Making Local Food Work

This Little Piggy Went to the Market

A food anthropologist digs deep to unearth how food is grown, how it gets to us, and the myriad of problems and issues that crop up along the way. Credit is given to the proper recipients as the farmers and their hires are brought to the forefront as opposed to us greedy consumers who think we are doing the entire world a favor by buying local and organic and screaming about it from our social media based mountaintops. It is never that simple and Janssen shows us that is certainly the case here.

Since she has focused on both the local food and industrial food systems in a side by side, coexisting at once as they do in what we call real life, she is able to illustrate how these separate systems have the ability to complement each other and that neighbors are neighbors, no matter who they grow for. Most of these farmers however, are striving for peace and abundance for all.

If you are a parent of school age children, take note of the farm to table program which Janssen was intimately involved in. There you will see just how many details go into making a program such as this one a success. I was surprised at things like produce uniformity, easy accessible portion control, food safety responsibility, and food grade shipping containers were all things that are easily overlooked when the brilliant idea of serving local, organic fruits and vegetables in schools strikes. The logistical issues alone are mind boggling.

Farming and food production are no joke nor are they an elitist hobby.

I loved the full view Janssen gives us food romanticizers and the part socioeconomics and societal position play in our food choices. The tales told of the workers realities in a wheatgrass juice company juxtaposed with the business’s customer base is a tale about socioeconomic position and what is valued by those who have versus those who don’t. It is a compelling story in itself.

If we truly want to be in touch with our food and know where it comes from and through whose hands it passes, we need more information like Janssen provides us. A must read for all those who eat and plan to keep on doing so.

BRB Rating: Read It

I received a free electronic copy of this How-To book from Netgalley, Brandi Janssen and University of Iowa Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all, for sharing your hard work with me.

This is an excellent outline of the benefits and problems of obtaining fresh produce in your community and what we have to do to make this the most effective way to feed our families safe, non-polluted and non-GMO fruits and vegetables. This is a book I will want to purchase for my friends and farmers - excellent advice. Thank you Brandi Janssen for sharing this info with us. The advice is timely and the photos mouth-watering.

This is an excellent and honest look at food choices and how it dictates farm choices. Finally someone sees the intensive work at selling at farmer's markets and why that alone is bit one step into small farm support. Many criticize the food supply but demand more expenses in the chain. Many choose solely on price. And a wide range of choices in between that need people active. Although I received a reading copy via NetGalley, it's been widely shared as information people need to know. It's needed because effective support is critical