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recommended books

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		Genetic Roulette / Jeffrey M. Smith BOOK OF THE MONTH This has to be the best reference book on the dangers of GM foods that has so far been written. It includes nearly forty health risks of the food that Americans eat every day, and Smith shows why children are most at risk, how to avoid GM foods, how the biotechnology industry covers up negative research, and why GM crops are not needed to feed the world — a common justification by the industry. Genetic Roulette is so clear and comprehensive that it should be required reading in schools so that future generations can make steps to avoid the calamity that awaits us if we continue developing these dangerous foods.


		Unnatural Harvest / Ingeborg Boyens Boyens explores the issues of genetic engineering in a book that is a good introduction to the world of biotechnology and genetic engineering. In this book she tells us how commercial concerns have produced farming practices that are very different from those that most of us would picture in our minds.

		High and Mighty / Keith Bradsher What a breath of fresh air to see a leading newspaper journalist writing something against big business. In High and Mighty, Keith Bradsher exposes the SUV scam and how the big motor companies in the US have conspired with the Bush government to prevent a tightening on regulations regarding fuel efficiency and safety. SUV's are classified as light trucks and so are allowed to be a lot less ecologically friendly. This book is particularly relevant now because other car manufacturers around the world are foolishly ignoring the needs of planet and moving into the SUV market.

		The Little Earth Book / James Bruges This may be a tiny book, readable in a single sitting, but it is an absolutely fantastic introduction to environmental issues and the problems in the world. Bruges covers every aspect of why the world is in such a dire state, devoting a couple of pages to each topic. His writing is lucid, concise and backed up by loads of facts. A must read and already into its forth edition. If you read just one book on this page, let it be this one.

		The Lost Language of Plants / Stephen Harrod Buhner A fascinating and frightening exposé of the effects of pharmaceutical medicines on the ecosystem. Today, we think of pollution as greenhouse gases, car exhausts and the black smoke coming out of industrial chimney stacks, without realizing that one of the most insidious types of pollution is the highly toxic pharmaceutical chemicals that anybody and everybody on medication is excreting into the environment. At the same time, we are reducing the complexity of ecosystems in favour of "convenient" monoculture, ignorant that Nature's complexity is absolutely essential for maintaining living systems.

		Secret Teachings of Plants / Stephen Harrod Buhner Sublime wisdom from one of the best writers around. Ancient and indigenous people have always insisted that their knowledge of plants and plant medicines are a result of direct communication with the plants themselves, rather than from a more logical process of trial and error. In fact, some herbal recipes are so complex in procedure that it would be difficult to imagine a process of trial and error could have produced them because get the recipe slightly wrong and the concoction is poisonous. Buhner's book shows us how to cultivate that direct connection with Nature by using our hearts rather than our heads.

		Lords of the Harvest / David Charles This is the story of the American chemical giant Monsanto and their takeover of much of the world's seed business and the massive European and American backlash against the GMOs that they tried to sell to the world. Charles presents a very balanced picture of modern agribusiness, although he fails to take a true stand against "frankenfoods".

		Genetically Engineered Food / R. Cummins & B. Lilliston This is an important book to anybody who is interested in biotechnology and food production. In it, the authors weigh up the promises of new food technologies against the risks that are being taken away from public awareness. Included is information on what consumers can do to protect themselves from becoming unwitting participants in this heinous global experiment being undertaken by the biotech multinationals.



		Biotechnology Unzipped / Eric S. Grace Written by a zoologist, this book is a fantastic introduction to biotechnology. Grace writes as a scientist, showing both the dangers and the promises that this new technology can bring. His message is that there are no simple genetic solutions to the problems that we face, and he points out the huge danger of having such a powerful technology being basically financially-led. Outside of Ho's book, this is the best book on the subject.

		Gaia's Garden / Toby Hemenway As a permaculture expert and an editor of The Permaculture Activist, Hemenway shows how gardens can function as ecosystems and describes how to put together an ecological garden. His main focus is on "guilds", or groups of plants function as a mini ecosystem that can provide food for humans. If you are slightly afraid of scope of Mollison's books on permaculture, this shows us how to do it on a much smaller scale.




		Genetic Engineering: Dream or Nightmare? / Mae-Wan Ho Thank you Dr. Ho for writing a book that most biologists, in the interest of maintaining their reputations and lucrative research contracts, would not have the courage the write. Genetic Engineering covers everything from the bad science involved to a look at the values of society that could allow such activity to take place. As she says in her book: "We must act now if we are to stop the dreams turning into nightmares, before the critical genetic meltdown is reached."

