A Bitter Fog is the true story of people fighting to protect their families and homes from Agent Orange and other poisons sprayed on them from the air. This book tells the story of ordinary people who defied profiteering corporations and indifferent government agencies. Meticulous research exposes deception and outright fraud by chemical companies to keep profiting from herbicides they knew were toxic and government complicity in covering up severe human health problems and environmental damage.

Carol Van Strum, one of two women featured in the award-winning PBS documentary film The People vs. Agent Orange, tells a compelling story of a quest for justice in A Bitter Fog. The book was awarded the Christopher Award, which is presented to writers whose works "affirm the highest values of the human spirit."


This new edition of A Bitter Fog adds a brief update on the fight for environmental justice and numerous photographs that add a new perspective to the story.


"A real life Toxic Avenger. It takes a village to raise a family, and it also takes individuals and groups in a community to make it safe for everyone."
- Paul K. Haeder, in Street Roots


"An excellent and horrifying read."
- Joyce Thompson, Author of How To Greet Strangers


"A Bitter Fog is the shocking and infuriating story of how the timber industry and the U.S. Forest Service, spraying herbicides containing dioxin, destroyed the health and killed the unborn children of families in communities throughout the Pacific Northwest."
- Lewis Regenstein for USA Today


"This well-documented, hard-hitting book deserves serious study at all levels of government as well as by citizen organizations."
- Publisher's Weekly