Bitter Leaves

Bitter Leaves by Rocco Rorandelli. First edition (2019). First impression small hardback in new condition. No markings. This is a new book. Please see pictures. PayPal accepted, any questions please get in touch.

About Bitter Leaves

"Over the last 10 years, I have travelled extensively to India, China, Indonesia, USA, Germany, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Slovenia and Italy in order to document the impact that the tobacco industry has on human health, the economy as well as the environment. My long-term project on the global tobacco industry is now culminating in a book, with preface and captions curated by Judith Mackay. Cigarettes are considered the most marketed consumer product in history. Their success derives from their apparent simplicity. Merely tobacco leaves, paper and filter. Their design, however, hides not only the chemical toxicity of smoke, but also the many socio-economic and environmental negative aspects linked to their production, marketing and utilization. A smokescreen, like an invisible curtain, cloaks it all. Through my camera, I have attempted to look beyond it and have witnessed how tobacco promotes the stripping of farmlands, threatens workers with dangerous chemicals, exploits child labor and undocumented workers, utilizes aggressive marketing campaigns aimed at identifying new customers (mostly underage), and conducts heavy lobbying to promote its expansion to novel markets and social strata. Moreover, tobacco severely affects the environment: every year, 9 million acres are subjected to deforestation for tobacco cultivations - accounting for 12% of the world’s cut trees and for nearly 5% of greenhouse gas emissions – while cigarette butts are today considered the world’s greatest source of ocean pollution: of the 5.6 trillion cigarettes produced annually, about two-thirds end up disposed in the environment, and make their way to the world's oceans."

Related Links

More books by Rocco Rorandelli here. More books by GOST here.