The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved:
Inside America’s Underground Food Movements
by Sandor Ellix Katz, Chelsea Green
Paperback, 400 pages, $20.00
Reviewed by Jason Mayernick
The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved revolves around two realities. First, everyone needs to eat. Control what a person needs and that person is control. Author Sandor Katz chronicles the dozen of ways every bite of food we eat is controlled by corporations and government agencies to the detriment of our societies our society’s health and survival. Realities number two; you don’t have to passively live with the stranglehold of corporate greed that has come to characterize food production in the “modern” world. There is a Revolution under way to put food back in the hands of the individual and the Revolution is Recruiting.
Liberation is achieved through awareness of oppression and a struggle against that oppression. In no uncertain terms The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved touches on the oppressive nature of government regulations and market practices leaving their mark on everything from the seeds farmers plant to the way meat is slaughtered and shipped. With each reality mentioned Katz offers examples of how that oppression is being challenged and offers ways for the reader to join the struggle.
Across the pages of this amazingly well researched book march a host of individuals resisting and undermining the soulless food industry. Guerrilla gardeners in urban centers, raw milk dairy farmers, illegal floating food markets, and other examples highlight the work of food activists across the world. Each chapter ends with an extensive bibliography and resource list making this volume an exceptional starting point for anyone interested in food activism. Taken as a whole The Revolution Will Not be Microwaved is a call to action, a wonderful piece of accessible research, a thought provoking work chronicling the struggles of food activists across the globe, and definitely worth the read.
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Jason Mayernick is a polyglot scholar, teacher and pirohi.maker living in Minnesota. Visit his blog “With Pirohi & Love.”