The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food
Through the last decade the Northern Vermont town of Hardwick, population 3200, gradually evolved into a nationally respected source of local food and began to reap benefits. Hewitt, an area resident and family farmer, previously wrote about the area as a potential example of localized agriculture and economics, especially for a population whose residents' median income was below state average. But curiosity and healthy skepticism, along with his own investment, spurred him to this deeper investigation into the local personalities (and characters) driving the movement, and to observe, participate and reflect upon such odiferous activities as pig slaughtering. The resulting blend of analysis and reflection highlights the possibilities and perils of what Hewitt argues will impact the agricultural and economic future for better or worse. (Apr.)
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The Town That Food Saved
Revolution Down on the Farm
A Revolution Down on the Farm: The Transformation of American Agriculture since 1929
Author and Vanderbilt University history professor Conkin (The State of the Earth: Environmental Challenges on the Road to 2100) grew up on a subsistence farm in Tennessee, working summers as a harvest hand, and members of his family still farm. As such, he's personally witnessed many of the radical changes he covers in this practical, thorough and clearly-written story of the American farm's 20th century transformation into the world's breadbasket. Along the journey from family homestead to hyper-efficient industrial farm, the most useful chapters explain the origin and development of convoluted federal and state farm policy (and why attempts at reforms so often fail) for both rural and urban taxpayers. Throughout, Conkin documents from all sides the clever advances that began mechanizing agriculture right after the Civil War, driving spectacular improvements in efficiency, but also a complete dependence on cheap oil and a cycle of debt many farmers cannot escape. A final chapter examines even-handedly various types of "alternative" farming, proving Conkin no dreamy devotee of "organic" trends. This cogent, thorough history should prove fascinating for anyone interested in the changing landscape of American agriculture. 198 photographs.
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