Wilted: Pathogens, Chemicals, and the Fragile Future of the Strawberry Industry Volume 6

Strawberries are big business in California. They are the sixth-highest-grossing crop in the state, which produces 88 percent of the nation's favorite berry. Yet the industry is often criticized for its backbreaking labor conditions and dependence on highly toxic soil fumigants used to control fungal pathogens and other soilborne pests.

In Wilted, Julie Guthman tells the story of how the strawberry industry came to rely on soil fumigants, and how that reliance reverberated throughout the rest of the fruit's production system. The particular conditions of plants, soils, chemicals, climate, and laboring bodies that once made strawberry production so lucrative in the Golden State have now changed and become a set of related threats that jeopardize the future of the industry.

Author: Julie Guthman
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 08/20/2019
Pages: 328
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 1.00d
ISBN13: 9780520305281
ISBN10: 0520305280
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Agriculture & Food (see also Political Science | Public Poli
- Business & Economics | Industries | General

About the Author
Julie Guthman is Professor of Social Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her previous books include Agrarian Dreams: The Paradox of Organic Farming in California and Weighing In: Obesity, Food Justice, and the Limits of Capitalism.