Cary Fowler is the President of the Food Security Leadership Council. He was U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security in the Biden Administration. He headed the first UN assessment of the state of the world’s plant genetic resources and oversaw negotiations for an associated 150-country Global Plan of Action. Considered the “father” of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, he is the author of Seeds on Ice about this initiative. He has an earned doctorate from Uppsala University in Sweden and several honorary doctorates including from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences where he is Professor Emeritus of Environment and Development Studies. In 2024, he was awarded the World Food Prize.  For 60 years, Pat Mooney has worked within international civil society as a co-founder of ETC Group, retired chair of IATP and a member of IPES – Food, He is author or co-author of several books on the politics of seeds, agrobiodiversity, biopiracy and new technologies including geo-engineering and Big Data. Pat is a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, Canada’s Pearson Peace Prize and received honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Waterloo (Canada) and the 17 Advanced Institutes (Mexico).  He is retired and living with his wife, Susie Walsh, in rural Québec where they share six children and 13 grandchildren.

"Not since Silent Spring has a book presented a warning as dire and as worldwide in its implications for the environment and the future of our food supply. . . . Written in a highly appealing narrative and factual style, underscored throughout with thoughtful political and economic analysis and not without touches of sardonic humor, this book by two long-time agricultural activists is a must read. Shattering provides a well-documented, clear-headed analysis of the challenges the world, particularly its agriculturally wealthy nations, face in confronting the question of genetic diversity."—Multinational Monitor

• CONTENTSPreface to the 2025 Edition ixIntroduction xiiiA Word About Varieties xixPART ONELEGACY OF DIVERSITYONE Origins of Agriculture 3TWO Development of Diversity 17THREE Value of Diversity 38FOUR Genetic Erosion: Losing Diversity 49FIVE Tropical Forests 82PART TWOGENETIC TECHNOLOGY AND POLITICSSIX Rise of the Genetics Supply Industry 105SEVEN Enter Biotechnology 127EIGHT Global Conservation Begins 133NINE Politics of Genetic Resource Control 157TEN Responsibility and Commitment 181PART THREEREFERENCE MATERIALNotes 203Acknowledgments 237Index 241

Cary Fowler is the President of the Food Security Leadership Council. He was U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security in the Biden Administration. He headed the first UN assessment of the state of the world’s plant genetic resources and oversaw negotiations for an associated 150-country Global Plan of Action. Considered the “father” of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, he is the author of Seeds on Ice about this initiative. He has an earned doctorate from Uppsala University in Sweden and several honorary doctorates including from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences where he is Professor Emeritus of Environment and Development Studies. In 2024, he was awarded the World Food Prize.  For 60 years, Pat Mooney has worked within international civil society as a co-founder of ETC Group, retired chair of IATP and a member of IPES – Food, He is author or co-author of several books on the politics of seeds, agrobiodiversity, biopiracy and new technologies including geo-engineering and Big Data. Pat is a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, Canada’s Pearson Peace Prize and received honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Waterloo (Canada) and the 17 Advanced Institutes (Mexico).  He is retired and living with his wife, Susie Walsh, in rural Québec where they share six children and 13 grandchildren.

"Not since Silent Spring has a book presented a warning as dire and as worldwide in its implications for the environment and the future of our food supply. . . . Written in a highly appealing narrative and factual style, underscored throughout with thoughtful political and economic analysis and not without touches of sardonic humor, this book by two long-time agricultural activists is a must read. Shattering provides a well-documented, clear-headed analysis of the challenges the world, particularly its agriculturally wealthy nations, face in confronting the question of genetic diversity."—Multinational Monitor

• CONTENTSPreface to the 2025 Edition ixIntroduction xiiiA Word About Varieties xixPART ONELEGACY OF DIVERSITYONE Origins of Agriculture 3TWO Development of Diversity 17THREE Value of Diversity 38FOUR Genetic Erosion: Losing Diversity 49FIVE Tropical Forests 82PART TWOGENETIC TECHNOLOGY AND POLITICSSIX Rise of the Genetics Supply Industry 105SEVEN Enter Biotechnology 127EIGHT Global Conservation Begins 133NINE Politics of Genetic Resource Control 157TEN Responsibility and Commitment 181PART THREEREFERENCE MATERIALNotes 203Acknowledgments 237Index 241

Cary Fowler is the President of the Food Security Leadership Council. He was U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security in the Biden Administration. He headed the first UN assessment of the state of the world’s plant genetic resources and oversaw negotiations for an associated 150-country Global Plan of Action. Considered the “father” of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, he is the author of Seeds on Ice about this initiative. He has an earned doctorate from Uppsala University in Sweden and several honorary doctorates including from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences where he is Professor Emeritus of Environment and Development Studies. In 2024, he was awarded the World Food Prize.  For 60 years, Pat Mooney has worked within international civil society as a co-founder of ETC Group, retired chair of IATP and a member of IPES – Food, He is author or co-author of several books on the politics of seeds, agrobiodiversity, biopiracy and new technologies including geo-engineering and Big Data. Pat is a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, Canada’s Pearson Peace Prize and received honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Waterloo (Canada) and the 17 Advanced Institutes (Mexico).  He is retired and living with his wife, Susie Walsh, in rural Québec where they share six children and 13 grandchildren.

"Not since Silent Spring has a book presented a warning as dire and as worldwide in its implications for the environment and the future of our food supply. . . . Written in a highly appealing narrative and factual style, underscored throughout with thoughtful political and economic analysis and not without touches of sardonic humor, this book by two long-time agricultural activists is a must read. Shattering provides a well-documented, clear-headed analysis of the challenges the world, particularly its agriculturally wealthy nations, face in confronting the question of genetic diversity."—Multinational Monitor

• CONTENTSPreface to the 2025 Edition ixIntroduction xiiiA Word About Varieties xixPART ONELEGACY OF DIVERSITYONE Origins of Agriculture 3TWO Development of Diversity 17THREE Value of Diversity 38FOUR Genetic Erosion: Losing Diversity 49FIVE Tropical Forests 82PART TWOGENETIC TECHNOLOGY AND POLITICSSIX Rise of the Genetics Supply Industry 105SEVEN Enter Biotechnology 127EIGHT Global Conservation Begins 133NINE Politics of Genetic Resource Control 157TEN Responsibility and Commitment 181PART THREEREFERENCE MATERIALNotes 203Acknowledgments 237Index 241