January 2010 Great Reads from the editor of www.greatgrandmother.org

As 2010 comes on the heals of the nation's worse economic downturn since the Great Depression, top of mind for many remains the topics of food costs, well-being, and health. And surrounding these worries comes a set of solutions of planting our own kitchen gardens, shopping at local farmers' markets, eating out less, participating in community gardening, and hosting potluck suppers. These are not only cost-cutting measures, but fundamental ways to reconnect with our neighbors, nourish our friendships, and shift the American food system toward self-sustainability and greater health.

This month, I open three books and one movie. First, the movie.

The Garden, a film by Scott Hamilton Kennedy. This 2009 Academy Award nominated (Best Documentary Feature) movie is moving. It brought me to tears. The premise is simple: Kennedy capture explosive events surrounding a 14-acre oasis in South Central Los Angeles (close to where I grew up as a kid), where working-class Latinos were forced to give up their community garden plots--plots that were created in the wake of the 1992 L.A. riots. A combination or hardball politics, race-relations, economic fundamentals, and the essence of how self-grown food touches the human heart... This is a complex story that you should witness through the eyes of a great film maker. Movie reviewer Peter Hartlaub summed it perfectly: "As if John Steinbeck rewrote the script for CHINATOWN."

Civic Agriculture: Reconnecting Farm, Food, and Community. By Thomas A. Lyson, Tufts University Press, 2004. Dr. Lyson recently passed away at a young age, due to cancer. But his legacy, both in terms of his coining the phrase "Civic Agriculture" and his adriot way of weaving together what is truly important in our communities concerning social and economic development is much more than academic. He leaves us with a set of burning questions about how we can step in--in our own little, medium, or big way--to shift the playing field. This book is not a hip-pcoket manual for me, as I work to advocate changing the way we source our food in modern America. How do we grow our own food and sell it locally? How do we embrace sustainable alternatives? How do we stop the destructive practices of conventional agriculture? And what role do each of us play in changing the course of this system?

Small is Possible...life in a local economy, by Lyle Estill. New Society Publishers, 2008. The author, Lyle Estill, approaches a plethora of topics in a simple, easy-to-understand fashion. His book has two parts, with the second part dedicated to the concept that we can do this ourselves. Each chapter is aptly named: Connecting Ourselves, Feeding Ourselves, Housing Ourselves, Fueling Ourselves, Healing Ourselves, and so forth. These are not over-the-top essays that sound good around the campfire; these are practical, reasonable, and factual approaches to some of our greatest opportunities today. I have read this book once before and now I look forward to diving in again--this time, learning more than I did the first.