Fair food: growing a healthy, sustainable food system for all

337 Pages·2012·1.677 MB·English

by  Hesterman, Oran B

4/C PROCESS + METALLIC PANTONE 8401
GRITTY MATTE LAMINATION
Sociology/Politics
“An important, accessible book on a crucial subject.
Food for thought and action.” ––New York Times
“Fair Food ... illuminates a clear path toward
a more sustainable, fair, and delicious future.”
––ALICE WATERS
• • • •
“ Hesterman ... aims to change the landscape of who gets to eat what and how it gets
to us.... But while Hesterman argues that the status quo is not working, he hopes to
inspire readers to do more than plant tomatoes in their yards. He wants a food system
that values ‘equity, diversity, ecological integrity and economic viability,’ and much
of the book is taken up with examples of people and institutions working toward a
just food system.” ––Los Angeles Times
“ Oran Hesterman wants your outrage. He wants you to read his new book, get mad as
hell, and actually do something about it.” ––Philadelphia Inquirer
“ The only way we are going to provide a healthy environment for future generations is
through redesigning the food system. Nobody has worked harder or thought more
deeply about these issues than Dr. Hesterman. His book, Fair Food, is a must read.”
––ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., founder and chairman, Waterkeeper Alliance
• • • •
“ [Hesterman is] a warrior in the fight to change lives by changing the way people eat.”
––San Francisco Chronicle
GROWING A HEALTHY,
“ I have known Oran Hesterman for over twenty-five years. Oran is an important and • • • •
thoughtful voice, in Michigan and in Washington, when it comes to discussions of agri- SUSTAINABLE
culture and food policy.” ––Senator DEBBIE STABENOW, chair,
H
U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry E FOOD SYSTEM FOR ALL
O
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• • • • P E A
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Now revised and updated, with a new Preface by the author M
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COVER DESIGN BY PETE GARCEAU ,
$14.99/$17.50 CAN COVER PHOTOS © FOTOLIA
AVAILABLE AS AN E-BOOK
www.fairfoodbook.org
www.fairfoodnetwork.org
Visit www.publicaffairsbooks.com OR A N B. H E S T E R M A N, PhD
Follow us on Twitter
FOUNDER, FAIR FOOD NETWORK
PRINTER: MAKE SURE THERE IS NO BANDING
IN GRADIENT BACKGROUND.
GRADATION SHOULD BE SMOOTH.
Praise for
Fair Food
A Boston Globe Bestseller
“The author displays a wide-ranging knowledge of produc-
tion, consumption, natural resources and public policy. He
also writes about reform efforts with contagious energy and
palpable authority. . . . An important, accessible book on a
crucial subject. Food for thought and action.”
—New York Times
“Hesterman has written a book that just might wake you up
and get you to care about what’s going on with the food you
eat and how it gets to your table. I’ve got to admit, this reporter
covering food news cracked open his book a tad wary. Would
this highly educated and well-meaning agronomist-activist guy
really offer anything new to the sustainable food conversation,
I wondered, and more importantly, would he speak to regular
people trying to feed their families in a tough economy and
who might not understand the difference between grass and
grain-fed (or why it matters)? Boy was I wrong and thrilled to
stand corrected. Hesterman breaks free from a tradition of
densely written, muddled prose intended for inside baseball
players and instead speaks to us all, loud and clear.”
—Civil Eats
“Over many years, Oran Hesterman has fought to make ac-
cess to good food a reality and right for all Americans. Fair
Food . . . illuminates a clear path toward a more sustainable,
fair, and delicious future.”
—ALICE WATERS
“Hesterman’s upbeat outlook and gentle push toward ac-
tivism inspired me to further my own engagement. His book
is one of the best I’ve read on how we as individuals can be in-
volved in the future of America’s food system.”
—Serious Eats
“This focus on the things that are working makes Fair Food
an inspiring and enjoyable read. There are numerous books
setting out ‘what’s wrong’ with global food production, but
Hesterman—while offering a powerful summary of such
issues from a north American perspective—describes initiatives
across the country that are putting things right. They may be
isolated cases but, in offering a model both to policymakers
and to grassroots consumers, they deserve attention in the US
and beyond.”
—The New Agriculturalist
“Hesterman . . . aims to change the landscape of who gets to
eat what and how it gets to us. He has outlined what’s gone
awry and how it might be repaired in his new book, Fair
Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for
All. . . . Hesterman’s work follows a library’s worth of books
and movies that have questioned the wisdom of enormous
corn and soybean farms, the morals of food advertising, the
dangers of fast food diets, the health of confined animal feed-
ing operations and more. But while Hesterman argues that
the status quo is not working, he hopes to inspire readers to
do more than plant tomatoes in their yards. He wants a food
system that values “equity, diversity, ecological integrity and
economic viability,” and much of the book is taken up with
examples of people and institutions working toward a just
food system.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Hesterman’s message represents an important evolution in
the increasingly popular trend of growing and consuming
healthier food. He takes nothing away from the backyard
garden or the organic restaurant—change has to start some-
where. [But] real political engagement is key. It’s the only way
to realign the billions of dollars in public monies spent to prop
up a food network that produces lots of cheap eats at low
cost, but to damaging consequence to our diets, farmland,
environment and safety.”
—The Jewish Daily Forward
“Oran Hesterman convincingly argues that reinventing our
