Farmbrarian

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Sustainable Food: How to Buy Right and Spend Less (2009) by Elise McDonough is one of a series of Chelsea Green Guides, which are designed “for individuals and businesses looking to green-up their knowledge.” This 67-page book is a quick reference on eating sustainably that will easily fit in a purse or jacket pocket.

The book offers concise explanations of food label buzz words like organic, genetically modified organisms (GMO), Fair Trade and free-range, among others. A focus is placed on helping consumers make eco and health friendly food choices without breaking the bank. For example, “Consider reducing your budget for meat and dairy…and put the money you save toward healthier organic fruits and veggies” (46). Wise advice indeed.

Sustainable Food is a useful resource for anyone but will be especially helpful to those with an interest in, but not much knowledge of eating ethically.

Chelsea Green Publishing kindly provided a review copy of this book.

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Jane Goodall is a scientist, scholar, activist and humanitarian best known for her research on chimpanzees. In Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating (2005), Goodall collaborates with Gary McAvoy and Gail Hudson to illustrate how our eating habits impact the world.

Goodall begins with a short discussion on the fundamental role of food in our lives. She moves on to discuss harsh treatments on factory farms, hazardous fishing techniques, the benefits of vegetarianism, the plight of family farmers and the local foods movement. Issues surrounding obesity, hunger and education are also discussed. Most chapters conclude with simple suggestions on how you can help.

The content is thoroughly researched but is not laden with scientific terminology or complex data, making it approachable for all readers. Plus, anecdotes throughout give the scholarly work a more personal feel.

Harvest for Hope is a perfect primer for those wanting to learn about the environmental impact of our current food system. For readers well versed in the arguments against conventional agriculture, not much new information is presented; nonetheless, it is still a worthwhile read.

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David Mas Masumoto’s 1995 book Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm won the Julia Child Cookbook Award for literary food writing; was a nominee in the writing on food category of the James Beard Foundation Awards; and received the San Francisco Chronicle’s Critics Choice Award. The praise is well deserved.

Epitaph for a Peach is a yearlong account of life on Masumoto’s family farm as he tries to find a market for his Sun Crest peaches. Through stories of his own attempts, Masumoto gives readers an inside look into the many challenges and rewards of sustainable farming. You’ll read about cover crops, the art of pruning trees, the purpose of a porch, forgotten fruit varieties, strong family ties, and much more. The story is eloquent and intimate, reading like an inner monologue of Masumoto’s thoughts as he roams his fields. You won’t find another like this one.

The folks at Point Reyes Books, located on the Northern California coast in Marin County, recommended the book. Like Masumoto, the store is committed to supporting “sustainable agriculture and living” through literature (Kinsella 18). Thanks for the recommendation!

Kinsella, B. (2006). “Peer Eye for Booksellers.” Publisher’s Weekly. 253 (14), 18-19.

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Frances Moore Lappé’s Diet for a Small Planet; 20^th Anniversary Edition is a very well known source of information on healthy eating for yourself, society and the planet. It is clear to me that this book influenced many current authors like Woody Tasch, Michael Pollen and Mark Winne, to name a few.

Lappé points out that people can eat a very healthy diet while eating minimal amounts of meat, if any. By eating less meat, the argument goes, we can use grain to feed the world, instead of feeding it to our livestock, which is a very inefficient use of calories. According to Lappé, the grain used to make one pound of steak could instead feed 40 people. That is a powerful statistic, albeit not one on which all sources will agree. As a part of her reduced meat diet she explains protein complementarity, which is a way of combining proteins to maximize nutritional value. This method, however, is no longer accepted as necessary by nutrition experts.

Briefly explored is the idea of power in the American democracy and the way our current set up leads to many people going without, while others become obese (from eating more protein than our bodies can even use, she says). Her arguments are well supported and clearly stated.

The last part of the book is full of recipes to support her diet plan. She presents the recipes in an approachable way that shows how simple it really can be. Also included are helpful tips on saving time and money while cooking and shopping. Though none of the recipes contain meat, Lappé is not necessarily advocating vegetarianism; she simply wants people to realize that cooking with little or no meat is easy, healthy and satisfying. If more people cooked this way our world would be much better nourished overall.

Read this book if:

• You are interested in helping our food system become more sustainable (more aligned with the earth’s natural ability to produce food).
• You want to learn to reduce your diet’s footprint on the earth.
• You have read a lot of current authors on nutrition and agriculture  and want to read a book that likely influenced them.