Emily Monosson - Natural Defense: Enlisting Bugs and Germs to Protect Our Food and Health

I am thankful to all of those who supported this project with their encouragement, time, expertise, and editorial skills. I consider this a hopeful book that is based upon the research of scientists, health care workers, and farmers working to improve human, environmental, and agricultural health. To those in particular who took valuable time from their work to share their knowledge and then to read through chapter drafts, I am grateful. Without you there would be no book: Christopher Appleton, Nicholas Bergman, Claude Boyd, Bruce Caldwell, Dan Chellemi, Jon Clements, Joe Crabb, Bill Fry, Brian McSpadden Gardener, Jack Gilbert, Tom Gordon, Cliff Hatch, Brad Higbee, David Hughes, Keith Jones, Randy Kincaid, Steve Lapointe, Margaret Lloyd, Cam Oehlschlager, Kathleen McGraw, Lenny Moise, Justin O'Grady, John Pickett, Margaret (Peg) Riley, Marcel Salath, Joseph Schwartzman, Seila Selemovic, Peter Reczek, Arthur Tuttle, Ryan Voiland, Jack Vossen, and a few who wish to remain anonymous. Any mistakes in the material or interpretation of the science are my own. A special thanks to Karen Anderson for sharing her and Tim's experience; and Suzanna from Chicago for sharing hers. From concepts to comma, Emily Davis, Island Press editor, has contributed to this project in countless ways, turning clunky phrasing into smooth streams of words while wading through a flurry of e-mails with the subject header Wait! Read this instead. Thank you, Emily. In addition, I am thankful for the assistance of others at Island Press (Sharis Simonian, Katharine Sucher, Jason Leppig, and Jaime Jennings) for their help in moving this book-writing process along. The writing also benefited from the careful copy editing of Michael Fleming, who raised plenty of good questions. While you can't judge a book by its cover, I wouldn't mind if they did in this case, thanks to Roberto de Vicq's cover design.

Throughout the writing process, reviewers willing to point out inconsistencies, too much science, or not enough explanation were essential. Those who spent their precious spare time with nothing to gain, not even a bottle of wine, include Bernadette Albanese and Suzanne Epstein, Sofia Echegaray, Julie Kumble (and her husband Bruce for allowing me to share his experience with antibiotics), Sophie Letcher, Brent Ranalli, Rony Sebok, Bob Strong, and Missy Wick. Scott Russell Sanders's Bread Loaf writing group of 2015 provided encouragement that the topic and material was worth pursuing. I am grateful that the Lady Killigrew Caf in Montague, Massachusetts, welcomes those of us who sit and write all morning for the price of a couple of cups of coffee; so thank you, Ella, for keeping it that way. I am thankful for friends like Leigh Rae who kept me fit and ready to sit and write; and for the gift of a nearly lifelong friendship with Penny Shockett, who can not only check my science but my grammar as well; and grateful to Ben Letcher, my partner in life who has listened patiently as I talked and talked (and talked) my way through chapter ideas, quandaries, and second thoughts about material for this book; who provided insightful and careful review of chapters; and who never once conveyed anything but encouragement when, on those long drives, I would turn off the radio and ask him to listen as I read aloud. I am also grateful to my parents for their support in ways that, even now, I am sure I do not fully realize. Thank you, Mom. I would have loved to discuss this book with my father, an early tech guy, a Trekkie, and someone interested in the future. And finally, to Sam and Sophie, who are both now old enough to read and comment on my work, love and hope.