Temple of Artemis, Attica, near Athens, Greece. Artemis was the goddess of the natural world. (Photo: Evaggelos Vallianatos) The Environmental Protection Agency was America’s best-conceived idea. By the time EPA became a reality in late 20 th century, the country had been extracting natural "resources"for more than a century. The prizes included metals, petroleum, coal, natural gas, wood, gold, silver, water, fish and factory food. Birth of the Environmental Protection Agency EPA came into being on December 2, 1970. It was the product of a culture in deep crises. America was a giant polluter. In 1952, the Cuyahoga River slicing neighborhoods near downtown Cleveland, Ohio, burst into flames. In 1953 and 1966, about 200 people in New York City died from smog . On January 28, 1969, approximately 3 million gallons of petroleum spilled into the Santa Barbara coast of California, polluting an area of about 400 square miles. The destruction was equally vast. A...

Olympieion: Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens. Photo: Evaggelos Vallianatos I studied Greek history in college. However, unexpected changes in my student life diverted me from my goal of teaching about the Greeks. However, I kept reading the Greek texts. I also wrote two Greek history books. In America, 1961 Moving from Greece to America in 1961 was shocking. The startling contrast was that of size. In my village and high school town in the island of Cephalonia nearly everything was human-sized. Landing at Chicago’s giant O’ Hara airport was exciting and frightening. I had never seeing so many people, so many stores, and buildings vainly trying to reach the heavens. My uncle George picked me up from the airport. He drove through downtown Chicago. I noticed a tremendous contrast between the glamorous stores of downtown Chicago and the tiny stores and homes lining the streets leading to Oaklawn, a suburb in south Chicago where my uncle George lived. On our way t...

In my 1976 book, "Fear in the Countryside," I examined the political origins of hunger in Latin America (primarily Colombia) and the US. In 2015, at a conference at Pomona College, Claremont, California, I recounted the reasons why hunger still is plaguing so many millions across the world, rich and poor countries alike. I connected hunger with high-tech agriculture, pesticides and government and corporate malfeasance. Seeing foreign imported workers harvesting the crops of factory farmers illustrates why hunger is not about to disappear. Farmworkers, Coachella Valley, CA Asking questions during my talk included distinguished scholars like John Ikerd, Vandana Shiva, and Heather Williams: https://soundcloud.com/pando-populus/evagellos-vallianatos-introduction-to-the-world-system-of-food-and-hunger     

The coming of Donald Trump to power is likely to have adverse effects on the natural world and society. His appointment of Scott Pruitt, Attorney General of Oklahoma, to be the administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, promises trouble for the already deeply wounded agency. The EPA has been a victim of corruption for decades. The near disappearance of honeybees illustrates our environmental predicament. The industry does not think much of the harm its neurotoxins afflict on so useful and ancient an insect. Read the article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-has-the-environmental-protection-agency-been-approving_us_587ff848e4b09d73ca33733f

If we had philosophers like Plato and Aristotle alive, they would be besides themselves. They would see things in America's countryside one of us, blinded of the reality next door, would consider as science fiction. Imagine this reality -- evident in California's Central Valley, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois, New York and the rest of "rural" America -- immense farms growing one crop, helicopters spraying this territory, and almost all farm animals concentrated in cement enclosures fed corn and soybeans coming out of the farms. Then extend your vision to see how the government approves terribly toxic poisons to kill every animal potentially threatening corn and soybeans, including honeybees, Monarch butterflies and myriad other invertebrates, birds, and other creatures. If you are honest about preserving your health, you will want to go below the surface of supermarkets and TV advertisements. You will want to investigate the history of agencies like the US Department of ...

The US Environmental Protection Agency was a great idea that has gone sour. The industry has captured it. In the 2014 presentation in Corvallis, Oregon, I explain how and why that corruption took place. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/u4keetzwqdxgmt3dt8oyo?oref=e&sm=1

If you think the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s first priority is protecting public and environmental health, get ready for a few surprises. Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with E. G. Vallianatos, Ph.D., author of “Poison Spring: The Secret History of Pollution and the EPA." Vallianatos takes us behind the scenes of his 25 year career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs. He describes what happens when well-meaning scientists try to do their job, and how economic interests have handcuffed government oversight. Vallianatos presented at the 33rd National Pesticides Forum, April 17, 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdFSLzdNQy4&list=PLHS5IfcgFy5fXbW_qamBrsDSqthCn7L35&index=18 (View Full Description) Added to PRX: 5 days ago Produced: Jun 11, 2015 Related Site: bloomsbury.com/us/poison-spring-9781608199143 Engaging Environment Food Informat...