Against the Grain

"A provocative and engaging read."—Lynda V. Mapes, The Seattle Times

"Richard Manning's important new book is radical in the very best sense, taking agriculture by the roots to make a bracing case that unless we manage to tame this environmental juggernaut, it will ruin our health and the health of the planet."—Michael Pollan

"As much as Williams Burroughs ever did, Manning wants to freeze your fork in the air so you can see naked the food perched at the end of it."—Matt Fleischer-Black, The Village Voice

"Manning makes a strong case for his thesis that the switch to agriculture came at a high cost . . . Manning's book is well argued, well researched, and unquestionably provocative. It should be required reading for those looking to understand the close connection between agriculture and the environment."—Chuck Leddy, San Francisco Chronicle

"Against the Grain is both fascinating and frightening. But Manning reports more than bad news—he also suggests solutions. This is an important book. Let’s hope it’s widely read, and that its urgent message reaches our leaders. As it will, if we insist loudly enough."—William Kittredge, author of The Nature of Generosity

"Surprising . . . Manning looks beyond the environmental effects of agriculture and civilization, which have already been well documented, and explores what these inventions have done to the quality of human life on the planet."—Steve Grove, The Atlantic Monthly

"Snatches up civilization by its very roots and gives it a good, long, exhaustively researched shake."—Lydialyle Gibson, Chicago Journal

"Anyone who can read this book and still accept the NPR-advertised Archer Daniels Midland notion of non-sustainable monoculture 'feeding the world' is sleepwalking off a cliff. Industrial agriculture is not farming: it's a political scam that gives industrialists money to bankrupt real farmers, force unhealthy food-commodities upon the world, and ruin cultures and ecosystems in the process. This book will raise screams from what we pretend to be the 'farmer community,' but those screams will be from corporate welfare recipients, not real gardeners and farmers. Manning's indictment is so well researched, provocative, and damning that it makes us feel moral conflict every time we place a processed food product in our mouths. This conflictedness can only improve our health and lives."—David James Duncan, author of The Brothers K and My Life as Told by Water

"Against the Grain is an important book. It effectively upends the assumption that domesticating agriculture thousands of years ago improved lives then and now. Instead, agriculture domesticated people. Manning brings the concentration of the hunter-gatherer to his subject. The writing is taut and powerful. He shows how with agriculture diets deteriorated, workloads increased, and social inequities soared. [Through agriculture, Manning asserts,] we have become distanced from our very natures as sensual human beings. Agriculture's quest is products. As grain production rose, it required more outlets, so we eat what needs to be sold. Manning points the way to restored health for humanity and for ecosystems: a counteragriculture of food rather than food products. Diversify what gets planted, raised, and eaten to go against the grain."—Deborah Popper, geographer at the College of Staten Island, CUNY

"Against the Grain is a brilliant, provocative book. Where environmental journalism is concerned, Manning is at the head of the class."—Larry McMurtry

"An exhilarating and provocative questioning of our most ingrained beliefs about how we get our food and why. A must read for anyone concerned about the intimate couplings of man, plant, and beast."—Betty Fussell, author of The Story of Corn

"Manning is a Montana-based writer whose books frequently focus on environmental themes. His latest takes a sweeping, critical look at agriculture's social, economic, and political effects on humankind, as well as its environmental effects from its origins 10,000 years ago to the present day. Much of the text focuses on the practices of modern agriculture, especially large-scale grain farming and its integration with the food industry. Resulting ills include loss of small farms and rural communities, environmental damage, and unhealthy, sugar-laden diets. Manning is not optimistic about 'top down' changes from the agriculture establishment but sees some hope in organic farming, farmers' markets, and projects that connect people more closely with the foods they eat. This thought-provoking and readable book will force readers to see agriculture, farming, and food in a different light. Recommended for all libraries."—William H. Wiese, Iowa State University Library, Ames, Iowa, Library Journal

"A growing body of somewhat controversial scholarship ties the beginnings of war to the 'culture of scarcity' that emerged with the invention, sometime in the Neolithic era and probably in the eastern Mediterranean, of agriculture. Before that, these theorists contend, humans lived as hunter-gatherers who were, far from the common vision of the half-starved caveman, quite comfortable and well-fed, because their diet was both varied and seasonal. The investment of time and energy to grow a few crops led, paradoxically, to both great excess and horrific want; when the crops failed, famine followed among people whose population had swelled beyond the small tribes of the earlier peoples. These theories are regularly bruited about at academic meetings, but rarely are they the subject of popular writing. Manning brings theory to life with well-crafted essays that cover such diverse subjects as the Irish potato famine and the controversy over bioengineered plants. Readable and well-researched, this book unsettles as it informs."—Patricia Monaghan, Booklist

"In this controversial and prodigiously researched condemnation of our current and past systems of growing grain, Manning argues that the major forces that have shaped the world—disease, imperialism, colonialism, slavery, trade, wealth—are all a part of the culture of agriculture. He traces the beginnings of agriculture to the Middle East, where plants were abundant and easily domesticated in coastal areas; hunter-gathers, who became fishermen, formed settlements near river mouths. Manning skillfully details the historical spread of agriculture through the conquest of indigenous peoples and describes how this expansion led to overpopulation, famine, and disease in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Sugar agriculture was supported by slaves and farming by laborers who grew produce for the rich while the workers ate a high carbohydrate diet (potatoes, rice, sugar, bread) and ingested no protein. In the U.S., modern agriculture has evolved into an industrial system where agribusiness is subsidized to grow commodities like wheat, corn, and rice, not to feed people but to store and trade. According to Manning, agricultural research focuses on just these few crops and is profit driven. Although he succeeds in drawing attention to critical problems caused by agriculture, such as water pollution and malnutrition, he is pessimistic about reform coming from political systems. He romantically advocates hunting animals for food and hopes that such citizen movements like urban green markets and organic farms can lead to better nutrition."—Publishers Weekly