A Nation of Farmers ─ Defeating the Food Crisis on American Soil

“Astyk and Newton have written an important book with an unusual message: We need millions of new farmers…as soon as possible. You could not find two more reasonable, intelligent, sincere, and passionate people to talk to about food. And the book has very much the feeling of a conversation – with someone smart who cares about you. It is also intellectually complex, creative and nuanced. The authors are big thinkers and have taken a good lick at the central human issues of our time." Peter Bane

“This definitive guide can provide inspiration to gardeners and those concerned about the environment. It offers practical solutions to all the food-related problems brought on by industrialized agriculture and the globalization of food. Very carefully researched and well written, this documents what is wrong and what we can do about it.” Connie Krochmal - Bellaonline

"This outstanding and well-written compendium of insights and recommendations, of fervent idealism and practical solutions, is highly recommended."—Library Journal

Once we could fill our grocery carts with cheap and plentiful food, but not anymore. Cheap food has gone the way of cheap oil. Climate change is already reducing crop yields worldwide. The cost of flying in food from far away and shipping it across the country in refrigerated trucks is rapidly becoming unviable. Cars and cows increasingly devour grain harvests, sending prices skyrocketing. More Americans than ever before require food stamps and food pantries just to get by, and a worldwide food crisis is unfolding, overseas and in our kitchens.

We can keep hunger from stalking our families, but doing so will require a fundamental shift in our approach to field and table. A Nation of Farmers examines the limits and dangers of the globalized food system and shows how returning to the basics is our best hope. The book includes in-depth guidelines for:

• Creating resilient local food systems
• Growing, cooking, and eating sustainably and naturally
• Becoming part of the solution to the food crisis

The book argues that we need to make self-provisioning, once the most ordinary of human activities, central to our lives. The results will be better food, better health, better security, and freedom from corporations that don’t have our interests at heart.

This is critical reading for anyone who eats and cares about high-quality food.

Sharon Astyk farms in New York, and is the author of Depletion and Abundance.

Aaron Newton is a sustainable systems land planner in North Carolina, and is the founding editor of Groovy Green.

Sharon Astyk is a former academic who is a writer, subsistence farmer, parent, activist and prolific blogger (www.sharonastyk.com and http://henandharvest.com/). She farms in upstate New York with her husband and four children, raises livestock, and grows and preserves vegetables. She is the author of Depletion and Abundance, and co-author of A Nation of Farmers. Aaron Newton is a sustainable land planner and director of environmental programs at Outdoor Living, a design firm in NC. He is the founding editor of Groovy Green, an Internet magazine and has a large following on his weblog. He speaks on issues of sustainability.