Book review

Anna Cripanuk

Professor Melissa Santos

8 April 2018

Book Evaluation

One Straw Revolution Book Review

    In English 102 we have been asked to read the nonfiction book, The One Straw Revolution, by Masanobu Fukuoka. This book ties into the theme in the classroom of nature and food. Fukuoka did not agree with the chemicals and pesticides being used to grow and farm our food. Pesticides and chemicals are horrible for the environment, and even worse to consume. He decided to reshape agriculture and how we look at farming and food. Throughout the book, Fukuoka stresses the importance of clean farming and educates his readers on how to achieve this. One Straw Revolution explores Fukuoka’s life journey and how he discovered his farming techniques.

    I agree with Fukuoka’s idea of  “do nothing farming” which is also called Korean natural farming. Fukuoka’s form of do nothing farming consists of no tilling or plowing, no chemical  fertilizers or prepared compost, no weeding by tillage or herbicides, and no dependence on chemical pesticides. These methods of farming help preserve the land and nutrients in the soil, bring everything back to a more wholesome state.

Fukuoka believes that natural farming proceeds from the spiritual health of the individual. He considers the healing of the land and the purification of the human spirit to be one process, and he proposes a way of life and a way of farming in which this process can take place. "Natural farming is not just for growing crops," he says, "it is for the cultivation and perfection of human beings."

A review from the New York Book Review With no ploughing, weeding, fertilizers, external compost, pruning or chemicals, his minimalist approach reduces labor time to a fifth of more conventional practices. Yet his success in yields is comparable to more resource-intensive methods...The method is now being widely adopted to vegetate arid areas. His books, such as The One-Straw Revolution, have been inspirational to cultivators the world over.

    I would strongly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys looking at a different perspective. This book is not only fascinating but also very insightful as well. “In nature there is life and death and nature is joyful. In human society there is life and death, and people live in sorrow.” (163) This is one quote of many that made me think an was holistic.

Sources: “The One-Straw Revolution.” New York Review Books, www.nyrb.com/products/the-one-straw-revolution?variant=1094932353.