Risk on the Table - (Environment in History: International Perspectives) by Angela N H Creager & Jean-Paul Gaudillière (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Over the last century, the industrialization of agriculture and processing technologies have made food abundant and relatively inexpensive for much of the world's population. Simultaneously, pesticides, nitrates, and other technological innovations intended to improve the food supply's productivity and safety have generated new, often poorly understood risks for consumers and the environment. From the proliferation of synthetic additives to the threat posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the chapters in Risk on the Table zero in on key historical cases in North America and Europe that illuminate the history of food safety, highlighting the powerful tensions that exists among scientific understandings of risk, policymakers' decisions, and cultural notions of "pure" food.

Review Quotes

"The book stands out for its multidisciplinary approach, integrating history, science, and policy analysis to explore the historical context and ongoing debates and challenges in food safety, including conflicting interests shaping policies and practices. The volume is particularly relevant in an era where food safety and environmental health are increasingly intertwined with global trade and industrial practices." - Agriculture and Human Values

"The editors have brought together enough international work to form a broad picture of changes in the global food system. This is an extremely welcome view of how those changes were received in different places at different times." - Technology and Culture

"This collection draws insightful genealogies of a persistently virulent problem: food safety. The book brings together a series of well-written and exciting historical cases that together create a picture of the scientific and political struggles for food safety and their obstacles." - Alexander von Schwerin, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

"'Risk on the Table' is a perfectly apt title for a book which deals with a major concern of modern societies: What shall we eat? Combining perspectives of 'food risk' as a matter of health concerns; environmental issues; and economic, social and employment problems, this book is truly innovative." - Karin Zachmann, The Technical University of Munich

About the Author

Jean-Paul Gaudillière is a Senior Researcher at the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, and a Professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris. He is currently working on the transition from "international public health" to "global health," with a specific focus on developments in East Africa and South Asia.