The Local Food Revolution: How Humanity Will Feed Itself in Uncertain Times by Michael Brownlee.

2/5 rating. 389 pages.

Book #50 of 2021. Read July 1, 2021.

I was really looking forward to reading this book because food and its production is probably the single most important thing that will determine our future. Unfortunately, this book really let me down.

The only worthwhile chapters in here are 25 and 34, the rest of the book is mostly a mixture of “scientific” pronouncements about how screwed we are that are even beyond anything I’ve ever seen and a “spiritual” morass of how the universe made us so we could be here to take on this challenge.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen any book get so far off-topic. What does the history of the universe have to do with local food?…I have no clue, either. The points where he actually talks about implementing local food into our society and moving away from Big Ag were enjoyable. But I couldn’t get over his absolutely insane ramblings about the universe having a consciousness, and how everything is leading to this moment,

A nice example:

“These forces of cataclysm and emergence are present in each one of us and are reflected everywhere we choose to look. But what we give ourselves to is emergence.” What does this garbage even mean!?!

This is a shame because when he is on topic, Michael is able to articulate a lot of the difficulties that the local food movement will have. Not only this, but he gives a lot of useful tools to question how to overcome these.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the Local Food Movement, ask everywhere that you shop and eat to implement more local food. Go to farmer’s markets, enroll in CSA’s. If you want to take it to the next level read the two chapters I stated earlier, but unless you’re ready to be bored and open to “emergence” and some other ridiculous talk, just skip the rest of this book!

Quotes:

“Altogether, the industrial food system – now by far the largest and most destructive industry in the world – burns about 23 percent of global oil and gas supplies, and is apparently responsible for more than half of global greenhouse-gas emissions and 80 percent of fresh-water resource use.”

“We will never restore the ability of America’s agriculture to meet the needs of people, its ultimate source of effectiveness and efficiency, until we restore its respect for life.” – John Ikerd

“We are moving from a food system that enables only the rich to eat well to one that makes a wholesome, healthy diet a basic right for all citizens, where this is taken as a responsibility and not a luxury.”

“It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”

“Not so much driven towards a vision, but possessed by it.” – James Baldwin

“Together, the global industrial food system and the global industrial economy are a disaster in terms of their impact on human health and well-being, on the environment, on our local economies, and on our communities.”

“The only way many of these farmers can grow their operations significantly is to reach new markets. And that means retailers, schools, and institutions. But they can’t get to these larger commercial markets without infrastructure – and without moving up to a certain level of significantly increased scale and efficiency.”

“I doubt that many of our farmers think of themselves as revolutionaries, but if they’re working to feed their community, they are certainly engaged in truly revolutionary activities.”

“Americans today spend less on food, as a percentage of disposable income, than any other industrialized nation, and probably less than any people in the history of the world.” – Michael Pollan

“At some point we’re going to need to learn everything we can about the current reality of our foodshed – food consumption patterns, current food production (as well as potential food production), and the current (and potential) demand for local food.”

“In the process of commercialization, many heirloom varieties adapted to regional conditions have disappeared. Commercial seed producers increasingly cater to large-scale food processors and marketers. Biotechnology has almost completely displaced classical plant breeding. This has created a dramatic loss of genetic plant diversity, and it has diminished food producers’ ability to adapt to environmental stresses such as disease or global warming.”

“Students of permaculture are often taught that before they attempt developing any design for a specific site, they should first intensely observe all the dynamics (biological, geological, climatic, and so forth) occurring within that site for at least a year.”

“Ultimately, the only wealth that can sustain any community, economy or nation is derived from the photosynthetic process – green plants growing on regenerating soil.” – Allan Savory

“All too often, in not being able to arrive at verifiable answers, we settle for what we (or others) believe. This is destructive to the process of creation. The capacity for living with the unknown, for being in a perpetual state of questioning and discovery, is essential for those who choose to create together.”

“Consumerism creates enormous business opportunities, and this is just as true in food as it is anywhere else. In fact, it’s useful to remember here that food is the largest industry in the world. It’s killing us, literally, but lots of people are making a lot of money from it. It’s one more industry dedicated to making and selling us things that we don’t really need, things that are ultimately bad for us and bad for our environment – and our economy, apparently.”

#localfood #eatlocal #localfoodrevolution #savetheearth #food #foodmatters #bookreviews

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