food system is crucial for improving the health of our cities
and our economy—policy makers are wise to spend time
considering the ideas he lays out in this book.”
—RICK SNYDER,
Governor, State of Michigan
“In recent years, there have been dozens of books and films
documenting the dangers and problems in our current food
system but Fair Food is one of the ones that is truly
exceptional. This excellent book is an enlightening and
inspiring plan to change not only what we eat but how our
food is grown, packaged, delivered, and sold.”
—The Tucson Citizen
“In a very comprehensive and insightful way, Fair Food
examines the problems of a broken food system, and puts
forth bold—and doable—strategies to redesign a system that
is healthy for people, communities, and the environment.”
—PolicyLink Equity Blog
“Intended as a practical guide for community food activists
who want to take the locavore movement across race, class,
and city lines, this book illuminate ways in which consumers
can become “engaged citizens.” Especially important (and
rare) is Hesterman’s willingness to work constructively with
corporate giants like Costco and the Kellogg Foundation. The
dedication to social justice is clear, genuine, and logically ar-
gued as a food issue. A helpful and hefty final chapter of “Re-
sources” provides readers with a comprehensive national
listing of organizations to join, support, or replicate.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Superb, important, and tremendously readable. From eating
healthily to understanding the Farm Bill, this is a great book.”
—NIGEL SAVAGE,
Executive Director, Hazon
“The author’s deft explanation of our current cultivation and
consumption of food should have families moving away from
their supermarket aisles and into farmers’ markets and
community-supported agriculture programs. A thorough,
inspiring guide on how to restructure the food system for a
long and healthy future, for consumers and legislators alike.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Oran Hesterman has been both a longtime pioneer in the
movement and, at the same time, a pragmatic visionary about
food systems change. Fair Food is a book that many of us
have been waiting for.”
—JOSH VIERTEL,
President, SlowFoodUSA
“Hesterman’s Fair Food is an encyclopedia of interesting
projects being done around the nation to try to fix our broken
food system, and not just for the rich and powerful.
Hesterman’s book is a call to action—a practical guide for
what to do if you care about good food for all, not just for
those who can afford it.”
—The Chicago Reporter
“Timely and inspiringly optimistic, Fair Food challenges and
guides readers toward sustainability and health, for them-
selves and their communities.”
—Ode Magazine
“Dr. Oran Hesterman has illustrated a long-standing com-
mitment to increasing the access to healthy foods for inner
city residents, while also doing what he can to support our
local farmers.”
—BARBARA LEE,
Congresswoman and former chair,
Congressional Black Caucus
“Fair Food is a serious book about a serious subject. It offers
ideas for local communities, as well as suggestions for local,
state and national policy makers (I hope members of the
Legislature read this book!) It should add immeasurably to
the national conversation about fixing our food—and world!—
for the better.”
—The Clarion-Ledger
“Truly a ‘How-to Guide’ for changing the way our food is
grown and distributed, Fair Food sheds light on the often
hidden food disparities in America, while also giving solutions
to recreating the system.”
—New York House
“The body of work that Oran’s leadership and support en-
abled has set the stage for the possibility of seeing our food
system change within our lifetime. While there are plenty of
trend-followers scrambling to lay claim, Oran is more than
the real deal—as is this book.”
—MICHEL NISCHAN,
Chef and President/CEO, Wholesome Wave
“With an emphasis on community, Hesterman puts into
writing what our celebrity chef culture commonly puts on
television but breaks it down for the everyman. Ordinary
people, who are not farmers or foodies, will feel empowered
after reading this book.”
—Edible Buffalo
“Our food chain is broken. And never in the history of
mankind has there been such a need to get back to basics—
plain food, grown in a logical manner and delivered to every-
one—rural and urban. In Fair Food, Oran Hesterman makes
the case that this move is imperative and sustainable.”
—NANCY L. SNYDERMAN, MD, FACS,
NBC News chief medical editor
F A I R F O O D
Growing a Healthy, Sustainable
Food System for All
ORAN B. HESTERMAN, PhD
Founder, Fair Food Network
New York
Copyright © 2011 by Oran B. Hesterman.
Hardcover edition first published in 2011 in the United States
by PublicAffairs™, a Member of the Perseus Books Group
Paperback edition first published in 2012 by PublicAffairs
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address
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Book Design by Brent Wilcox
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Hesterman, Oran B.
Fair food : growing a healthy, sustainable food system for all /
Oran B. Hesterman.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–1-61039–006–4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978–1-61039–007–1 (electronic book)
1. Food supply—United States. 2. Sustainable agriculture—United
States. 3. Food industry and trade—United States. I. Title.
HD9005.H47 2011
338.1'973—dc22
2010053129
ISBN 978-1-61039-102-3 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-61039-204-4 (paperback e-book)
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is dedicated to the many people who are focusing
their lives and their work on creating a fair food future.
These thousands of fair food “solutionaries” are not content
to leave the work to others: in their homes, in their commu-
nities, and across the nation, they are working to ensure that
current and future generations will enjoy a food system that is
healthy and sustainable for us all.