Learn about the complex relationship between Big Agriculture in the U.S. and one of California's major crops: the strawberry. Industrialized agriculture produces massive crops, but this process requires plant breeding that may sacrifice flavor and nutritional quality. Industrialized agriculture also depends on extensive use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides that can destroy the soil and cause serious environmental pollution and health concerns. In her forthcoming, Dr. Julie Guthman examines how efforts to manage a single soil pathogen ( Verticillium dahliae) gave rise to the modern strawberry industry, and the impact it had on California. Dr. Guthman will also discuss her other studies of industrialized agriculture in America and its impact on the environment and human health.
