Reclaiming Our Food

A quiet revolution is taking place: People across the United States are buying or growing their food locally rather than from stores at the end of industrial supply chains. Some are doing it because higher fuel costs have made non-local food more expensive; some want more nutritious, less processed food; some want to preserve the farmland and rural character of their regions; some fear interruptions to the supply of non-local food; and some want safer food with less threat of contamination. but this revolution comes with challenges. In some areas of the U.S. -- even rural areas -- food hasn't been grown locally for decades. Reclaiming Our Food tells the stories of people and small groups across the U.S. who are finding new ways to grow food in their own communities. Their successes offer both inspiration and practical advice. The projects are cropping up everywhere, from urban rooftops to reclaimed farmland. For example, an organization called Growing Gardens, based in Portland, Oregon, installs home gardens and teaches follow-up workshops for the owners. One urban family has transformed half of a standard city lot into a source of year-round food, growing 5,000 pounds of produce annually in an area that measures 66 by 66 feet; they sell the surplus to local restaurants. Sister organizations Edible Estates and Animal Estates turn standard fron yards across the U.S. into vegetable gardens or havens for bees and chickens. A group known as Lynchburg Grows, in Lynchburg, Virginia, bought a 6.5-acre urban nursery and turned it into an organic farm that provides local jobs as well as fresh food sold through a local farmer's market and a CSA. Acclaimed photographer Jason Houston provides photo essays of five additional community gardening projects, detailing the work of each cooperative group. Discovering how people throughout the U.S. are reclaiming older and healthier ways of producing food provides the inspiration and instruction readers need to create more sustainable and accessible food supplies in their own communities.