GRN STAFF SUMMER BOOK REVIEW: FATEFUL HARVEST BY DUFF WILSON
Our fourth installment in our summer reading recommendations takes us out of the Gulf, and into the farmlands of the Northwest...to a small town where a national health issue is brought into the light.
This year, I had the opportunity to attend the River Network's River Rally, where hundreds of clean water advocates gather to learn, share, connect, and just plain have fun. During the last session of the Rally, I attended a workshop on fertilizers and toxins. My thoughts were that I could learn more about the fertilizers that flow down the Mississippi River to cause the Dead Zone. However what the workshop's presenter, Patty Martin, talked about were the myriad other pollutants contained in the fertilizers that are supposed to help things grow.
Fateful Harvest by Duff Wilson is the true story of Patty Martin, mayor of a small Washington farming town, and how she and a small group worked with the author (and Pulitzer Prize finalist) to let the public know about the hidden toxins found in some common commercial fertilizers. The bottom line is that Patty stumbled upon the fact that toxic wastes from various industries are "recycled" into fertilizers. Yes, these fertilizers from toxic wastes have the nutrients that are claimed on the packaging, but they are also laced with other industrial by-products: arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, dioxins, and other toxins.
This is a David and Goliath story, with its share of tragedies, near wins, and debilitating losses. Based on a series printed in the Seattle-Times, the book chronicles the government-approved process of re-naming toxic wastes as "products," and the persistent individuals that wanted the public to know about it. This persisitance caused these brave individuals, including Patty to be ostracized by their small community, because they might cause a "food scare."
In actuality, this book is only the first few chapters in the fight against toxins as fertilizer products--and Patty is still leading the charge to stop the practice of disposing of heavy metals and other toxins in fertilizers spread on the foods that we eat. While this book was not typical escapist summer reading (it came on my summer reading list between 2 James Bond novels), it is written well and often feels like a mystery novel. But the fact that it is meticulously backed up with fact (there are 30 pages of endnotes) leaves the reader with a sense of outrage and many questions that still must be answered.
Matt Rota is the Water Resources Program Director for the GRN
Our fourth installment in our summer reading recommendations takes us out of the Gulf, and into the farmlands of the Northwest...to a small town where a national health issue is brought into the light.
This year, I had the opportunity to attend the River Network's River Rally, where hundreds of clean water advocates gather to learn, share, connect, and just plain have fun. During the last session of the Rally, I attended a workshop on fertilizers and toxins. My thoughts were that I could learn more about the fertilizers that flow down the Mississippi River to cause the Dead Zone. However what the workshop's presenter, Patty Martin, talked about were the myriad other pollutants contained in the fertilizers that are supposed to help things grow.
Fateful Harvest by Duff Wilson is the true story of Patty Martin, mayor of a small Washington farming town, and how she and a small group worked with the author (and Pulitzer Prize finalist) to let the public know about the hidden toxins found in some common commercial fertilizers. The bottom line is that Patty stumbled upon the fact that toxic wastes from various industries are "recycled" into fertilizers. Yes, these fertilizers from toxic wastes have the nutrients that are claimed on the packaging, but they are also laced with other industrial by-products: arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, dioxins, and other toxins.
This is a David and Goliath story, with its share of tragedies, near wins, and debilitating losses. Based on a series printed in the Seattle-Times, the book chronicles the government-approved process of re-naming toxic wastes as "products," and the persistent individuals that wanted the public to know about it. This persisitance caused these brave individuals, including Patty to be ostracized by their small community, because they might cause a "food scare."
In actuality, this book is only the first few chapters in the fight against toxins as fertilizer products--and Patty is still leading the charge to stop the practice of disposing of heavy metals and other toxins in fertilizers spread on the foods that we eat. While this book was not typical escapist summer reading (it came on my summer reading list between 2 James Bond novels), it is written well and often feels like a mystery novel. But the fact that it is meticulously backed up with fact (there are 30 pages of endnotes) leaves the reader with a sense of outrage and many questions that still must be answered.
Matt Rota is the Water Resources Program Director for the GRN
Labels: book review, fertilizer, heavy metals, toxins
posted by Matt at 2:41 PM
1 Comments:
If only I learned how to read!
Post a Comment
<< Home