Geographer Jonathan Everts reviews Big Farms Make Big Flu for Antipode:
"Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, again. In the autumn of 2016, several cases of avian influenza H5N8 were detected across Europe (OIE-FAO 2016). Some cases were dead wild birds, others were domestic birds. Several farms had to execute culls in the ten thousands, for instance in Cloppenburg, Germany, were 16,000 birds were killed in November 2016. A few days earlier, the US president Barack Obama visited Germany for the last time during his presidency. During his visit, in a joint paper with German chancellor Angela Merkel, he analysed the importance of transatlantic relations. One line stood out and was repeated throughout media headlines: “we will never return to a pre-globalization economy” (quoted in Wirtschafts-Woche 2016). So what has that to do with dead birds?
"Everything–if you dare to read Rob Wallace’s new book on infectious disease and agribusiness, Big Farms Make Big Flu...The emergence and evolution of influenza is clearly intertwined with neoliberal economic practices that put surplus value over use value. After reading Wallace’s book, one cannot be surprised any longer... Big Farms Make Big Flu is one crucial step forward in disclosing what is happening in the factories that used to be our barns and deserves a wide readership from all backgrounds."
