Book Description

Placing agriculture at the forefront of environmental issues, this book argues that every major impact the human species has had on the natural environment has been a result of the change from a hunting and gathering method of food supply to a farming one. Historical information about ecological, environmental, and demographic changes in human society from the advent of agriculture to today is presented. Assessed are rates of deforestation, soil erosion, and water consumption as they relate to agriculture. ... Read more

Book Description

Farmers, who own or rent most of the private land in America, hold the key not only to the nation's food supply, but also to managing community growth, maintaining an attractive landscape, and protecting water and wildlife resources.

While the issue of protecting farmland and open space is not new, the intensity of the challenge has increased. Farmers are harder pressed to make a living, and rural and suburban communities are struggling to accommodate increasing populations and the development that comes with them. Holding Our Ground can help landowners and communities devise and implement effective strategies for protecting farmland. The book:

• discusses the reasons for protecting farmland and how to make those reasons widely known and understood
• describes the business of farming, federal government farm programs, and the role of land in farmers's decisions
• analyzes federal, state, and local farmland protection efforts and techniques
• explores a variety of land protection options including purchase of development rights; transfer of development rights; private land trusts; and financial, tax, and estate planning
• reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the farmland protection tools available

Holding Our Ground provides citizens, elected officials, planners, and landowners with a solid basis for understanding the issues behind farmland protection, and will be an invaluable resource in developing techniques and programs for achieving long-term protection goals. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Daniels Describes Basics of Preserving AG Land
Tom Daniels provides this concise yet detailed description of several land use based agriculture preservation tools including, TDR's, PDR's, conservation easements, ag zoning, urban growth boundaries, and local right-to-farm laws. There are model documents provided in the appendices which give a detailed view of specific preservation measures.

As a county planner, I found this book provided me with a basis of knowledge to promote responsible land use decisions in my county. This book should be national standard reading for land use professionals. ... Read more

Book Description

*Exposes the massive hidden health and environmental costs of rampant pesticide use *Presents an array of cheaper, safer alternatives to pesticides used by millions of farmers around the world *Written by leading international agricultural and biological scientists supported by The Global Integrated Pest Management Facility of the FAOSince the 1960s the world’s population has more than doubled and agricultural production per person has increased by a third, largely because of widespread pesticide use. Yet this growth in production has masked enormous hidden costs -- massive ecological damage and high incidences of farmer poising and chronic health effects. Yet in recent years millions of farmers in communities around the world have been identifying harmful pesticides and developing cheaper and safer alternatives. "The Pesticide Detox" explores the potential for the phasing-out of hazardous pesticides and the phasing-in of cost effective alternatives already available on the market. This book makes clear that it is time to start the pesticide detox and to move towards a more sustainable agriculture. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the book that dares to say there is a more appropriate, cheaper, more sustainable system of soil and moisture conservation than that taught over the past 70 years. This evolves round a "grass" like no other grass on earth, the more we learn about it, the more its diverse qualities and uses to man are revealed; like :- river bank stabilization; flood control; pollution mitigation; its pesticidal and fungicidal qualities as an organic mulch; replenishment of natural aquifers; pest free thatch; perfume and handicrafts. These and other uses are all explained as part of the "Vetiver System". ... Read more

Book Description

Over the past century American agriculture has shifted dramatically with small, commercial farms finding it increasingly difficult to compete with large-scale (mostly indoor) animal feeding operations (AFOs). In this book, Terence J. Centner investigates the environmental, social, economic, and political impact of the rise of the so-called factory farm, exposing the ramifications of the contemporary trend toward industrial-scale food production.

Just as Rachel Carson's landmark Silent Spring used the disappearance of songbirds as a jumping-off point for a work that raised public awareness of pesticides' devastating environmental impact, Empty Pastures sees the dwindling numbers of livestock in the American countryside as a symptom of a broader transformation, one with serious consequences for the rural landscape and its inhabitants--animal as well as human.

After outlining the rise of the AFO, Centner examines the troubling consequences of consolidation in animal farming and suggests a number of remedies. The issues he tackles include groundwater contamination, the loss of biodiversity, animal welfare, concentrated odors and other nuisances, soil erosion, and the economic effects of the disappearance of the small family farm.

Inspired by largely abandoned traditional practices rather than a radical and unrealistic vision of a return to an idealized past, Centner proposes a series of pragmatic reforms for regulating factory farms to halt ecological degradation and revitalize rural communities. ... Read more

Book Description

Over the past two decades a growing movement has emerged to question the role of the agricultural establishment in promoting practices that contribute to such problems as topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, the decline of family farms, escalating costs of production, and the disintegration of economic and social conditions in rural communities.Now gaining increasing support and acceptance within mainstream agriculture, this movement for sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals - environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity.

