The Death of Ramon Gonzalez: The Modern Agricultural Dilemma

by Angus Lindsay Wright

"The Death of Ramón Gonzalez is a blockbuster. In a dramatic, readable story, Wright has provided a new way of looking at the tragic human and environmental consequences of chemical-dependent agriculture. His case study of the Mexican export vegetable industry and of migrant farmworkers shows how what we call 'agricultural development' is really a headlong rush toward ecological catastrophe. His synthesis of the thoughts and experiments of those working for alternatives makes a major new contribution. " --Wes Jackson, The Land Institute "[Wright's] concern is for the victimized men, women, and children in a beautiful land, living and working in a cloud of toxins of which they have no understanding. If this story has any lasting effect on Mexico's environmental policies, the death of Ramón Gonzalez may prove to have been weightier than the usual statistic. " --Audubon . . . competitive in a class with Barry Commoner's The Closing Circle or Rachael Carson's Silent Spring in vividly drawing attention to the destructive, unsustainable logic behind much of modern agricultural practices, particularly in developing countries like Mexico. " --Stephen P. Mumme, associate professor of political science, Colorado State University

Genres: History, Food

359 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[MC]

DNF

[Shin Furuya · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I’ve ever read on industrial agriculture as well as food policy. I also liked it since the author was trying to parallel the story of one person, Ramon while also analyzing the food, agricultural and environmental politics at the policy level. By having actual person's story, the author avoided dehumanizing the issue, which often happens to books on these issues.

[Goomba Minchaca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave incredible insight to the horrors of industrial agriculture and the impacts that our transnational agreements have on vulnerable populations of indigenous and impoverished populations of people. The amount of research that went into this subject while at the same time exploring the life and death of Ramón González and fellow field workers was beyond impressive!

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes you think really really hard about what your choices as a food consumer do to the rest of the world...or at least it should.