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There is a wealth of information available about our food system and regenerative agriculture. Here are a number of resources that I’ve learned a lot from, or are on my list to check out. If you have other suggestions, please email them to me and I’ll add them to the list: lise@lisemetzger.com.

BOOKS

American Wasteland, by Jonathan Bloom

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver. The book that changed Jennie Kahly’s life.

Big Chicken, by Maryn McKenna

The Color of Food, by Natasha Bowens

Diet for a Hot Planet, by Anna Lappe. In 1971, Frances Moore Lappe, Anna’s mother, wrote the groundbreaking book Diet for a Small Planet, about the hidden environmental and social impacts of our food choices. Her daughter speaks specifically here about the climate crisis.

Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer

Farming While Black, by Leah Penniman

Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser

Food Politics, by Marion Nestle

A Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism, by Erik Hazard

Gaining Ground, by Forrest Pritchard

In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. I’d recommend starting with Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

The New Organic Grower, by Eliot Coleman. The book Emma Jagoz used to learn how to farm.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. A friend refers to this book as “the gateway drug to the food world.”

Soil Sisters: A Toolkit for Women Farmers, by Lisa Kivirist

Start Your Farm, by Forrest Pritchard

Stuffed and Starved, by Raj Patel

The Third Plate, by Dan Barber

Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit, by Barry Estabrook



MOVIES AND VIDEOS

Fast Food Business—Shocking Truth Behind It. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyVFGpg17hw

Food Inc

Forks Over Knives

Treating the Farm as an Ecosystem, with Gabe Brown. North Dakota rancher explains how he has used regenerative agriculture practices to restore his ranchland. This guy is a rockstar!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUmIdq0D6-A

King Corn

The Meatrix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEkc70ztOrc
Animated short about factory farming. 

Our Unhealthy Food System (and How to Fix It), from the Union of Concerned Scientists
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUE6I8chcws
Excellent. Sums it all up in 2:55 minutes! 

A Place at the Table

The World According to Monsanto



PERIODICALS

Civil Eats  https://civileats.com/ A daily news source, featuring excellent reporting from over 100 contributors.

Food and Environment Reporting Network.  https://thefern.org/ Investigative journalism about agriculture, food and environmental health.



PODCASTS

The Beginning Farmer Show, from Ethan Book

Bite, from Mother Jones

Farmer to Farmer, from Chris Blanchard. The podcast is no longer in production, but you can still hear all the episodes. Many farmers have mentioned this one as a favorite.

The Female Farmer, from Audra Mulkern (creator of the Female Farmer Project) and Kate Dowdy.

In Her Boots, from Lisa Kivirist of the Rural Women’s Project

Our Farms Our Future, from the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program

Plate of the Union, from chef Spike Mendelsohn and Monica Mills

Real Food Reads, from Anna Lappé and Real Food Media

 

WEBSITES

American Farmland Trusthttp://www.farmland.org/
American Farmland Trust is the only national conservation organization dedicated to protecting farmland, promoting sound farming practices, and keeping farmers on the land.

Center for Science in the Public Interesthttp://www.cspinet.org/

Change Foodhttp://www.changefood.org Excellent talks by a wide variety of people working to change our current food system, from TED, TEDx Manhattan, and other food-related conferences. 

Civil Eats. https://civileats.com  A daily news source for critical thought about the American food system, with over 100 contributors.  

Environmental Working Group. www.ewg.org/ Extremely helpful information to help consumers choose nontoxic products and foods.

Food Tank. foodtank.com  A deep resource for articles, and videos from its various Summits held around the country each year.

Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Futurehttp://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-a-livable-future/index.html

Local Harvesthttp://www.localharvest.org/ A good place to start to find a local CSA.

Modern Farmerhttp://www.modernfarmer.com

National Young Farmers Coalitionhttp://www.youngfarmers.org/

Organic Consumers Associationhttps://www.organicconsumers.org/

Real Food Media. http://realfoodmedia.org/  A wealth of information in various media.