Meghan Ruginski
Prof. Santos
ENGL 102-037
April 10, 2018
One Straw Revolution Evaluation
One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka is a book about agriculture and how the author is trying to keep a balance of the natural world. Masanobu Fukuoka was a Japanese farmer who claims that the best way to farm is to do absolutely nothing. He also talks about the effects of insecticides and pesticides, out of season farming, and human farming practices. He gives evidence to all of his points through his experiences, and also research that he has done.
The strengths of the books are that the author has a lot of experience in the subject, because he actually made a living off of being a farmer. Over the years he went against popular ways of farming and after awhile people started realizing that his way was better. A review from Acres USA says that “as he advocates an agriculture and a way of life based on observation, simplicity, and heightened receptiveness to nature as it is, rather than as we might want it to be. It’s easy to imagine him sitting by a field watching the plants grow, occasionally pausing to make a few marks on a piece of paper.” This proves that he basically dedicated his entire life to farming and that he wants to help other people. Through his dedication he was able to observe how we may be in for a food crisis sooner rather than later. “If we do have a food crisis it will not be caused by the insufficiency of nature’s productive power but by the extravagance of humans desire” (104). This is one point about humans that I agree with because a lot of people just take without thinking about where the food is coming from, and that can negatively impact us in the future.
The strengths of the books are that the author has a lot of experience in the subject, because he actually made a living off of being a farmer. Over the years he went against popular ways of farming and after awhile people started realizing that his way was better. A review from Acres USA says that “as he advocates an agriculture and a way of life based on observation, simplicity, and heightened receptiveness to nature as it is, rather than as we might want it to be. It’s easy to imagine him sitting by a field watching the plants grow, occasionally pausing to make a few marks on a piece of paper.” This proves that he basically dedicated his entire life to farming and that he wants to help other people. Through his dedication he was able to observe how we may be in for a food crisis sooner rather than later. “If we do have a food crisis it will not be caused by the insufficiency of nature’s productive power but by the extravagance of humans desire” (104). This is one point about humans that I agree with because a lot of people just take without thinking about where the food is coming from, and that can negatively impact us in the future.
One of the weaknesses of the book is that the author tries to push his views on things that have nothing to do with farming on the reader. He believes that in this world nothing actually exists, and that human emotions are illusions. Also he states that teaching music to children is a waste of time because it distracts them from the noises in nature, which is true music. This is something that I personally disagree with because music can help children become more creative, and a lot of people find comfort in music and not in nature.
Overall I would recommend this book to really anyone, but specifically to people who are interested in reading about farming and different things involving the environment. The chapters are pretty short, but they contain enough information to where you are getting a basic understanding of the subject.
Works Cited
Fukuoka, Masanobu. The One-Straw Revolution. Rodale Press, 1978.
Walters, Chris. “REVIEW: The One-Straw Revolution - An Introduction to Natural Farming.” Acres U.S.A., Nov. 2010,
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