Growing Roots: The New Generation of Sustainable Farmers, Cooks, and Food Activists

Growing Roots: The New Generation of Sustainable Farmers, Cooks, and Food Activists is about a new revolution in food that involves young people who are living sustainable lives that revolve around healthy, natural food.

The book introduces us to farmers and beekeepers, fishermen and chefs, food activists and cheese mongers, and many, many more. We meet these fascinating young people from all across the nation through first-person profiles, along with brilliant photographs and delicious, simple recipes. They talk about raising grass-fed beef, lamb, and pork; growing vegetables and grains; keeping bees and making cheese; and their restaurants and their markets. Included are filmmakers, writers, and artists who change the way we look at what we eat and where our food comes from. In their profiles we learn how these young people got to where they are today, their backgrounds, their education, and their passionate relationship to food.

The author's through-line gives us a glimpse of her own journey with food, through her own childhood, raising children, and becoming an empty-nester. Growing Roots is about relationships and how food figures in those relationships. It is for everyone who is interested in learning about this new iteration of the food movement and the folks involved, whether you'd like to figure out how to do it for yourself, or just love reading about it. The photos are beautiful, the narrative lively, and the recipes simple and delicious. A must-read for all ages and a wonderful addition to the food-lover's bookshelf.

Editorial Review

"Growing Roots is, simply, a book about young farmers. While seemingly simple, this concept is actually somewhat revolutionary. It's pretty easy to go buy food, assuming you have the funds. It's easy to rely on others to grow your food, make your soap, pluck and debone your chickens, and brew your beer. But there are people who actually do these things, and this book is about them. In a time of daily technological advancements, wireless everything and a large portion of the population addicted to the idea that cheaper is better, it takes courage to slow things down and do something as archaic as obtaining self-sufficiency or following your passions. There is, of course, a growing movement toward this slower and more meaningful lifestyle, a trend toward neighbor and community, health and peace. While portions of the world surge forward, racing lemming-like toward who-knows-what, a growing percentage of people are simply hopping off the racetrack. They're your neighbors, they grow good food, and they want to sell it to you. It's such a simple but profound concept in contrast to how most of the country does it." - Joe Foster, Durango Herald