In Recipe for America food activist Jill Richardson details the ways in which the dominant, industrial mode of agriculture is unsustainable. She examines a wide array of consequences, from water pollution and topsoil erosion to record levels of childhood obesity. She argues that… a locally-based food system is the only long-term sustainability solution, and lays out a plan of action to get there. Richards acknowledges the obstacles to such a goal, from incentives that favor industrial agriculture to entrenched practices in school cafeterias. She identifies incremental steps, like organizing around food safety issues, that can be taken to start tilting the balance toward a more sustainable food policy. I found this to be an excellent introduction to understanding the problems with our food system, food politics, and what needs to be done about it. A worthy addition to LiveTrue’s social issues and living green books collections.
