BOOKS Literature on our favorite topics- food, farms, and cuisine.
Renewing America's Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent's Most Endangered Foods
by Gary Paul Nabhan
A collaboration among several organizations, including Slow Food U.S.A. and Seed Savers International, the book seeks to raise awareness about the culinary heritage of North America, often forgotten in this age of the Global Marketplace. Edited by Gary Paul Nabhan, the book divides the continent into 13 "food nations" (The Hudson Valley is in the "Maple Syrup Nation"), and highlights several endangered food species within each. Included are traditional (sometimes centuries-old) recipes and notes on sources. The truth is that heritage foods, whether the Java Chicken or the Old¬mixon Free Peach (both in our "nation") are crucial pieces of our food culture, and we are in grave danger of losing them. (That Old¬mixon peach? According to the book, it's available from just one nursery on the whole continent. And there are fewer than 600 Black Java hens currently contributing to the gene pool.) The RAFT collaborative makes the case that the best way to ensure the survival of these foods (over 1000 are catalogued at the end of the book), is to encourage farmers to raise or grow them, chefs to incorporate them into their menus, and consumers to seek them out for their own kitchens.
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
by Michael Pollan
If Michael Pollan's runaway bestseller, <i>The Omnivore's Dilemma</i>, got Americans thinking about the food they eat, his latest book takes the conversation a step further, attempting to answer the question, "So, what do we eat?" Pollan offers a seven-word recommendation: "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants." He then challenges both standard nutritional "wisdom" and the industrialized food system that manufactures most of what we eat, as he examines "nutritionism" and the Western diet. Pollan's hope is that we "reclaim our health and happiness as eaters," and he maintains that we're living in the best possible time to make that happen.
Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty
by Mark Winne
For all of the hopeful conversations about local food, there is one nagging question that is often overlooked--accessibility. How can nutritious, delicious, locally produced food be made available to everyone? In <i>Closing the Food Gap: Re¬setting the Table in the Land of Plenty</i>, Mark Winne examines the factors that have contributed to the widening of the food gap over the past several decades and what it has meant for underserved populations. Winne also takes a look at the positive changes slowly tak¬ing place across the country, and leaves readers with inspiration and some real solutions for getting nutritious, local foods back on the table.
Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal
by Joel Salatin
Anyone who's purchased food from local farms probably has been privy to the frustrations expressed by our farmers over government regulations. Those frustrations are the basis for Joel Salatin's new book. Salatin farms in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and is a pioneer of grass-based animal farming. With humor, Salatin explores the conflicts between our nation's industrial agriculture food models and the traditional, artisanal, local model that he strives to maintain. We have reached a time when consumers and farmers are no longer free to participate in many aspects of traditional food production (raw dairy, meat from animals slaughtered on the farm, untreated cider, etc); Salatin's book may make you want to rise up and fight for your food rights--not a bad thing.
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ARTICLES Magazine and internet literature on our favorite topics- food, farms, and cuisine.
A study released Monday called "The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources", conducted by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), found that an over-reliance on some breeds of livestock imported from the United States and Europe, including the high-milk-yielding Holstein-Friesian cows, egg-laying White Leghorn chickens, and fast-growing large white pigs, is causing the loss of at least one indigenous livestock breed a month. Full article...
