Genetically Engineered Food: Changing the Nature of Nature:
What You Need to Know to Protect Yourself, Your Family and Our Planet
By Martin Teitel, Ph.D., and Kimberly A. Wilson
Updated 2nd Edition, Park Street Press, Rochester, Vermont, 2001.

Picture a world where the french fries you eat are registered as a pesticide. Where corn plants kill monarch butterflies. Where soy plants thrive on doses of herbicide that would kill a normal plant. Where multinational corporations own the seeds that farmers grow and legally control the farmers' actions.

That world exists. These events are happening now, and they are happening to us all. Genetically engineered foods—from plants whose genetic structures are altered by scientists in ways that could never occur in nature—are already present in most of the products you buy in the supermarkets. They are unlabeled, unwanted, and largely untested.

Teitel and Wilson address the "feed the poor" propaganda spread by the agribusiness industry, they describe how the genetic engineeriung "revolution" actually threatens to displace farmers in the Third World and intensify the problem of world hunger...

"By far the most accessible and informative publication on genetic engineering in food production that I have read to date. It is written so that the non-scientist can fully understand the scope of this technology. An excellent book." — Katherine DeMatteo, Executive Director, Organic Trade Association

No longer just pocket money for American teens, wages paid by multinational fast-food chains are going to a new generation of order-takers, burger-flippers, and basket-fryers—newly arrived immigrants.

Hailing from China, the Caribbean, Latin America, and India, a colorful sea of faces has taken its place behind one of the most ubiquitous American business institutions—the fast-food counter. They have become a vital link between the growing service sector in our cities' ethnic enclaves and the multi-billion dollar global fast-food industry.

For four years, sociologist Jennifer Parker Talwar went behind the counter herself and listened to immigrant fast-food workers in New York City's ethnic communities. They talked about balancing their low-paying jobs and monotonous daily reality with keeping the faith that these very jobs could be the first step on the path to the American Dream. In this original and compelling work of ethnography, Talwar shows that contrary to those arguing that the fast-food industry only represents an increasing homogenization of the American workforce, fast-food chains in immigrant communities must and do adapt somewhat to their surroundings. Rather than focusing on how ethnic communities become relatively sealed off from the larger economy, Talwar explores the interplay between globalizing mainstream forces like fast-food chains and the immigrant communities of our largest and most diverse cities.

While this fairly academic book looks at the both positives and negatives, in the end Talwar concludes that the fast-food industry is representative of major trends in post-industrial economy at large, and that it "not only offers little opportunity for upward mobility in its own ranks but defies the family and community institutions that could aid upward mobility or create a better united front to respond to adverse conditions in the industry." (p. 193)

In her latest book, award-winning scientist and activist Dr. Vandana Shiva argues that genetic engineering and the cloning of organisms, far from being socially useful, are "the ultimate expression of the commercialization of science and the commodification of nature."

"In the era of genetic engineering and patents, life itself is being colonized," says Shiva. She describes the hidden history of genetically engineered organisms, from Herman the transgenic dairy bull, to Tracy the genetically engineered sheep that "lays golden eggs."

About the Author
Vandana Shiva is one of the world's most dynamic and provocative thinkers on the environment, women's rights, and international affairs. A physicist, ecologist, and activist, she directs the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy, and is an Associate Editor of The Ecologist. Her previous books include Staying Alive and Monocultures of the Mind.

"In this fascinating book we learn how powerful, intrusive, influential, and invasive big industry is and how alert we must constantly be to prevent it from influencing not only our own personal nutritional choices, but those of our government agencies. Marion Nestle has presented us with a courageous and masterful exposé."—Julia Child

"This remarkable book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand how it has come to be that the richest nation in the world is eating itself to death. . . . Straight reporting about the shaping of food policy, as this volume makes clear, is certain to offend some very powerful players."—Joan Dye Gussow, author of This Organic Life

"Food politics underlie all politics in the United States. There is no industry more important to Americans, more fundamentally linked to our well-being and the future well-being of our children. Nestle reveals how corporate control of the nation's food system limits our choices and threatens our health. If you eat, you should read this book."—Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

Thirty years after Frances Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet changed eating habits around the world, she and her daughter Anna bring us a new round of iconoclastic recommendations that break overwhelming issues down to a simple matter of personal choice. Hope's Edge presents many of the same issues of the original title, but it also provides a wealth of new discoveries and possibilities in this era of genetically engineered foods, worldwide famine, and growing rates of obesity-related health issues.

Beyond discussing a wide range of reasons to become a vegetarian (and that means no fish or chicken either, folks), the authors introduce you to a number of individual reasons for hope—Bob, the Wisconsin cheese maker; Jean-Yves, the farmer from Brittany who created the Sustainable Agriculture Network; and Muhammad Yunas, who has changed the lives of countless living in poverty with his remarkable microcredit programs. Along with these stories and the theories they're based on, you'll also find luscious recipes calling for grains, fruits, vegetables, and a handful of dairy products that will delight your taste buds and your conscience.

