Local Table
A GUIDE TO FOOD AND FARMING IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE
SPRING 2010
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B ook Reviews and Sales

Renewing America's Food Traditions Saving and Savoring the Continent's Most Endangered Foods Edited by Gary Paul Nabhan

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Part history/part cookbook/part ecological call, RAFT is a beautiful celebration of North American foods from older cultures on our diverse continent that might be made new again. The book lists more than 1000 foods at risk in our nation. The authors suggest that such regional, native foods such as Wild Tomatillos, Chickasaw Plums, Jerusalem Artichoke, Sibley Squash, Cayuga Duck, Gillette Figs and Tenneessee's own Fainting (Myotonic) goats have the chance to become our new culinary experi- ence and be just as exciting as the exotic foods we import from other continent's. By searching out our own continent's diverse heritage breeds of animals/poultry and native seeds we help ensure the continua- tion of species who will otherwise disappear. Many are on the edge of extinction and by eating wild and native we also help preserve traditional hunting, fishing and farming areas.
New Day Revolution How to Save the World in 24 Hours Sam Davidson and Stephen Moseley

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Founders of Nashville's CoolPeopleCare.org, Davidson and Mosely offer more than 100 ways for regular people to make a difference in our world. Focusing on the little things each of us can do to combat climate change and conserve natural resources from making smart food choices, greening your office, shopping wisely, and investing a little of your free time back into your community. The bot- tom line ? you can change the world and this little book will show you the way.
Blessed Unrest Paul Hawken

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The subtitle to this incredible book is 'How the Largest Movement in the World Came Into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming'. In these uncertain and often scary times, Hawken, a longtime environmentalist and journalist, writes an original and uplifting book looking at what is right in the world. A beautiful and uplifting book and a must read for anyone wondering whether their small efforts to help change the world are truly making a difference. He cites one of my favorite quotes from John Muir, ?When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe? .
Tennessee Hometown Cookbook Sheila Simmons and Kent Whitaker

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This collection of Tennessee recipes is an easy old-fashioned collection of 300 tried and true Southern foods. Unfortunately, the writers don't use as much whole food as I'd like to see, but the recipes can easily be converted to use fresh food instead of canned and frozen. They've done a nice job of including local Tennessee food festivals. For instance, Bell Buckle's RC & Moon Pie Festival is combined with a history of the Moon Pie, along with several Moon Pie Recipes (not for the calorie conscience) ? 'Traditional Microwaved Moon Pie' anyone? From cornbread and white beans, fried green tomatoes to collard greens and fried chicken, The Tennessee Hometown Cookbook is fun read of our traditional food heritage.
Grub Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen Anna Lappe and Bryant Terry

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Food activist Anna Lappe, daughter of Francis Moore Lappe?, and chef Bryant Terry have created a book that doesn?t missing a punch - pointing out the failures of government to keep corporate food and chemical companies from shaping national agriculture policy and prices consumers pay - and give inspiring stories of how farms and communities are making it work. The second half of the book delivers tasty menus that help readers look at food as culture, comfort and expressions of where we are in our lives. This youthful book even gives accompanying music selections to the menu, that highlight Terry?s Afro-Caribbean-Latino experiences.
In Defense of Food An Eater's Manifesto Michael Pollan

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At the conclusion of Michael Pollan?s 2006 Omnivore?s Dilemma, most readers found themselves stressfully pondering, ?what do I eat.? So thankfully Pollan has followed up with In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto to guide conscientious eaters through a world of ?edible foodlike substances? created by food scientist and marketers and into the world of ?real food.? Pollan eloquently shows us how what we eat is ruining our health and disrupting thousands of years of culture based around what, how and where we eat. Pollan pushes the mantra: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Doesn?t exactly roll off the tongue, but it gets to the heart of America?s spiraling health epidemics.
How to Pick a Peach The Search for Flavor from Farm To Table Russ Parsons

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Good cooking starts with the right ingredi- ents, and nowhere is that more true than with produce. Should we refrigerate that peach? How do we cook that artichoke? And what are those different varieties of pears? Most of us aren't sure. Parsons helps the cook sort through the produce in the market by illuminating the issues surrounding it, revealing intriguing facts about vegetables and fruits in individual profiles about them, and providing instructions on how to choose, store, and prepare these items. Whether explaining why basil, citrus, tomatoes, and potatoes should never be refrigerated, describing how Dutch farmers revolutionized the tomato business in America, exploring organic farming and it?s effect on flavor, or giving tips on how to recognize a ripe melon, How to Pick a Peach is Parsons at his peak.
The United States of Arugula The Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution David Kamp

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One day we woke up and realized that our 'macaroni' had become 'pasta,' that our Wonder Bread had been replaced by organic whole wheat, that sushi was fast food, and that our tomatoes were heirlooms. How did all this happen, and who made it happen? The United States of Arugula is the rollicking, revealing chronicle of how gourmet eating in America went from obscure to pervasive, thanks to the contributions of some outsized, opinionated iconoclasts who couldn?t abide the status quo. Writer David Kamp chronicles this amazing transformation, from the over- cooked vegetables and scary gelatin salads of yore to our current heyday of free-range chickens, extra-virgin olive oil, Iron Chef, Whole Foods, Starbucks, and that breed of human known as the 'foodie.'
Moveable Feasts From Ancient Rome to the 21st Century, the Incredible Journeys of the Food We Eat Sarah Murray

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Today the average meal has traveled thou- sands of miles before reaching the dinner table. How on earth did this happen? In fact, long-distance food is nothing new and, since the earliest times, the things we eat and drink have crossed countries and continents. Through delightful anecdotes and astonishing facts, Moveable Feasts tells their stories. In a thought-provoking and highly entertaining account, Moveable Feasts brings an entirely fresh perspective to the subject of food. And today, as global warming makes headlines and concerns mount about the ?food miles? clocked by our dinners, Murray poses a con- tentious question: Is buying local always the most sustainable, ethical choice?
Reviews by Kathy Mead and Marne Duke.
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