Agricultural and Food Controversies What Everyone Needs to Know®

The world is more interested in issues surrounding agricultural and food issues than ever before. Are pesticides safe? Should we choose locally grown food? Why do some people embrace new agricultural technologies while others steadfastly defend traditional farming methods? In the debates about organic food, genetically modified organisms, and farm animal welfare, it's not always clear what the scientific studies are actually telling us.

To understand these controversies and more, the authors of Agricultural and Food Controversies: What Everyone Needs to Know begin by encouraging readers to develop an understanding of how two well-educated people can form radically different opinions about food. Sometimes the disputes are scientific in nature, and sometimes they arise from conflicting ethical views. This book confronts the most controversial issues in agriculture by first explaining the principles of each side of the debate, guiding readers through the scientific literature so that they can form their own educated opinions.

Questions asked:
- Are organic foods truly better for your health?
- Are chemical fertilizers sustainable, or are we producing cheap food at the expense of future generations?
- What foods should we eat to have a smaller carbon footprint?
- Does buying local food stimulate the local economy?
- Why are so many farm animals raised indoors?
- Should antibiotics be given to livestock?
- Is genetically-modified food the key to global food security, and does it give corporations too much market power?
- Is the prevalence of corn throughout the food system the result of farm subsidies?

Providing a combination of research and popular opinions on both sides of the issue, Agricultural and Food Controversies: What Everyone Needs to Know allows readers to decide for themselves what they personally value and believe to be important when it comes to their food.

All authors are present or former faculty members in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University. Their commonality is their commitment to helping the public understand agricultural issues through their teaching, research, and writings.

F. Bailey Norwood is an Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University. His previous works includes Compassion by the Pound: The Economics of Farm Animal Warfare and Agricultural Marketing and Price Anaylsis, an undergraduate textbook.

Michelle S. Calvo-Lorenzo is an Assistant Professor of Livestock Well-Being and Environmental Managament in the Department of Animal Science at Oklahoma State University.

Sarah Lancaster is an Extension Scientist at the Range Cattle Research and Education Center at the University of Florida.

Pascal A. Oltenacu is a Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Oklahoma State University.