The Lappes firmly believe that the choices of low-level consumers have the potential to make positive changes, both in the world economy and in our physical health. By eating a vegetarian diet, shopping with care, and cooking with love, we might all brighten our future tremendously. —Jill Lightner

"This book is an invaluable resource—a cornucopia of practical ideas for educators interested in making learning come to life for their students. Having grown up on a family farm, I know firsthand the lifelong lessons that come from working the land. Digging Deeper shows simply and clearly how school gardening is an ideal vehicle to meet high educational standards and achieve learning results so necessary for future generations to live sustainably on this planet." —Dr. Marc Hull, Vermont Commissioner of Education

"As a food educator who has worked with children for over 27 years, I applaud Food Works for writing this book. All young people deserve to know where their food comes from and how to prepare a healthy diet. By providing educators with practical, clear information on how to develop youth gardens in schools and communities, Digging Deeper is an invaluable resource for anyone who cares about improving the lives of children by reconnecting them to the lessons of the earth." —Dr. Antonia Demas, Founder and Director, Food Studies Institute, Trumansburg, NY

The Meat You Eat: How Corporate Farming Has Endangered America's Food Supply
by Ken Midkiff (St. Martin's Press; 222 pages; $23.95)

Even the most avid meat eaters among us know — and usually ignore — that the production of meat is not simple. Or pretty. Or safe. All of which is Ken Midkiff's point in his book The Meat You Eat. This is not a literary or appetizing read. For more than 200 pages, Midkiff, the Sierra Club's clean water campaign director, pounds home his point with a numbing, acronym-studded blur of statistics and urgency: Corporate control of farming is killing the land, killing communities, and, very probably, killing us. Midkiff's book probably offers the best collection of facts and figures about the sorry state of our meat supply in any readable form. In fact, the book is such a good collection of statistics on the state of Big Meat that it will probably be used as a text for reformers — perhaps the biggest reformers of all, the shoppers. (Review from the San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 8, 2004)

Just Eating: Practicing Our Faith at the Table

Reviewing Just Eating poses a dilemma for me personally! Talk to any of my family members or friends and they will tell you that my food habits are not good. It’s not that I don’t know what good habits are; it’s just that I don’t follow what I know to be best for me! And it’s not that I haven’t tried to do better. I’ve consulted with a dietian and my personal trainer has given me advice and has set up an eating program for me. However, I just don’t seem to be commited to it. My dilemma is futhered by a deep commitment to good stewardship of what God has given me and expects of me. This commitment to good stewardship makes me feel guilty. That’s right I’m guilty of bad stewardship! Oh my! This educational and action program and the approach it takes are just what I need. Let me tell you what has sparked my attention. Just Eating? Practicing Our Faith at the Table, a program of three partners (Advocate Health Care, Church World Service and the Presbyterian Hunger Program), is a comprehensivive study and action program centered on issues related to food, hunger and personal Christian responsibility for these issues. There are six units to the resource; Food Sharing, Nurturing the Body, Hunger, Food and Enviroment, Creating Community and Discerning God’s Call. These topics form a pretty comprehensive coverage of issues related to Food, Hunger and the Environment. But since I have confessed my sin of bad stewardship toward healthy eating, I would like to center my comments about this resource on the unit called Nurturing the Body. This unit helps us put in perspective the biblical message regarding our bodies and how we care for them, particularly how we should appreciate and feed them. The five sessions give us Bible readings, contemporary perspectives on each educational intention and a Faith in Action Step. I particularly like the action steps because they give me something to remedy my guilt over my bad habits. Each of the five sessions is necessary to experience whole of the subject of Nurturing Our Bodies. That holistic approach is what makes this resource so important. We all need to constantly study and be encouraged in our practice of “just eating.” This resource gives us an opportunity to relate to the issues it raises in the most important setting for the Christian steward: the church, the Body of Christ. I know that I need to be held responsible and encouraged by others if I am going to change in the ways that I need to change. The fellowship of the church provides just such an environment for change and improved discipleship. In my own case, my oldest son and I have made a pact. Both of us are experiencing weight issues. Though we might have different ways of dealing with our problem, we have set our own goals and have shared them with each other. We hold each other accountable by weekly emails to share how we’re doing, our successes and failures. The Just Eating study and action program would be an excellent supplement to our sharing to help us deal with our inappropriate eating habits. It would also advance my stewardship concerns for hunger, globalization and food distribution, the environment, and other issues. My next step? I’m off to invite fellow church members to study the curriculum, covenant together, and hold each other accountable in this important Christian endeavor. David F. Johnson, Retired Associate for Stewardship Education, PC(USA).