3.5 stars

"The cheapness of industrially produced food and expensiveness of organic foods does not reflect their cost of production but the heavy subsidies given to industrial agriculture." p 119

This is a book about how agro giants are taking over food production and destroying crop diversity, livelihoods, etc.

The author is Indian and the book focuses on the agricultural landscape of India, which was a refreshing perspective. Sadly, mentions of the U.S. were (rightly) negative.

Also sad is the misplaced worship of food culture. In India, seeds and harvests are worshiped. In the U.S., agro profits made from exploitation are worshiped.

The book was really informative. I knew a little about the subject going on, but the book provided me with a much more thorough understanding.

It's not necessarily the easiest to read, though, since there are a lot of statistics and acronyms used. Also, this is relatively old now (published in 2000), so while the general ideas are still valid, the actual numbers aren't current.

It's certainly worth a read, especially considering it's so short (under 150 pages!). ( )

Lots of good information but rather repetitive for such a small book. ( )

In her latest book, "the South's best known environmentalist" (New Internationalist) and 1993 Right Livelihood Award winner, Vandana Shiva, continues her path-breaking work on uncovering the devastating human and environmental impacts of corporate-engineered international trade agreements. In "Stolen Harvest", she charts the impacts of industrial agriculture and what they mean for small farmers, the environment, and the quality and healthfulness of the foods we eat. A short, impassioned, and inspiring book that will shape the debate about genetic engineering and commercial agriculture for years to come.

About the Author:

Vandana Shiva (b. November 5, 1952, Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand, India), is a philosopher, environmental activist, eco feminist and author of several books. Shiva, currently based in Delhi, is author of over 300 papers in leading scientific and technical journals. She received her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, in 1978 with the doctoral dissertation:“Hidden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory”.

Shiva participated in the nonviolent Chipko movement during the 1970s. The movement, some of whose main participants were women, adopted the approach of forming human circles around trees to prevent their felling. She is one of the leaders of the International Forum on Globalization, (along with Jerry Mander, Edward Goldsmith, Ralph Nader, Jeremy Rifkin, et al.), and a figure of the global solidarity movement known as the alter-globalization movement. She has argued for the wisdom of many traditional practices, as is evident from her interview in the book "Vedic Ecology" (by Ranchor Prime) that draws upon India's Vedic heritage.

I've recently started reading Stolen Harvest by Vandana Shiva, who is a dedicated activist, prolific writer, and seriously cool lady.