Our Only World, Wendell Berry, 2015

Berry, a modern day prophet from Kentucky, writes with passion and simplicity about the destruction of our natural world by the industrial agriculture juggernaut produced by capitalism.  In ten essays, some adapted from speeches he gave from 2012-2014, he decries the spoliation of our fields and forests by the short-sighted emphasis on today’s profits to the detriment of the health of the soil and the trees.  The benefits of returning to subsistence farming, where every man keeps his ‘eyes on the acres’ protecting his legacy of the earth is an ideal that even Berry realizes is not going to return.  His embrace of the 50-Year Farm Bill and his desire to return to caring for our neighbors, both human and ecological, represent the ends of the practical and ideal spectrum that Berry embraces.  Well written and wise, these are fine essays for anyone interested in the health of our planet.