This text is written for both advanced undergraduate and graduate students in food and agricultural resources, technology and planning and related areas including economics, sociology and environmental studies.It will also be of interest to the many professionals in industries concerned with food and agriculture technology, management and sustainable food and agriculture systems, such as specialists in project management,information systems, systems analysis and simulation of systems. ... Read more

Book Description

This collection of essays provides the definitive survey of the importance of agricultural reform to the future of the world's trading system. There is growing consensus concerning the need to reduce the level of subsidies in agriculture and to open up the markets of the developed world more to the farmers of the developing world. However, while non-governmental organizations such as Oxfam may agree on this point with free trade economists, governments in Europe and the U.S. seem reluctant to give up their protectionist habits. ... Read more

Book Description

This volume comprises a selection of original contributions presented at a workshop held in Montpellier, France, in June 1997. The two main objectives of the workshop were, firstly, to bring together what is understood about the processes underlying agroforestry practice, and, secondly, to provide a forum to explore relevant models and modelling approaches. The workshop was also able to play a role in examining the agroforestry systems encountered in temperate and Mediterranean areas, including both traditional and more innovative agroforestry practices. The main aspects discussed were: ecological interactions amongst components, environmental impact, economics and policy modelling. ... Read more

Book Description

In recent years, research on the control of agricultural pests through the use of semiochemicals has increased considerably because of the many advantages of products developed from natural sources, including the perceptions of these compounds as environmentally desirable as well as the real need for new pesticides with novel modes of action. This symposium series book describes various aspects of recent research and developments related to the study of natural products and semiochemicals in the control of important insect pests including the Formosan termite. These studies detail the isolation, identification, synthesis, structure-activity relationships, and mode of action of semiochemicals and of other natural products as well as biocontrol agents, as they apply to the control of agricultural pests such as the Formosan termite. The book also covers the use of biological agents in conjunction with semiochemicals for pest and weed control. Formulations play a key role in the development of usable pest control products especially products based on unconventional chemical and biological agents. Successful product development begins with understanding chemical and biological agents. Successful product development begins with understanding the application environment and continues through formulation, efficacy, data analysis, and finally marketing. Part of this book will use the development of formulations to protect a biological agent, baculovirus, from degradation by exposure to sunlight as a backdrop to address the range of work required to develop a successful product for agriculture.What sets this book apart from other symposium series volumes on pest or weed control is that the entire research and development pathway is presented in an orderly sequence: starting from the observation of pest or weed problem, to the demonstration of a possible solution, synthesis of semiochemicals, to formulation and field-testing. The reader can grasp the details of how to do his or her discipline as well as the big overall picture. The book should be especially valuable to those individuals involved in writing research grant proposals. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Wealth of Forests
The book consists of a series of informative papers analyzing the current forest regulatory scheme in British Columbia. The authors include academics from the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria as well as lawyers and business people. Their discussion is very analytical and comprehensive.

This book is useful for anyone wanting to conduct an indepth study of forest regulation in British Columbia. ... Read more

Book Description

Engineering the Farm offers a wide-ranging examination of the social and ethical issues surrounding the production and consumption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), with leading thinkers and activists taking a broad theoretical approach to the subject. Topics covered include:

• the historical roots of the anti-biotechnology movement
• ethical issues involved in introducing genetically altered crops
• questions of patenting and labeling
• the "precautionary principle" and its role in the regulation of GMOs
• effects of genetic modification on the world's food supply
• ecological concerns and impacts on traditional varieties of domesticated crops
• potential health effects of GMOs

Contributors argue that the scope, scale, and size of the present venture in crop modification is so vast and intensive that a thoroughgoing review of agricultural biotechnology must consider its global, moral, cultural, and ecological impacts as well as its effects on individual consumers. Throughout, they argue that more research is needed on genetically modified food and that consumers are entitled to specific information about how food products have been developed.

Despite its increasing role in worldwide food production, little has been written about the broader social and ethical implications of GMOs. Engineering the Farm offers a unique approach to the subject for academics, activists, and policymakers involved with questions of environmental policy, ethics, agriculture, environmental health, and related fields. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Engaging & Informative
When it comes to topics like bioengineering, a lot of people publish theses and dissertations or they rant on in a political diatribe. Bailey is the rare exception who knows what she's talking about and makes it interesting. It's a refreshing surprise to come across a writer who has not only the scholarly credentials to do the work, but has the life experiences to draw upon to bring the points home. This is like reading a good novel except the characters are real, the planet is ours and the facts are astounding. This book will keep you not only informed and educated on the subject but it will entertain you as well. Now that's the kind of book we all enjoy reading.

A terrific follow-up to "Against the Grain"....
"Engineering the Farm" is a must-read for anyone who eats...like "Against the Grain" (Lappe & Bailey's first book on the issue), "Engineering" explores the issue of agricultural biotechnology. In this book, Bailey & Lappe turn to a dozen or so other experts, each of whom provides a unique perspective on the impact of biotechnology on our lives--physical, environmental, social, ethical, and even spiritual effects which are too often ignored. Pick one up (and then pass it along!) ... Read more

Book Description

Recognizing the increased interest in forest management world wide, this book addresses the current knowledge gap by definingsustainable forest management, clarifying methods by whichecological knowledge can be applied and how traditional silvicultural methods can be improved.

Sustainable forest management involves the enhancement of various aspects of forest functions such as conservation of biodiversity, conservation of soil and water resources, contribution to the global carbon cycle as well as wood production.To establish ecological and silvicultural theories to enhance these functions harmoniously, recognizing the relationship between stand structures and their functions is essential.

This volume presents target stand structures for aimed forest functions in relation to stand development stages, as well as ecological and silvicultural methods to lead and maintain them.Ecological and silvicultural strategies are discussed, bot ... Read more