The Garlic Papers: A Small Garlic Farm in the Age of Global Vampires

I bought this as a gift for my husband who really enjoys this author and he loved the book. A true story of determination and a David and Goliath situation in the world of garlic growers.

Stanley Crawford continues his tales of life as a small farmer in rural northern New Mexico, in this case the "adventure" of being part of a challenge to unfair trade practices by a Chinese garlic conglomerate. A great human story. Also look at "Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in Northern New Mexico," "A Garlic Testament: Seasons n a Small New Mexico Farm," and actually anything else he's written since 1990.

An incredibly well-written and enlightening look at how the world we live in works, in so many ways. Loved how the author uses the story of life on a small farm to help us understand complex trade issues and their impact on real people. Look forward to reading more from Mr. Crawford, and someday enjoying the opportunity to buy garlic from his farm myself.

I had to force myself to get through this book

Such good writing.

It's a sad state of affairs when fake stories can be allowed to be published and presented as truth. The author misrepresents the true narrative, and offers a fictional story that casts blame at all the wrong people.

Brilliant, economical, and taut, this book follows the trajectory of Crawford's beautiful A Garlic Testament (1998), elucidating, writ small, the plight of the small farmer in America in the face of corporate greed. Negative reviews above have the strange whiff of those whose guilt is exposed in Crawford's delicate prose; Crawford's detractors protest too much. This is a political tale - if not fable - told by one of America's great unsung novelists (see The Log of the S.S. The Mrs Unguentine, Gascoyne, and Petroleum Man, to name a few), and deserves to be read as such. Opposition to what Crawford is saying here must be examined in the light of whose interest that opposition serves. The Garlic Papers belongs on the shelf alongside Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, Wendell Berry's Bringing it to the Table, and Verlyn Klinkenborg's The Rural Life. Five stars; a fine and timely read from a national treasure.

What happens when a garlic farmer in a small valley in northern New Mexico tries to make a multinational corporation pay over $20,000,000 in tariffs? The Garlic Papers documents one American farmer's journey into a global legal battle, as well as his reflections on over fifty years of farming and writing. If you'd like a sure-footed look at the complexities of trying to do what's right in a global economy, this book is for you.