Read more about this book at www.chelseagreen.com

East Thetford, Vermont’s Will Allen of Cedar Circle Farm is no ordinary
tiller of the soil. The former marine, jailed for anti-war protests
during the Vietnam Era, also possesses a Ph.D. in Anthropology, a long
track record as a citizen/activist, and now, a new book brilliantly
entitled “The War On Bugs.” Allen’s story is a remarkable expose, ten
years in the making, that highlights the often-sordid relationship
among what might be awkwardly termed “corporate agricultural
interests,” Madison Avenue, and the U.S. Empire’s military/industrial
complex. Let’s collectively call this trio “Big Pharm.”

As always, history is a useful starting place. In his Pulitzer
Prize-winning book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human
Societies, author Jared Diamond coined the term “farmer power” to
describe the dramatic increase in land productivity (and economic and
political might) that emerged with the Neolithic Revolution in
agriculture roughly 10,000 years ago, a series of processes that gave
us the very best and worst of human civilization. Allen’s analysis in
“The War on Bugs” charts the arrival of a second agricultural
revolution, which began around the time of the so-called American
“Civil War” during the 1860s, when U.S.-based chemical companies
declared war on two scourges: bugs of every description, and declining
soil fertility.

Allen’s great strength lies in combining short and pithy analytical
vignettes detailing the various tools and tactics used by an evolving
“Big Pharm” industry with a cornucopia of visual material. Each chapter
features fascinating historical reproductions harvested from a wide
range of U.S. media – newspaper articles, old editorials from farm
journals, pseudo-scientific testimonials bought and paid for by Big
Pharm interests, and, of course, ever-ubiquitous advertisements
(including some early head—turning work by Theodore Geisel - a.k.a. Dr.
Seuss - who was employed by the chemical industry early in his career
to sell Pharm toxins to an unsuspecting U.S. public. Who knew?).

What makes Allen’s work so vital is his exploration of the historical
and cultural intersections among a variety of forces: Madison Avenue
media marketing, science, corporate power and, most importantly, the
process of “farming” itself, a complex and rigorous activity so full of
mistaken mythological holes within the fabric of U.S. history that you
can drive a John Deere combine harvester through it. Simply stated,
farming is incredibly hard work, made more so by forces way beyond the
control of individual farmers –weather, crop prices, and the price of
fuel – to name but three. The great genius of Big Pharm interests, and
“The War On Bugs” highlights it, comes with their use of what Allen
calls a “four part sales model” to get farmers “hooked” on their
products. To whit: beginning in the mid-19th century, Big Pharm
editorials in various farm journals planted the seeds of interest in
new chemical-intensive products and processes; scientific testimonials
by so-called “experts” (often citing studies paid for by Big Pharm
interests) watered the seeds; saturation advertising by well-funded
marketers nurtured interest even further; and finally, farmer
testimonials about “Big Pharm” success helped seal the deal.

And, let’s be honest about the results. In one sense, oil/chemical
based fertilizers and pesticides ushered in a remarkable era in food
productivity during these past 150 years. The only reason why today’s
21st century planet can afford to carry close to 7 billion human
inhabitants is because of the so-called “Green Revolution” in
agriculture. Literally, as Dale Allen Pfeiffer states, we in the West
“eat oil,” as consumers eating in the midst of the most
fossil-fuel-intensive agricultural system the world has ever seen.
Allen’s book makes it clear that we’ve been “eating oil” for longer
than most of us realize, and that the high costs of doing so – from
rampant toxin-related illnesses and death; to the chemical poisoning of
our air, water, and landscapes; to the centralizing of corporate
commercial political and economic power – are worth considering.

It would be a mistake to romanticize small-scale subsistence farming.
Perhaps more of a mistake, however, is to ignore the history and the
trade-offs of Big Pharm’s “war on bugs.” If ever there was a historical
argument for cultivating thoughtful localvore living, food sovereignty,
and homestead security moving into the 21st century, this book is it.