with the simplest ingredients. A little historical information about the various purveyors adds human interest. Also, prices are given, which is a rarity in a guide like this. The book reflects considerable research effort on the part of the authors.

Christmas miracle
Okay, each Christmas you try to think of what to buy people who don't need more stuff. But what can everyone always use? Food! I first bought this book for this reason and am buying the update again to find food finds for gifts. I have looked for lost childhood foods often as Christmas gifts from the perfect popcorn ball that is most like my great aunt LeGreta's to Lefse. In this book you can find old favorites and new taste tempters. I know I'm getting real old fashioned ribbon candy as one gift but what else is out there to try? I always end up getting food for myself too, after all, it's my childhood too. This is a great resource for the hard to buy for.

Fabulous book
This is a great way, particularly if you live in a homogenous, urban area (like me), to get exposed to regional and individual foods from around the country. It includes pound cake bakeries, chocolates shops (i.e., a Dutch one in Des Moines), spice houses, and a lot more. There is so much in this book, you are bound to find a lot of things you'd be interested in trying. The only fault I think it has is that it is bound to become outdated quickly. I know that the Schazarad Bakery (one of the last bakeries to make phyllo dough by hand) is already out of business or is soon to be (unless someone has decided to buy it or carry it on). However, this is a minor fault and will most likely not effect most of the entries in the book.

Home town food with style! And you can get it so easily...
...that's the real charm of FOOD FINDS, which is a compendium of hokey, terrific, one-of-kind regional goodies. And they aren't budget-breakers, either, most of them. Information about ordering is right there, so why resist? So far, I've ordered the Trappestine Creamy Caramels and the Cherry Hut Sundae Sauce. Both were scrumptious. Next I'm going to order some of the cheeses mentioned in the book. Or maybe...date crystals?

Even if you never order a thing, FOOD FINDS is a grand read. Allison and Margaret Engel write like they are sitting across the kitchen table telling stories about people you'd love to know. I have given this book to five friends and family members, male and female, and keep it on hand as an "emergency", one-size-fits-all present. Everyone I've given it to has just raved about it. Salley Shannon

Unique must for the foodaphile
Well categorized which makes it so easy to find -- from chili from Chugwater to cheese from Maytag -- this is one book to aid in finding good ingredients. Wish there was something like this for various major metro areas -- like where to find those tough to get items locally. However, what with the phone and web connections these days, its so quick to get them via ups and fedex. Hats off to the Engels for such a neat find for us food junkies. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

Interesting exploration of an under-researched topic
This book is both thought-provoking and entertaining. As the author argues, despite the large role that food plays in our lives, there appears to be no unifying framework that can explain eating behavior. Despite the complexity, the author does a nice job of blending theory, empirical findings, history, and personal anecdotes. In the end, more questions are raised than are answered- a characteristic of a topic worth exploring.

Food for Broad Minds
Well researched, culture-inclusive and fun to read, not just a dry text. A feast for the mind, and well timed as we are more and more, world wide, becoming mindless consumers of copious quantities of munchies, whether in elite settings or otherwise. ... Read more

Book Description

The second edition of Wine Science: Principles, Practice, Perception updates the reader with current processes and methods of wine science, including an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of various new grape cultivar clones, wine yeast strains, and malolactic bacteria. It also addresses current research in wine consumption as related to health. The many added beautiful color photographs, graphs, and charts help to make the sophisticated techniques described easily understandable. This book is an essential part of a any library.

Key Features
* Univerally appealing to non-technologists and technologists alike
* Includes section on Wine and Health which covers the effects of wine consumption on cardiovascular diseases, headaches, and age-related macular degeneration
* Covers sophisticated techniques in a clear, easily understood manner
* Presents a balance between the objective science of wine chemistry and the subjective study of wine appreciation
* Provides updated information involving advantages/disadvantages of various grape cultivar clones, wine yeast strains, and malolactic bacteria
* Chapter on recent historical findings regarding the origin of wine and wine making processes ... Read more

Reviews (2)

As good as a book around
This book covers many principals of viticulture and enology, and does very, very well.

A great companion to either an enologist or viticulturist seeking new points of view, or a great record of principals all in one book

Fantastic...

Comprehensive scientific overview
Jackson provides a well-written overview of viticulture and oenology, with academic rigour and a bias towards more recent research. This book has been very useful so far in my studies through the Cape Wine Academy, and I expect it to continue being a useful reference. Especially valuable is the clear exposition of complex biological or biochemical processes, which allows excess detail to be ignored while still maintaining readability (rather more useful than trying to fill in the scientific gaps in consumer-oriented books). Meticulously referenced. ... Read more

Book Description

The essential, comprehensive guide to successful catering business management

Catering is more than simply creating and executing a great menu. It's knowing how to successfully market your business, keep costs in line, and make sure the entire operation runs smoothly.

Catering Management offers professionals and aspiring caterers detailed advice on all of the crucial business aspects of the subject for on- and off-premise catering. Updated to address the needs of this fast-growing industry, the Second Edition covers many current topics such as the latest trends in cuisine and meal concepts, marketing techniques for the home replacement food business, and new special events service concepts. Fresh information on menu design and pricing comes complete with all-new menu examples illustrating a full range of menu possibilities and styles. The book also offers concrete tips on using the latest computer software to maximize your functions' sales and profits.

Catering Management also provides basic information on how to:
* Establish a new catering operation or incorporate catering into an existing foodservice business
* Hire and train both service and food production staff
* Institute food and beverage operational controls that guarantee high standards of quality, service, and presentation ... Read more

Book Description

Food Processing Technology: Principles and Practices, Second Edition introduces students of food science and technology or biotechnology to the wide range of processing techniques that are used in food processing. It is a comprehensive-- yet basic -- text which offers an overview of mostunit operations, while at the same time providing details of the processing equipment, operating conditions and the effects of processing on the biochemistry of foods. It also exploresthe sensory and nutritional qualities of such foods. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The most understandable statistics book ever!
Easy read, with plenty of worked examples and extremely relevant to food sensory evaluation. This book only applies to statistics of food sensory. Guaranteed to give a chuckle and will not bore you to death. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The ultimate bakers' manual
This book is by the man who revolutionized bread baking and it is excellent. The technical information on flours, oxidation, etc is very good. All recipes are based on the bakers percentage formula so it is very easy to scale anything. It is more for professionals but I have had no trouble adapating it to home use. This book will teach you to be a bread baker, not a follower of recipes. I highly recommend this for anyone who is serious about bread baking. If you are a casual baker of loaves it may be too much. If you can read basic French I encourge you to get the french edition as it costs about 25E's instead of the crazy price for the English translation. ... Read more

Book Description

Ethnic and international foods have gradually been integratedinto the daily diet in North America. However, the existing literatureof flavor characteristics and chemistry of such foods remainsfragmentary and diverse. This book presents a summary of the currentstatus of knowledge in this area. ... Read more