Uncertain Peril

Life on earth is facing unprecedented challenges from global warming, war, and mass extinctions. The plight of seeds is a less visible but no less fundamental threat to our survival. Seeds are at the heart of the planet's life-support systems. Their power to regenerate and adapt are essential to maintaining our food supply, our resistance to disease, and our ability to cope with a changing climate. And yet many people are unaware that a handful of multinational corporations are gobbling up the world's plants' genetic heritage. In Uncertain Peril, Claire Hope Cummings examines this predicament by telling the stories behind the rise of industrial agriculture and plant biotechnology, the fall of public interest science, and the folly of patenting seeds. Cummings then turns to the possibilities for a more abundant future.