Recommended Reading

by Natasha Chart

Published December 31, 2008 @ 11:34AM PT

The Essential Agrarian Reader: The Future of Culture, Community, and the Land; edited by Norman Wirzba

“If being an affluent society doesn't mean eating well, I can't imagine what it does mean.” - Brian Donahue, in The Essential Agrarian Reader. This collection of essays is a farsighted and witty introduction to the subject of sustainable agriculture. With compassion for farmers, eaters, animals and the habitat that all of us share, authors like Barbara Kingsolver, Vandana Shiva and Herman E. Daly talk about what the food system means for our lives and future prosperity.

The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements; by Sandor Ellix Katz

Packed with action and information resources, would-be members of the Delicious Revolution never have to feel alone again with this book by their side. Katz, a fermentation enthusiast and cheerful gardener, spices the book with traditional recipes and practical money-saving advice for both urban and rural human habitats.

The Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems With Ecosystems; edited by Dana L. Jackson and Laura L. Jackson

A look at farms and farming communities that have made a commitment to preserving local ecosystems or expanding habitat for wildlife, all while maintaining the productive capacity of privately owned working farmland. Usefully, this book has several case studies of bringing local governments, farmers and nonprofits together through inclusive and respectful negotiation.

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus; by Charles C. Mann

It's easy to forget that potatoes, tomatoes, chilies, corn, chocolate and many other delightful foods came from the Americas; 1491 is the story of the sophisticated cultures that both fed people and preserved environment. Mann has drawn a vivid portrait of Native culture in North and South America from historians' and archaeologists' patient reconstructions of pre-contact societies. Far from being an untouched wilderness on which migrant bands of Noble Savages trod lightly, the Americas were intensively cultivated and managed for the production of food. Even the Amazon rainforest was the site of many stable, longstanding agricultural communities, with that jungle now considered by some to be the finest horticultural achievement in human history.

The Subsistence Perspective: Beyond the Globalized Economy; byVeronika Bennholdt-Thomsen, Maria Mies

An ecofeminist perspective on the meaning of autonomy and wealth. The authors challeng the ethics of the corporate model of society and relate their ideals to having access to land from which you can provide food for yourself and a thriving, local economy to participate in.

The War on Bugs; by Will Allen

Why does poison end up on absolutely everything, especially things we're going to eat? This book charts the history of the market opportunism, government collusion and farm press takeover that matched companies with nasty chemicals to sell with farmers who were just hoping to make a living on a farm. From flim-flam artists unloading industrial waste as fertilizer to chemical weapons manufacturers looking to recycle nerve gas as pesticide, come meet the people who are getting rich off putting carcinogens and endocrine disruptors into your food, water and air.

Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment; by Sandra Steingraber, PhD

Steingraber grew up on a farm, got a doctorate in biology and survived a bout of cancer. Many of her relatives also have, or had, cancer ... but Steingraber is adopted. Her perspective on the need to further investigate the environmental toxins used in farming and industry is both personal and grounded in the forefront of scientific research.

Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy; by John Bowe

Just because there are laws against something, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Like the author, one could read this book and be left wondering if the only reason slaves aren't still formally bought and sold is because people aren't worth eight head of oxen anymore. This is a book about the seamy underbelly of globalized industrial agriculture and the hardworking people it eats for breakfast.

Empowering Women; by Vandana Shiva. What international development plans miss every time.

Organic agriculture's yields fully adequate to meet current and projected needs for food; University of Michigan study.

Fast Food Nation; by Eric Schlosser. Omnivore's Dilemma; by Michael Pollan. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; by Barbara Kingsolver. Food Politics; by Marion Nestle. Food Fight: A Citizen's Guide to the Farm Bill; by Daniel Imhoff. Diet For a Dead Planet: Big Business and the Coming Food Crisis; by Christopher Cook. Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating; by Jeffrey M. Smith.

These books have been adequately reviewed by, oh, about a million people. Chances are that if you run into anyone else in the sustainable food movement, they will recommend one of them. They're good. Read them when you can, keep them for reference if you haven't got time for a page-by-page.