Farmbrarian

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The Locavore Way: Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food (2009) by Amy Cotler is a comprehensive, easy-to-read guide on how to find, buy, and cook locally grown food. She covers every aspect of eating locally: from the basics, like what to look for at farmer’s markets, to the more complex, like how to buy meat and poultry in areas where local food is not available in stores. Recipes and tips for preparing many vegetables and fruits help those of us less experienced with creating meals with fresh food. The author also stresses the importance of consumer expectations of the companies, restaurants, and schools linked to our meals and how to effectively advocate for change. The Locavore Way includes a great resource section to get you started, and my favorite – testimonials from farmers, chefs, and families who make local food a part of their lives.

Thanks to Storey Publishing for the review copy and to one of Reno’s own locavores Shelley of Local Food Northern Nevada for the review! Shelley’s site is a great resource for area residents, check it out!

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Woody Tasch’s Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in sustainability. While he does present some fresh ideas, the intent of the book is largely to summarize the current status of social investing, small food enterprises, local food systems, sustainable soil quality, and other topics. The author provides history, presents current research and developments, quotes others extensively and gives his own analysis of what some of this means.

Tasch shows a clear concern for the direction of our society and hopes that by bringing together pieces of the slow money puzzle he will advance the cause. Hopefully this new idea of slow money will encourage discussion and ultimately lead to new ideas, businesses and responsibility among consumers.

I have long been asking myself the question “What can I do?” in regards to sustainable agriculture and personal responsibility as a consumer. Tasch succeeds in answering this question. Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money will help you understand the problems, so you can find solutions, sooner.

Read this book if:

• You want to know how you can help
• You wonder what’s happening with our current economic mess and the direction it’s going
• You’d like to learn about the concepts of Slow Money/Slow Food

Want more information? The Wall Street Journal recently discussed this title in their article “Forget Conventional 401(k)s; Think Goat Cheese and Fennel.” The Huffington Post also featured a review of the book; and Civil Eats writer Jerusha Klemperer interviews the author here.

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Gary Paul Nabhan’s book about his year long local eating experiment gives readers good insight into Nabhan’s personal life, but surprisingly little information about his local eating foray. For one year, Nabhan plans to prepare 80% of his meals using foods grown within a few hundred miles of his Arizona home. This is certainly a noble act, but I found myself continuously asking how he actually did it. Sure, he tells of gathering traditional food from a local desert, slaughtering turkeys he raised and eating peaches from his own tree. But we’re talking about a thousand or so meals, which would require a lot more local food than he discusses. This omission left a lot to be desired for me.

Aside from information about Nabhan’s wife and other local eating acquaintances, he briefly discusses food politics. Here the reader encounters some interesting information, but is still left thirsting for more.

Nabhan has good intentions, however the book is neither informative nor inspiring enough to be compared to other tales of local eating, such as  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.