November 17th, 2010
Like many farmers of their time, the Lundberg family experimented with new pesticides being hailed in the mid-20th Century as the wave of the future, the way to increase yields and tame food production.
Children gather to hunt for and rescue duck eggs left behind in rice fields at Lundberg farms.
Once, University of California at Davis researchers persuaded Wendell Lundberg and his three brothers to try a new strong new chemical on a field of rice. It proved so powerful, the crop was dead in a day.
That experience made a lasting impression, and was one of many that caused the Lundbergs to increasingly veer away from the chemical trend and return instead to their roots.
Barbara Kessler
Andrew Winston
Danielle Nierenberg
Anthony Swift
