Good Food, Strong Communities
Promoting Social Justice through Local and Regional Food Systems
by Steve Ventura, Martin Bailkey
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Pub Date Dec 01 2017 | Archive Date Dec 01 2017
University of Iowa Press | University Of Iowa Press
Description
The approach begins by laying out the basic principles of food security and food justice in light of the diversity of food system practices and innovations in America’s cities. The contributing authors address land access for urban agriculture, debates over city farming, new possibilities in food processing, and the marketing of healthy food. They put these basic elements—land, production, processing, and marketing—in the context of municipal policy, education, and food justice and sovereignty, particularly for people of color. While the path of a food product from its producer to its consumer may seem straightforward on the surface, the apparent simplicity hides the complex logistical—and value-laden—factors that create and maintain a food system. This book helps readers understand how a food system functions and how individual and community initiatives can lessen the problems associated with an industrialized food system.
Advance Praise
“This engaging edited volume tells us ‘what works’ in different cities to simultaneously bring about vibrant farms and gardens, just and fair food systems, strong communities, thriving local economies, sustainable ecosystems, and healthy people. It incorporates welcome reflection on dismantling racism through community-based work in large urban food systems.”—Molly D. Anderson, Middlebury College
“Because this compilation grounds an overview of practical and ethical issues in U.S. community food systems with important and original case stories, it makes a unique and useful contribution to the field.”—Christine Porter, project director, Food Dignity, University of Wyoming
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781609385439 |
| PRICE | $45.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 304 |
Featured Reviews
Ian W, Reviewer
Note that this is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher; because it is an advance copy though, the chapter headings I listed below may have been changed before publication.
According to Wikipedia, the "Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income per capita indicators" and by these measures, the USA ranks tenth. It is also the is twelfth richest in the world according to Fortune.com, yet according to Do Something 1 in 6 people in America face hunger. How is this possible?
This book takes a look at one issue in a bigger picture of food security and sensible nutrition. Written by an assortment of people in the know about urban farming and related topics, this book, subtitled " Promoting Social Justice through Local and Regional Food Systems" is a great starting point for anyone thinking of trying to start a locally-sourced food community or of joining one that already exists, or even just learning about these topics. it "shares ideas and stories about efforts to improve food security in large urban areas of the United States by strengthening community food systems. It draws on five years of collaboration between a research team comprised of the University of Wisconsin, Growing Power, and the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, and more than thirty organizations on the front lines of this work in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Los Angeles, Madison, and Cedar Rapids."
In short, it's quite comprehensive on a vast and wide-ranging topic, and one which is of grave importance to very many people. The chapter headings are these;
Connections Between Community Food Security and Food System Change
Land Tenure for Urban Farming: Toward a Scalable Model
Growing Urban Food for Urban Communities
Distribution: Supplying Good Food to Cities
Food Processing as a Pathway to Community Food Security
Markets and Food Distribution
The Consumer: Passion, Knowledge, and Skills
It All Starts With the Soil
Uprooting racism, Planting Justice in Detroit
Achieving Community Food Security Through Collective Impact
Education and Food System Change
Community and Regional Food Systems Policy and Planning
Cultural Dissonance: Reframing Institutional Power
Innovations and Successes
There are many subsections to each chapter, which can be seen on Google Books.
There were two technical issues I had with the review copy I got. This doesn't include my usual complaint that it was in Amazon's crappy Kindle app, but I believe it is connected. Amazon's conversion system is barely adequate, and while this was readable on my phone, some of the chapter headings had bizarre capitalizations which seemed to be tied to the same few letters. here are a couple of examples: ConStraintS on the deMand For FreSh FruitS and vegetaBleS, and SoMe eConoMiC Context: the Supply oF MarketplaCeS and Marketing. You can see how it's the same letters each time (B, C, M, S) which are capitalized regardless of where they appear in the word. The other issue was the images. They were not enlargeable on the phone and were consequently too small to really see anything of value in them. Other than that it was readable on the phone.
Food security - in a local and personal sense as oppose dot a federal sense, is critical, and good 'business'. It's far better for a community to rely on itself rather than faceless and nameless remote suppliers. Be warned though that this book is very academically inclined, so it is dense and packed with information. It is not light reading, but it is good reading for anyone who is seriously interested in getting involved. I recommend it.
Reviewer 284405
Good Food, Strong Communities by Steve Ventura and Martin Bailkey discusses the problems faced by people in urban areas with regards to fresh fruit and produce. Having always living in a rural, farming community this book was eye opening for me. It discusses the multiple problems and possible solutions. I wish the book had a better flow from topic to topic, but otherwise I enjoyed it.
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