{"product_id":"reaping-what-she-sows-isbn-9781685892036","title":"Reaping What She Sows","description":"\u003cb\u003eA James Beard Award winner celebrates the women heroes who are fighting against the Big Food system—and asks the question: How \u003ci\u003eshould\u003c\/i\u003e we eat?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen the Covid-19 pandemic ripped through global food supply chains, it threatened the livelihoods of farmers, created shortages in supermarkets, and revealed a startling truth to consumers: the food system is broken, and large corporations did the breaking. An idea began to take hold–what if we could return to a time when our needs were met by the farmers in our own communities, rather than a commodity, Big Food system that favors profit above all else?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith in-depth, on-the-ground reporting, Nancy Matsumoto introduces readers to the women changemakers who are building local and regional supply chains, from the maverick farmers, millers, and bakers bringing back local grain economies; the brewers, distillers, and winemakers who are regenerating land and ecosystems; indigenous and diasporic seed savers, and many more changemakers. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eReaping What She Sows\u003c\/i\u003e offers a blueprint for what eating enjoyably, sustainably, and ethically looks like today. Essential for those who are concerned about climate change, their own health, and the lack of choice and transparency in the global food supply chain.\u003cb\u003e2025 Porchlight Business Book Awards Longlist: Current Events \u0026amp; Public Affairs\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Matsumoto’s authoritative, eye-opening writing provides readers with important, actionable information for everyone who eats.\"\u003ci\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Booklist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Matsumoto situates her work within an intersectional framework, and shares with eaters and food activists everywhere valuable lessons from the women at the forefront of agriculture system change. There’s no better time than now for this book… and there is no better person to write about this topic.” \u003cb\u003e—Dan Barber, chef and author, \u003ci\u003eThe Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Women play enormously important roles in food systems and in the food movement, but are often overlooked. Matsumoto brings women out of the shadows and highlights the efforts of a wide diversity of women to create food systems healthier for people and the planet.\" \u003cb\u003e—Marion Nestle, nutritionist and author, \u003ci\u003eWhat to Eat\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Behind words like 'organic' and 'regenerative' is a vast network of women who are reimagining agriculture through a rugged mix of ingenuity and sweat equity. Nancy Matsumoto introduces us to these fascinating leaders and the urgent movement they are building for a more just and sustainable food system.\" \u003cb\u003e—Liz Carlisle, author of \u003ci\u003eHealing Grounds \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eNancy Matsumoto is a Toronto- and New York City-based writer and editor who covers food, agriculture, and the environment.  With Michael Tremblay, she is the author of the book \u003ci\u003eExploring the World of Japanese Craft Sake: Rice, Water, Earth,\u003c\/i\u003e which won a James Beard Media Award. Her articles have appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal, NPR, Saveur, Food \u0026amp; Wine,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCivil Eats.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eINTRODUCTION\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eON AN EARLY SEPTEMBER AFTERNOON, I stand with Noreen\u003cbr\u003eThomas on the edge of the pancake-flat, twelve-hundred-acre Moorhead,\u003cbr\u003eMinnesota, farm that has been in the Thomas family for close to one\u003cbr\u003ehundred fifty years. Since being certified organic in 1997, it has produced\u003cbr\u003ehigh-quality organic grains, garden produce, and pasture-raised eggs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThomas points to the bird habitat buffer she is encouraging with a late-Au-\u003cbr\u003egust hay cutting, which will provide ample protection for ground-nesting\u003cbr\u003emeadowlarks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe bright-yellow-bellied birds’ numbers had for years been in steep\u003cbr\u003edecline due to loss of habitat and mortality caused by intensive sin-\u003cbr\u003egle-crop farming of corn, soy, or sugar beets, and the chemical fertilizers\u003cbr\u003eand pesticides that mode of farming relies on. Today, the birds’ resurgent\u003cbr\u003epresence on Doubting Thomas Farms is a sign of ecosystem health. Not\u003cbr\u003eonly do they add beautiful color and song to the landscape, they are also\u003cbr\u003ethe first defense against pests such as caterpillars and grasshoppers, keep-\u003cbr\u003eing their numbers in check. In another part of the farm, Thomas shows\u003cbr\u003eme a trial field of perennial sunflowers, part of a set of practices that are\u003cbr\u003emaking the surrounding land and waters healthier and more climate re-\u003cbr\u003esilient, and filling a gap in the market after the Russia–Ukraine war made\u003cbr\u003esunflower oil harder to come by.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDoubting Thomas is an outlier in Clay County and in Minnesota,\u003cbr\u003ewhere only one percent of farms are certified organic. It is a tiny island\u003cbr\u003eof biodiversity in a vast golden sea of genetically modified, chemically\u003cbr\u003etreated monocrops that ripple out as far as the eye can see. Going against\u003cbr\u003ethe tide has not been easy, but Thomas says, “It’s about providing really\u003cbr\u003egood food for my family, my grandchildren, and the community. If peo-\u003cbr\u003eple didn’t discern a difference in flavor, I wouldn’t bother. But they do,\u003cbr\u003eand it’s something we’ve forgotten, how food should taste.”","brand":"Melville House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233504735461,"sku":"NP9781685892036","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781685892036.jpg?v=1767735486","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/reaping-what-she-sows-isbn-9781685892036","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}