Fair Food

I may have indicated in previous blog posts that I read at least two books a week.  I am an educator and I hold my feet to the fire to stay educated.  I tend to read nonfiction that somehow relates to the world of food production and consumption because it is vital to our very existence as a species on Earth and an industry that we love -- especially now by teaching it to others to prepare them for the rough and tumble career that awaits replete with many joys and sorrows.

The book I just finished is called Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable, Food System For All by Oran B. Hesterman, Ph.D.  It is a WONDERFUL book indeed and cannot recommend it highly enough.  Why?  Because I have read a littany of books that speak to what is wrong with the way we grow, process, serve food, and consume food at home and food service outlets which are DAMN DEPRESSING!  This book tells many, many stories about what people, communities, schools and businesses are doing to turn the tide and make things right in the world of food production and consumption.

The author was a former professor of agronomy at Michigan State and co-led the Integrated Farming Systems and Food and Society Programs for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, during which time the Foundations seeded the local food systems movement with over $200 million.  He pours out his vast knowledge into the pages of this book.  For example, he started Fair Food Network in Detroit to encourage people to spend their food assistance dollars in the local farmers' market, which was later implemented in other American cities for good reason.  He also speaks to programs like School Food Focus that was started in St. Paul. MN, to encourage school districts to increase the percentage of locally grown produce it purchased to serve in the school and reduce the sugar content in milk.  There is also Farm to School which connects educational institutions with local farms that has captured the imagination of tens of thousands of educators, parents, students, volunteers, community leaders, and farmers across the country.  And there are countless other stories about those leading the effort to produce and consume foods that are locally produced and healthy to eat.

Best of all there is a final chaper devoted to resources one can get in touch with to learn learn more and get actively involved.  I will share many of them in blog posts down the road but for now the chapter is broken into resources for: Consumers (such as CSA Farming, Eat Well Guide); Urban Agriculture Food Systems (such as Fair Food Philly, People's Grocery); Business Incubators and Related Resources (such as Kitchen Chicago); Hunger Food Security; and Food Access, Youth Development and Food Systems (such as The Edible School Yard); Education / Research Centers and Programs; Farmer Training, Networks, and Resources; Institutional Purchasing; Environment and Conservation; Activist Networks (such as Farm Aid); and Policy Advocacy Networks.

So pick it up at a local bookseller and support your local economy while enriching your mind with what is capable when people work together to do right by others around food.  Your students depend on it.