by Fred Setterberg and Lonny Shavelson, (John Wiley & Sons, 1993)
In the small agricultural town of McFarland, California, children were dying from cancer at a rate more than four times the national average. Their parents, mostly farm workers, blamed pesticide exposure. In this hard-hitting examination, reporters Fred Setterberg and Lonny Shavelson uncover an explosive mixture of personal histories; scientific, medical and economic consequences; social upheaval; and potent grassroots organization in McFarland and towns like it across the United States. Toxic Nation is about the struggle of people who have faced the health effects of chemical contamination head-on, and the democratic uprising engendered by that confrontation.
Publisher's Weekly said: "This vivid reportage on 'American democracy at its messy best,' cries out for national attention."
The St. Petersburg Times called TOXIC NATION, "A valuable, compelling, eye-opening book."
The San Francisco Chronicle judged it "Dramatic" and "Impassioned."
The Texas Observer wrote that TOXIC NATION is, "A gripping (yes, gripping) account... ingeniously crafted... reads more like a set of thematically linked short stories than as non-fiction. Although it is impossible to emerge from Toxic Nation unstartled, it's message is also one of optimism... a revival of popular democracy as it was once envisioned."
Toxic Nation (at Amazon.com)
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