Jules Pretty
My books
Introduction to my writing
I write on the intersection between nature and people, seeking ways to create stories and evidence to generate hope and social and political change.
I have nine sole-authored books, and a further 15 that are co-authored, sole-edited or group edited. My first book was Unwelcome Harvest written with Gordon Conway in 1991; my most recent are Sea Sagas of the North and The Low-Carbon Good Life. Several of my books have won awards.
Topics have included the cultural values of agricultural systems (Agri-Culture 2002), regenerative methods (Regenerating Agriculture, 1995), walking the coast of east England (This Luminous Coast, 2011), journeys with indigenous communities (The Edge of Extinction), local nature and culture stories across seasons of the year (The East Country), public engagement (How Public Engagement Improves Lives, 2022), and Story and Saga (Sea Sagas of the North; Bamboo and Butterfly).
My next book is Bamboo and Butterfly: Transformation Stories for the Climate and Nature Crises (Unbreaking, 2027): “wondrous worldwide tales of transformation to stir action. We’re in a hole. This is how we get out.”
Unwelcome Harvest (1991)
Unwelcome Harvest (1991)
Gordon Conway and Jules Pretty Earthscan, 1991
Agriculture pollutes: pesticides can destroy wildlife and many are toxic to humans; some fungicides and herbicides cause cancer. Nitrates result in the contamination of drinking water and raise the risk of the blue-baby syndrome in infants and of stomach cancer in adults. Agriculture produces methane, ammonia, nitrous oxide and the products of burning of straw, all of which add to the world’s problems of acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer and climate change.
This book was the first comprehensive review of agriculture and pollution: it examines the facts and assesses the relative dangers of each pollution problem.
It also considers the effects of pollution on agriculture itself, and how crop yields are depressed and livestock damaged by various forms of pollution from all sources.