TheyLovedBloodand Soil but Not the Mind 205countantJeromeIrvingRodale(1898–1971).It wasRodalewhofirsttermedthisnon-
chemicalagriculture“organic,” and,fromthe 1930sto the 1950s,he startedvariousorgan-
izationsand enterprises,includingPreventionmagazine,to propagatehis organic-vegeta-
ble-dietlifestyle.^21 SomeyearsbeforeSir AlbertandRodale—alsoin the 1930s—Nazi
leaderRudolphHessabsorbedGermanmysticRudolfSteiner’s teachingsaboutthe need
to eat nothingbut “organic” producegrownin the absenceof thosemanmadechemi-
cals.^22 HeinrichHimmlerthenfollowedin turn.^23 OtherprominentNazisupportersof
biodynamicfarmingincludeinnersecuritydepartmentofficialAlfredBäumler(1887-
1968),headof the Departmentof InnerSecurity;GestapoleaderHermannWilhelm
Göring(1893-1946),propagandistAlfredRosenberg(1893–1946),wildernessprotection
officerWalterSchoenichen,and SS generalOttoOhlendorf.^24
Organicvegetablesbecamepopularin WeimarGermany—andby the 1990s,alsoin
Americaandthe rest of Europe—as a partialresultof Germansarbitrarilystatingin the
1930sthat the microscopicparticlesof syntheticpesticidesresidueon producehad started
a cancerepidemic.The Corporationrepeatssuchallegationsin its interviewwithUniver-
sity of IllinoisenvironmentalmedicineprofessoremeritusSamuelEpstein.In the film,
Epsteinlamentsthatthe IndustrialRevolutionignitedan “era of the abilityto createand
synthesize,on an unlimitedscale,newchemicalsthathadneverbeforeexistedin the
world.... As the petrochemicalera grewand grew,warningsignsemergedthatsomeof
thesechemicalscouldposehazards... a bodyof datastartedaccumulatingto the extent
that we nowknowthat the syntheticchemicalswhichhavepermeatedour workplace,our
consumerproducts,our air, our water,producedcancer,and alsobirthdefectsand some
othertoxiceffects.... We are nowin the midstof a majorcancerepidemic—and I haveno
doubt,andI havedocumentedthe basisfor this,thatindustryislargelyresponsiblefor
this overwhelmingepidemicof cancer,in whichone in everytwo mengetscancerin their
lifetimes,and one in every3 womengetscancerin theirlifetimes”^25 (emphasisEpstein’s).
Cal State-NorthridgepoliticalscientistMichaelParentiagrees—“Chemicalizationgen-
eratesthe conditionsfor furtherenvironmentaldegradation.” And he toutswhathe
judgesto be the solution:“Thousandsof farmershaveabandonedchemicalfarmingand
haveturnedto organicfarming(nowcalled‘low input’ farming).”^26
Osamabin Ladenbuysintothe scarestoriesaboutsyntheticchemicals,citingit as one
of his reasonsfor declaringwaragainstthe U.S.in his OpenLetterto America— “You
havedestroyednaturewithyourindustrialwasteand gasesmorethanany othernation
in history.”^27 Universityof HawaiianthropologistLeslieE. Sponselagrees,shouting,
“Pesticidesare actuallybiocidesbecausechemicalsappliedto cropsmayharmmorethan
theirtargets.... Collectivelyand cumulativelythroughtime,individuallifestylesas well
as corporationsandotherscontributeto the poisoningof the planetandotherenviron-
mentalproblems.”^28
But SamuelEpstein’s accusationsexaggeratethe dangers.Epsteinneglectsto mention
the truereasonswhythe numberof casesof Americanswithcancerhas increasedsince
the 1900s.(1) The populationis largerin the presentthanit wasa hundredyearsago.As
we addressedin BookTwo,the largeraggregatepopulationresultedfromliberalization-
encouragedindustrialization reducingthe deathrate,which actuallyindicates great
progressin man’s standardof living.(2) Canceris a diseasethatmorecommonlyafflicts
peoplein theirold age.^29 (3) Morepeopleare livinglongenoughto get cancerin the
presentage thanin pastdecades,which,again,is an indicationof progress.^30
Youcan thinkof it in this manner.Priorto the IndustrialRevolution,the reasonwhy
sucha smallpercentageof the populationdiedof cancerwasthatmostpeoplediedof
everyotherpossiblecause.Thatis, mostpeoplediedon accountof manyotherhazardous
healthconditions.As liberalizationandthe consequentindustrializationgraduallyre-