		Introduction to Permaculture / Bill Mollison If you want to read an introduction to permaculture, then you can do no better than reading this one by the co-founder of permaculture. Topics included: energy efficient site analysis; planning and design methods; house placement; design for temperate, dry-land and tropical regions; urban permaculture garden layout; land access and community funding systems; orchards and home wood lots; how to influence microclimate; and a large section on selected plant species.

		Permaculture / Bill Mollison One of the very best and most detailed books on all aspects of permaculture which should be essential reading for this book is for all students, landowners, public-policy makers, and others interested in revolutionizing modern farming and land use Dr. Mollison was a co-founder of the entire permaculture movement, and his wisdom and experience shines through in every page of this book


		A Green History of the World / Clive Ponting Clive Ponting is an academic who has tackled a very large subject: world history from the perspective of the environment. The result is a provocative and illuminating book that illustrates how influential the changing environment has been in the development and demise of human civilizations. His central message is that human beings prosper by exploiting the earth's resources until those resources can no longer sustain the society's population, which leads to the decline and eventual collapse of that society.


		The End of Oil / Paul Roberts Billions of us around the world enjoy an unprecedented standard of living based on oil. And each year our appetite for this fuel increases, despite the fact that we have already burned more than half of all the easily available oil. What is going to happen as the oil starts to run out in the next few decades, and what will it mean to our daily lives? These are some questions that Roberts eloquently tackles in a book that examines a complex issue with clarity and objectivity. This book will change your whole perspective on an economy based on oil, and it may even encourage you to buy a smaller car.

		Gardening For The Future of The Earth / Shapiro & Harrison If you want to change the world, you need to start in your own back garden. The authors give invaluable advice on saving seeds, maintaining plant diversity, building soil, reusing water, biointensive raised beds and gaining maximum productivity from a plot. Included in the book are many practical examples and the advice from several other different experts. But ultimately, this is a grass roots solution to the current environmental devastation; as Shapiro says in his book, "Gardeners know a lot more about soil than laboratory scientists!"

		Seeds of Deception / Jeffrey M. Smith This excellent book was recently described by The Ecologist as "possibly the best book on GM foods yet written" (May 05) and it really is. Seeds of Deception takes a difficult and complex subject — the pollitical collusion, the industrial manipulation and the manufactured "science" — and explains it in a way that will have you shunning GM foods by the end of it. This is a powerful book that should be required reading in schools. Smith even has an hour-long speech on his website at www.seedsofdeception.com which introduces much of the material. The book also has a forword by UK politician Michael Meacher.

		The Sacred Balance / David Suzuki This book offers one of the best introductions to ecology and the interdependence of living systems on this planet. Suzuki manages to combine facts, quotations and even spiritual wisdom in book that retains scientific credibility and non-scientific readability. Indeed, the book itself is a perfect balance of these elements. He also offers practical solutions that help to reduce our impact on the environment. A very good book.

		Principles of Ecological Design / Nancy & John Todd Biologist John Todd and environmental activist Nancy Todd have written a book on how to integrate agriculture and water supply into a green urban setting, and they introduce many different technologies that are able to purify wastewaters without chemicals.

		The Secret Life of Plants / Peter Tompkins & Christopher Bird When this book was published back in 89 it one of the first to open up the world of subtle energies and plant consciousness to the West. As with Secrets of the Soil this book brings together a diversity of subjects from ESP and mind-over-matter to hynopsis and extra-terrestial plant seeds. A joy to read.

		Secrets Of The Soil / Peter Tompkins & Christopher Bird The title sounds like something that would only interest a hard-core permaculturalist or commune hippy, but it is actually one of those books whose with a remarkably broad scope, bringing together everything from biodynamic agriculture to nature spirits. This book brings the real hope of a bright future for our current destructive farming practices. True ecology has to be more than just another mechanism (albeit a green one) and this book certainly puts ecology within a much larger spiritual perspective.


		The Future of Life / Edward O. Wilson Edward Wilson is a Harvard naturalist and he has written an intelligent and balanced book on the environmental crisis that we are now facing. Wilson argues that diversity is the key to maintaining the complex web of life and he gives actual economic value to maintaining the remaining ecological integrity. For example for just a quarter of what the US spends on its military every year, Wilson shows that we could save the world. (He also demonstrates how each American is being subsidized $2000 per annum by the environment.) A very open-minded and informed book.