Over the past decade, agricultural sustainability has become something of a cause célèbre, as is evidenced by the fact that Michael Pollan, a journalism-professor-cum-agribusiness critic, could boast of four books on the New York Times bestseller list simultaneously in January 2010. Pollan and others of his ilk, of course, are as concerned with human health MARK D. HERSEY is an assistant professor of history at Mississippi State University. He earned his PhD in environmental history at the University of Kansas and has published articles on agricultural topics in the Historian and Environmental History . His first book, My Work is that of Conservation: An Environmental Biography of George Washington Carver, was recently published by the University of Georgia Press. He would like to thank Kevin Armitage, Alan I Marcus, Ryan Schumacher, Donald Worster, and the anonymous reviewers of the manuscript for their comments and suggestions.