Agricide

The industrialization of agriculture has put the world's food supply at risk, warns the author, noting also that a business that is ecologically unsound will be economically unsound in the long term. Animal rights activist and veterinarian Fox (The Soul of the Wolf throws down the gauntlet to agribusiness and its dependent industries. He scrutinizes the economics of industrial agriculture and the costs in terms of energy, pollution, stress (on animals) and nutrition. He shows us animal factories and slaughterhouses; he discusses a humane diet for ourselves and our pets (the pet-food industry is a subsidiary of agribusiness). Fox recommends that all meat products except chicken should be marketed only as by-products of primary inudustrieswool, egg and dairy production. He advocates ranch raising of indigenous wildlife as an alternative to beef in the Third World. Some of his statements seem extravagant; nevertheless in this provocative book, Fox forces us to recognize a very real crisis. (August 1)HAVING EVERYTHING RIGHT: