So Shall We Reap: What's Gone Wrong with the World's Food--And How to Fix It

by Colin Tudge

So Shall We Reap: How Everyone Who Is Liable to Be Born in the Next Ten Thousand Years Could Eat Very Well Indeed; and Why, in Practice, Our Immediate Descendants Are Likely to Be in Serious Trouble, award-winning writer Colin Tudge's latest book, has a revealing if lengthy subtitle How everyone who is liable to be born in the next ten thousand years could eat very well indeed; and why, in practice, our immediate descendants are likely to be in serious trouble. Tudge is a Cambridge zoology graduate who has worked as a science journalist and has written several well known and very successful books on agriculture and conservation (such asFood Crops for the Future), genetics (In Mendel's Footnotes) and evolution (The Variety of Life).

So Shall We Reap combines all these strands in an impassioned plea for global change in current farming practice. Tudge argues that at present there are good reasons for thinking we are getting it wrong. For instance, one of the most glaring and obscene disparities is that while famine is common, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the developed world has food surpluses and is suffering from what the World Health Organisation calls a "global epidemic" of obesity.

Tudge examines the nature of the problem, then castigates the main players--the agribusiness, the bio technicians and other scientists who have been seduced by the lure of big bucks and quick fixes and then embarks on his own solution, what he calls "Enlightened Agriculture"--appealing to the better use of some basic rules of biology and ecological models and the development of more labour intensive mixed economies which will help maintain rural society. A detailed argument of the new agricultural revolution is presented here; Tudge suggests that the hammer and sickle has been replaced by a pc with access to the Internet. --Douglas Palmer

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Environment, Politics, Agriculture

451 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Colin Tudge was educated at Dulwich College, 1954-61; and read zoology at Peterhouse, Cambridge, 1962-65.

Since 1965 he has worked on journals such as World Medicine, New Scientist and Pan, the newspaper of the World Food Conference held in Rome, 1974.

Ever since then he has earned a living by spasmodic broadcasting and a lot of writing—mainly books these days, but with occasional articles. He has a special interest in natural history in general, evolution and genetics, food and agriculture, and spends a great deal of time on philosophy (especially moral philosophy, the philosophy of science, and the relationship between science and religion).

He has two daughters, one son, and four granddaughters, and lives in Oxford with his wife, Ruth (nee West).

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Colin Tudge writes with both clarity and an extensive knowledge of his subject. He covers the history, principles and problems of modern agriculture, as well as giving succinct summaries of nutrition and genetics. He clearly identifies the roots of the various threats to sustainable farming, while being pragmatic about some of the potential solutions. For instance he provides good critiques of vegetarianism and veganism, making a strong case for the need to retain at least some livestock on farms. He provides a similar analysis of the shortcomings of organic farming. It's difficult to disagree with him when he points out that, for all our sakes, we need to recognise that the purpose of farming is to feed people, and feed them in the long term, not generate profit like most other businesses. Yet I found this book rather unsatisfactory. Partly that was down to Tudge's obsession with farming as a source of employment, seeming to have swallowed the 'Lump of Labour' fallacy. Nor was I convinced by his argument that we should move away from countries specialising in what they are best at growing, relying on trade to provide the other types of food they need, in favour of a drive for self-sufficiency. But the big problem was that his overall solution was unclear, being a rather rambling and prolonged analysis of capitalism, democracy and morality. What he proposes seems nothing less than a radical overall of how we structure our societies. Although I would not disagree with that in principle, it's far too radical to ever happen. So in the end the book gives no hope that things will ever change. Perhaps that is the inevitable fate of modern agriculture, but I've not yet given up on the hope that there are practical steps we can take make farming more sustainable. But you won't find any sign of those steps is this book.

[Herrholz Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a very illuminating read. It comes across as very balanced and commonsensical. I was encouraged to read that the author does not regard conventional farming as necessarily a bad thing. Organic farming can also harm the environment if for example manure is spread on the fields at the wrong time or in too large a quantity, which can lead to run off into the water resources. The chemicals used in conventional farming are not bad per se - chemistry is an intrinsic part of life - it is a more complex picture with issues such as genetic modification and a disregard for animal welfare and the health of the biosphere at large which are concerning. With GM there seems to be a drive to progress when the consequences of changing the genetic make-up in question are not understood. We are in effect manipulating genes and releasing the new offspring into the natural environment without truly understanding the effect this will have on the biosphere and hoping that nothing bad happens. In the case of animal welfare, the animals often do not have enough room. The farmers, if challenged on this, will usually point out that the business would not be profitable if more space were allocated. This brings us to one of the major arguments made in this book, namely that we as people need relatively little meat in our diet to maintain good health. The meat industry has been vastly over blown and the reason for this is purely for profit. He makes the point that ideally we should try to aim for more of a cottage type industry model in agriculture which could produce healthy, good quality food. A main hurdle here is that agriculture is not regarded as an attractive career by many and lacks kudos. The need for a change of mind set may be needed. It is a lifestyle choice as much as anything else. There are pockets of alternative, organic farms dotted around which is encouraging, who offer a source of responsibly grown produce for the discerning.

The scope of this book is wide ranging. The author covers many topics in his quest for `Enlightened Agriculture`. For example, he mentions game theory while attempting to comprehend the psychology at play in the market place. Survival of the fittest also fits in here. He talks about how the mafia for example, offer protection for their clientele in return for payment of a fee. The corporations however, take the business from the small traders (and farmers) and offer no compensation. This may seem a rather extreme comparison, but is interesting nevertheless.

[Rachael888 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well-balanced treatment of what sustainable food production should look like.

[Lianna]

mentioned in popco for some reason