Post #1993392

work continues on my industrial ag mega-zine. we're getting into the "consequences of pesticide use" section, and unsurprisingly, it's much more complicated than i expected. it turns out that pouring a bunch of poison onto the land has complicated and unexpected consequences that are extremely difficult to trace throughout an ecosystem! (nevermind the effects on agriculture itself...see: "pesticide treadmill".) anyway, i've just started looking through "Economic Poisoning: Industrial Waste and the Chemicalization of American Agriculture" by Adam M. Romero and came across this quote: "You may be asking yourself what war has to do with the transformation of waste into agricultural inputs. When I first began this project, I was not sure that it had anything to do with it. I was already familiar with Edmond Russell’s classic book "War and Nature", in which he describes the coevolution of agriculture and war since World War I. But as I read the Journal of Economic Entomology cover to cover..." i looked up at the top of my screen and saw that this is a 365 page book and i was only at the beginning. so i guess i have a long road ahead. at least i don't have to read any issues of the journal of economic entomology! below i've included a part of a spread on pesticides that i've already completed. this spread is about the war on the land and how war metaphors and imagery have been used to sell pesticides for at least 50 years... (and isn't it remarkable how much the photo of the helicopter spraying over a rice field looks like it could be a photo of the vietnam war?) #IndustrialAgriculture #environment #ecology #pesticides #pollution