The War on Bugs

By Will Allen

Summarized with permission of Chelsea Green.
All rights reserved.

Skip to Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Early Medicine and Pest Control: The Origins of Pesticides

Along with the urbanization and industrialization of the United States in the nineteenth century came an increase in disease and pest problems, resulting in the following developments:

• European pharmaceutical firms aggressively sold medical concoctions in America.
• Dozens of new and complex potions and practices were developed to deal with the most horrible battlefield injuries.
• After the Civil War many patients chose to die rather than take concoctions such as arsenic or mercury, because of the terrible side effects of these "heroic" medical cures.
• Although 90 percent of Americans still lived in rural areas where they could rely on gardens and forest gatherings for the ingredients of natural cures from both European and Native American cultures, patent medicines continued to be promoted and sold in large quantities in the towns and cities where people had less access to these traditional natural sources of medicine.
• The use of highly toxic heroic medicines survived well into the twentieth century, in spite of skepticism and resistance.
• The first solutions to pest control to appear in crowded urban areas and in early rural magazines included rat-control dogs, rat traps, and rodent poisons.
• Urban recycling and sanitation systems existed, but weren't able to keep up with the growing cities' needs.

The Struggles of the Populist Farmers

• The Farmers' Alliance started in the 1870s as a revolt of Kansas farmers against land rip-offs by the railroad trusts.
• The Kansas revolt quickly spread to New York, where farmers had also been dispossessed of land they had cleared and developed.
• The movement then spread to Texas.

Throughout this populist period of American farming, several rural magazines became proactive participants in these farm revitalization movements. Some of these farm journals and the Farmers' Alliance movement promoted biological agriculture, including natural fertilizer advice and biological pest-control strategies.

Many populist farmers:

• Used natural forms of pest control and land management strategies
• Advocated the development of a long-term fertility plan and the use of naturally occurring pesticides as well as some promising new pest-control strategies
• Struggled to promote techniques and practices of biological agriculture against the policies of the administration of the newly formed University of California land-grant college

The Farmers' Alliance movement and others endorsed the safer biological pest controls, and rural journals continued to be critical of large-scale agriculture methods. However, by the 1860s many new pesticides began to appear on the market, including some very dangerous ones. At the same time, agricultural chemistry professors encouraged the use of industrial fertilizers, large-scale farming, and experimentation with toxic pesticides. During the second half of the nineteenth century, the chemical corporations began to accumulate significant wealth and political power. Their advertising money and growing political clout changed the attitudes of many farm journal publishers, who were then happy to have the chemical corporations spend their advertising dollars on ads in their journals. By the end of the nineteenth century, advertisements and editorials for chemical solutions to pest problems eventually came to dominate farm publications.

Skip to Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

This book summary may not be copied or distributed in any form without the permission from HealthBookSummaries.com. HealthBookSummaries.com assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Always work with a qualified health professional before making any changes to your diet, prescription drug use, lifestyle or exercise activities.

New Summaries

Browse All »

20 Things You Need to Know About Ashwagandha 20 Things You Need to Know About Arthritis 20 Things You Need to Know About Insulin 20 Things You Need to Know About Serotonin 20 Things You Need to Know About Bisphenol-A 20 Things You Need to Know About Holy Basil 20 Things You Need to Know About Caffeine 20 Things You Need to Know About Diet and Diabetes 20 Things You Need to Know About Vitamin B12 Deficiency 18 Things You Need to Know About Vitamin D and Cancer The War on Bugs By Will Allen Mad Sheep: The True Story Behind the USDA's War on a Family Farm By Linda Faillace Spiritual Nutrition: Six Foundations for Spiritual Life and the Awakening of Kundalini By Gabriel Cousens, M.D. Cholesterol & The French Paradox By Frank Cooper The Complete Master Cleanse: A Step-by-Step Guide to Maximizing the Benefits of The Lemonade Diet By Raymond Francis with Kester Cotton Never Be Sick Again: Health is a Choice, Learn How to Choose It By Raymond Francis with Kester Cotton The Lost Language of Plants: The Ecological Importance of Plant Medicines for Life on Earth By Stephen Harrod Buhner The ADD and ADHD Cure: The Natural Way to Treat Hyperactivity and Refocus Your Child By Jay Gordon, M.D. The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush: A Powerful Do-It-Yourself Tool To Optimize Your Health And Wellbeing By Andreas Moritz The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements By Sandor Ellix Katz The Natural Hormone Makeover: 10 Steps to Rejuvenate Your Health and Rediscover Your Inner Glow By Phuli Cohan, M.D. The Cure: Heal Your Body, Save Your Life By Dr. Timothy Brantley Cancer is Not a Disease - It's a Survival Mechanism By Andreas Moritz Beyond Medicine: Exploring a New Way of Thinking By Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby Virtual Medicine: A new dimension in energy healing By Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby The Food Mood Solution By Jack Challem Perfect Health: The Natural Way By Mary-Ann Shearer The Anti-Aging Solution: 5 Simple Steps to Looking and Feeling Young By Vincent Giampapa, M.D, Ronald Pero, Ph.D. and Marcia Zimmerman, C.N. The Thrive Diet: The Whole Food Way to Lose Weight, Reduce Stress, and Stay Healthy for Life By Brendan Brazier Health Begins in the Colon: The Ultimate Guide for Cleansing Your Colon, Body, Mind & Home! By Dr. Edward F. Group III, DC, ND, DACBN Keep Your Brain Young: The Complete Guide to Physical and Emotional Health and Longevity By Guy McKhann, M.D., and Marilyn Albert, Ph.D. The Sunfood Diet Success System By David Wolfe Reverse Heart Disease Now: Stop Deadly Cardiovascular Plaque Before it's too Late By Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D. and James C. Roberts, M.D., with Martin Zucker Fight for Your Health: Exposing the FDA's Betrayal of America By Byron J. Richards, CCN JavaTrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee By Dean Cycon, Founder & Owner, Dean's Beans Organic Coffee The Vitamin D Cure By James E. Dowd, M.D. and Diane Stafford Shrink Yourself: Break Free from Emotional Eating Forever! By Roger Gould, M.D. Astaxantin - Natural Astaxanthin: King of the Carotenoids By Bob Capelli with Dr. Gerald Cysewski Green for Life By Victoria Boutenko The Genie in Your Genes:Epigenetic Medicine and the New Biology of Intention By Dawson Church Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines our Health and How to Fight Back By Michele Simon Selling Sickness: How the World's Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All into Patients By Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles By Bruce H. Lipton, PH.D Natural Health Solutions: And the Conspiracy to Keep You From Knowing About Them By Mike Adams