Sustainable Food Systems: Books

Of late, growing vegetables in the city has become the preferred hobby for well-educated hipsters. But the modern concept of urban agriculture is much older and broader than its trendiness would suggest; for example, Ebenezer Howard's Garden City movement began in the late 1800s. The new book Carrot City: Creating Places for Urban Agriculture delves into the past and present of city farming, examining 40 recent and future projects that weave in edible greenery among the concrete. Authored by architects Mark Gorgolewski and June Komisar and urban agriculture expert Joe Nasr, the book highlights mostly Canadian and American projects, with a few from the U.K., the Netherlands, and one each from China and Argentina

Change Comes to Dinner takes readers into the farms, markets, organizations, businesses and institutions across America that are pushing for a more sustainable food system in America.

Gustafson introduces food visionaries like Mark Lilly, who turned a school bus into a locally-sourced grocery store in Richmond, Virginia; Gayla Brockman, who organized a program to double the value of food stamps used at Kansas City, Missouri, farmers’ markets; Myles Lewis and Josh Hottenstein, who started a business growing vegetables in shipping containers using little water and no soil; and Tony Geraci, who claimed unused land to create the Great Kids Farm, where Baltimore City public school students learn how to grow food and help Geraci decide what to order from local farmers for breakfast and lunch at the city schools.

In Closing the Food Gap, food activist and journalist Mark Winne poses questions too often overlooked in our current conversations around food: What about those people who are not financially able to make conscientious choices about where and how to get food? And in a time of rising rates of both diabetes and obesity, what can we do to make healthier foods available for everyone?

Urban agriculture is booming in New York City, with more than 700 food-producing urban farms and gardens citywide. Five Borough Farm provides the most comprehensive picture of the city's urban agriculture activity to date, offering a road map to support and expand this movement city and nationwide.

In today's food system, farm workers face difficult and hazardous conditions, low-income neighborhoods lack supermarkets but abound in fast-food restaurants and liquor stores, food products emphasize convenience rather than wholesomeness, and the international reach of American fast-food franchises has been a major contributor to an epidemic of "globesity." To combat these inequities and excesses, a movement for food justice has emerged in recent years seeking to transform the food system from seed to table. In Food Justice, Robert Gottlieb and Anupama Joshi tell the story of this emerging movement.

Rebuilding the Foodshed refocuses the local food lens on the broad issue of rebuilding regional food systems that can replace the destructive aspects of industrial agriculture, meet food demands affordably and sustainably, and be resilient enough to endure potentially rough times ahead.

The son of a sharecropper, Will Allen had no intention of ever becoming a farmer himself. But after years in professional basketball and as an executive for Kentucky Fried Chicken and Procter & Gamble, Allen cashed in his retirement fund for a two-acre plot a half mile away from Milwaukee’s largest public housing project. The area was a food desert with only convenience stores and fast-food restaurants to serve the needs of local residents.

In the face of financial challenges and daunting odds, Allen built the country’s preeminent urban farm—a food and educational center that now produces enough vegetables and fish year-round to feed thousands of people. Employing young people from the neighboring housing project and community, Growing Power has sought to prove that local food systems can help troubled youths, dismantle racism, create jobs, bring urban and rural communities closer together, and improve public health. Today, Allen’s organization helps develop community food systems across the country.

The Organic Grain Grower is an invaluable resource for both home-scale and commercial producers interested in expanding their resiliency and drop diversity through growing their own grains.

The Resilient Farm and Homestead is a comprehensive how-to manual that will help you select, design, develop, and manage land for self-reliance and regeneration, and presents a thriving model for productive, durable homesteads and farms in cold climates and beyond.

Profiles sixteen urban farms located in major metropolitan areas across the country, each operated by individuals and communities committed to sustainable and innovative agriculture.

Contents: Victory Programs ReVision Urban Farm, Boston, MA -- Brooklyn Grange, Queens, NY -- Edible Schoolyard NYC, Brooklyn, NY -- Greensgrow Farm, Philadelphia, PA -- Common Good Farm, Washington, DC -- Farnsworth, Detroit, MI -- Earthworks Urban Farm, Detroit, MI -- Catherine Ferguson Academy, Detroit, MI -- Chicago City Farm, Chicago, IL -- Growing Power, Milwaukee, Wi -- Our School at Blair Grocery, New Orleans, LA -- Hollygrove Market and Farm, New Orleans, LA -- Jordan Shay, modern homesteader, New Orleans, LA -- Ghost Town Farm, Oakland, CA -- Wattles Community Garden, Los Angeles, CA -- Milagro Allegro Community Garden, Los Angeles, CA.