by Carlo Petrini, Jamey Lionette
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Product Description
"Shiva is a burst of creative energy, an intellectual power."-The Progressive Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed is a short, pocket-sized collection that goes to the heart of our existence-what we eat and how we grow it. It covers the questions: - How are seeds cultivated and saved?
- How far must food travel before reaching our plate?
- Who gets paid for the food we eat?
- Why does our food taste like this?
We live in a world where of the eighty thousand edible plants used for food, only about 150 are being cultivated, and just eight are traded globally. A world where we produce food for 12 billion people when there are only 6.3 billion people living, and still, 800 million suffer from malnutrition and 1.7 billion suffer from obesity. A world where food is modified to travel long distances rather than to be nutritious and flavorful. Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed lays out, in practical steps and far-reaching concepts, a program to ensure food and agriculture become more socially and ecologically sustainable. The book harvests the work and ideas produced by thousands of communities around the world. Emerging from the historic gatherings at Terra Madre, farmers, traders, and activists diagnose and offer prescriptions to reverse perhaps the worst food crisis faced in human history. There is a growing realization that food politics is vital to the health of our bodies, economies, and environment-in other words, a matter of life or death. Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food, writes, "Reinstating food as a central, primary element in our lives seems an obvious thing to do, since without food, no living things would exist." Thousands of communities around the world are working to do just this. A world-renowned environmental leader and thinker, Vandana Shiva is the author of many books, including Earth Democracy, Water Wars, and Staying Alive. Manifestos includes essays by Prince Charles and Carlo Petrini.
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Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 A deftly composed treatise, 2008-05-07
No matter how much technology advances, no matter what new advances in medical science society make, somethings will never change - that humanity will have to do one thing the same way it did when it was closer to beast then man - eat. "Manifestos On The Future of Food & Seed" is an examination of modern agriculture, and an encouragement to increase the world's cultivating range and trade amongst each other, stating the fact of 80,000 plants in the world are edible for food, 150 of them are grown intentionally, and only eight are traded internationally. "Manifestos On The Future of Food & Seed" is highly recommended as a deftly composed treatise in the form of essays from five intellectuals on the subject and deserves a place on any community library agriculture shelf.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent call(s) to action, 2008-01-11
Okay. Michael Pollan's note (see his "review" of this book) has worked. He's clearly no longer listed as the "author" of this wonderful little book. I'm glad that this was straightened out. The problem is that his 1-star rating has pulled down the overall rating for Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed. This is a real shame, because the book is a gem.
Edited by Vandana Shiva, the tireless scientist and food activist/ecologist, the book collects papers read at Terre Madre conferences in Italy. Participants in the conference were proponents of the slow food movement, advocates of organic farming, local eating, and the deindustrialization of the food industry, and people who object to the patenting and industrial control of seeds (Shiva has led the way in this battle).
Sandwiched in between the lectures (including the one by Michael Pollan) are the two manifestos, one on food and one on seeds, which give the book its title. They call for concerned and united action on behalf of the good earth, farmers, human consumers, and members of the biosphere affected by industrial agriculture's heavy reliance on chemicals and, now, GMOs.
A very timely and worthwhile introduction to alternatives to agribusiness, fast food culture, and agriculture-based environmental and economic devastation. The essays are all solid and interesting (I was especially impressed by Prince Charles', largely, I suppose, because I unfairly didn't expect much from it). People who want a quick but reliable primer on food will benefit from reading them.
And so Mr. Pollan: delete your review so that the ratings for this fine book can soar,won't you?
4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
 It did say Manifestos, 2007-11-02
I bought this (mini)book because Michael Pollan was a contributor, and I really enjoyed The Omnivore's Dilemma. I did realize before I bought it that he was only a contributor, not the "author".
I was disapointed. It was radical screed, not reasoned discourse. No verified facts, just bald assertions. Even if you're a member of the choir there is nothing you can use in conversations with those who aren't.
But I guess I was warned--it did say Manifestos right in the title.
6 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Pollan is not the author, and that's ok., 2007-10-19
Like Michael Pollan, I have not yet read "Manifestos", but I have purchased it and I'm sure it will be deserving of the 5 stars I gave it. I gave it one star for featuring the art of the wonderful Nikki McClure on the cover. I've purchased her cards and calendars in the past, and thoroughly enjoy her work. Collect Raindrops: The Seasons Gathered
I gave "Manifestos" another star for featuring Vandana Shiva, an internationally-renown renaissance woman who has been challenging agribusiness lobbyists and lawyers for years. She also has won the "Right Livelihood Award" for her all her efforts to advance justice.Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, And Peace
"Manifestos" is deserving of another star for featuring Carlo Petrini, the founder of the "Slow Food" movement. Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, And Fair
The book also gets advanced another star from me for being published by South End Press, which has been publishing incredibly important ideas for decades, including Dispatches from Latin America: On the Frontlines Against Neoliberalism Recovering The Sacred: The Power Of Naming And Claiming and Chomsky's books long before he was a best-selling author Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies.
Lastly, I gave "Manifestos" a fifth star in advance because it features a transcript of a speech by Michael Pollan. It's too bad there was some confusion concerning his contribution, but he doesn't need to be the author for people to want to buy it. After becoming familiar with Pollan's insights through boks like The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World, many will be satisfied simply knowing he is a contributor.
To see Pollan on a DVD, he's featured in the extras of The Future of Food.
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." - J. R. R. Tolkein
24 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
 Disclaiming Authorship, 2007-10-08
Though the Amazon page lists me as the author of this book, I am not. I am not even its editor. It is an anthology edited by Vandana Shiva. I merely contributed a brief speech and essay to it, but have not even read it let alone edited it or wrote it! (I may or may not rate it higher after I have read it, but Amazon insisted I rate it in order to publish this disclaimer.) I apologize to any readers who bought the book in the mistaken belief I am its author. --Michael Pollan
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