Food Town, USA
208 pages, 6 x 9
no art
Hardcover
Release Date:01 Oct 2019
ISBN:9781610919449
Look at any list of America’s top foodie cities and you probably won’t find Boise, Idaho or Sitka, Alaska. Yet they are the new face of the food movement. Healthy, sustainable fare is changing communities across this country, revitalizing towns that have been ravaged by disappearing industries and decades of inequity.
What sparked this revolution? To find out, Mark Winne traveled to seven cities not usually considered revolutionary. He broke bread with brew masters and city council members, farmers and philanthropists, toured start-up incubators and homeless shelters. What he discovered was remarkable, even inspiring.
In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, once a company steel town, investment in the arts has created a robust new market for local restaurateurs. In Alexandria, Louisiana, “one-stop shopping” food banks help clients apply for health insurance along with SNAP benefits. In Jacksonville, Florida, aeroponics are bringing fresh produce to a food desert.
Over the course of his travels, Winne experienced the power of individuals to transform food and the power of food to transform communities. The cities of Food Town, USA remind us that innovation is ripening all across the country, especially in the most unlikely places.
What sparked this revolution? To find out, Mark Winne traveled to seven cities not usually considered revolutionary. He broke bread with brew masters and city council members, farmers and philanthropists, toured start-up incubators and homeless shelters. What he discovered was remarkable, even inspiring.
In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, once a company steel town, investment in the arts has created a robust new market for local restaurateurs. In Alexandria, Louisiana, “one-stop shopping” food banks help clients apply for health insurance along with SNAP benefits. In Jacksonville, Florida, aeroponics are bringing fresh produce to a food desert.
Over the course of his travels, Winne experienced the power of individuals to transform food and the power of food to transform communities. The cities of Food Town, USA remind us that innovation is ripening all across the country, especially in the most unlikely places.
An inherently fascinating and impressively informative read throughout, Food Town, USA: Seven Unlikely Cities That are Changing the Way We Eat is an original and seminal work of exhaustive research and insightful relevance. An exceptionally well written, organized and presented study that is highly recommended.
Whether it’s a racially diverse farmers’ market thriving and building bridges in historically segregated and racially oppressive Alexandria, or a longshot brewpub in Bethlehem that became the epicenter of a food-centered revival of the city’s Main Street, Winne details the cascading impacts that farmers, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, governments, and individuals have on the cities that make up Food Town USA.
Mark Winne’s Food Town, USA is a tasty, heartwarming journey through towns we’d never thought much of but suddenly want to move to. It happily reminds us that when we devote ourselves to people and places we care about, wonderful and unexpected things seem to happen.’
Food Town, USA may prove to be the most hopeful and important book to take the food movement out of the predictable culture wars between big city and forgotten countryside, between blue and red, and between glamorous and unfashionable places. Whether it’s craft beer or food sovereignty, Winne gives voice to those who are reinventing the food movement in their own language.’
As only a longtime leader in the food movement can, Mark Winne introduces us to the unsung heroes of local food revitalization, demonstrating how food policy councils, farmers' markets, community gardens, and farm-to-school programs can help struggling communities rebuild.'
Mark Winne has held leadership positions with several nonprofit food organizations and food policy councils. He currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and writes, trains, and speaks about the food system. He is the author of Closing the Food Gap, Food Rebels, and Stand Together or Starve Alone.
Introduction
Chapter 1. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Chapter 2. Sitka, Alaska
Chapter 3. Alexandria, Louisiana
Chapter 4. Boise, Idaho
Chapter 5. Youngstown, Ohio
Chapter 6. Jacksonville, Florida
Chapter 7. Portland, Maine
Conclusion
Chapter 1. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Chapter 2. Sitka, Alaska
Chapter 3. Alexandria, Louisiana
Chapter 4. Boise, Idaho
Chapter 5. Youngstown, Ohio
Chapter 6. Jacksonville, Florida
Chapter 7. Portland, Maine
Conclusion
