Farmer Jane: Women Changing The Way We Eat [Paperback]

Temra Costa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2010

Farmer Jane profiles thirty women in the sustainable food industry, describing their agriculture and business models and illustrating the amazing changes they are making in how we connect with food. These advocates for creating a more holistic and nurturing food and agriculture system also answer questions on starting a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program, how to get involved in policy at local and national levels, and how to address the different types of renewable energy and finance them.

Temra Costa has been working with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) in California for the past five years through the programs of Farm to School and Buy Fresh Buy Local in the Sacramento Valley and Bay Area. She is currently director of Buy Fresh Buy Local and lives in Sacramento.

A hands-on guide for getting involved in the sustainable food movement.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

As nurturers and caretakers of the health of our children and communities, women have the power and ability to transform the way we eat and farm. Farmer Jane profiles twenty-six women in the sustainable food industry who are working toward a more holistic food system in America a system that ensures our health with wholesome natural foods, protects the earth and wildlife, treats farm workers fairly, and stimulates local economies. Leaders like Denise O'Brien are empowering women to take leadership roles in agriculture. Farmers like Dru Rivers of Full Belly Farm are educating kids and growing diverse fruits and vegetables to sell directly to the community. Advocates like Marion Kalb and Anna Lapp are fighting for fresh organic fruits and vegetables in school cafeterias. Activists like Jo Ann Baumgartner are inspiring other farmers to be protectors of natural spaces. And chefs such as Deborah Madison are promoting local seasonal foods as a mainstay of the American meal.

Sustainable food activist Temra Costa shows how you can join these women, whether you want to start a farm, open a food business, found an organization, or simply become a sustainable-food consumer.

Temra Costa began her career in sustainable food while organizing for the preservation of organic standards in 1998. After completing her degree in agriculture from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, she moved to California to work with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF). Throughout her time with CAFF, from 2003 to 2009, she supported Farm to School programs and farmers markets and directed a statewide program of Buy Fresh Buy Local.

Costa is passionate about local food and eating seasonally. When she's not gardening, cooking, or bringing community together over food, she's writing about it. She lives in El Cerrito, California. Cover design by Jocelyn Foye.

From the Back Cover

If you run a farm, own a food business, are a sustainable food and community activist, or care about the quality of your food . . . this book shows you the women who are changing the food and farming industry for the better—and how you can join them.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith (May 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423605624
• ISBN-13: 978-1423605621
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.6 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #349,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Temra Costa is a nationally recognized sustainable food and farming advocate. "Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat," is the product of the past twelve years she has spent working to promote a more vibrant local food economy in California and beyond. Her previous role as statewide director of California's Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign, engaged stakeholders in our food system from farm to table.

Temra lives with her husband in the East Bay of California where she writes and gardens.

You can learn more by visiting www.FarmerJane.org.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you Temra Costa for Writing this Book May 25, 2010

By Cathy Curtis

Format:Paperback

This book is about a world that many of us urban types know something about because of farmer's markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA's) and Michael Pollan's books. But Farmer Jane, in a very engaging way, brings the world of the small farmer and the people and communities who support them to life. With each story I am more inspired to do what I can each day to support farmers who grow food with love and care. The book is also full of practical suggestions on how to do just this. After you finish reading this book, share with your friends. More than anything this book makes you feel like we all can help change our food system, step by step.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Edible Opportunities for Women June 11, 2010

By Story Circle Book Reviews

Format:Paperback

Questions about what we eat and how our food is produced are certainly trendy--and important--topics. There has been much written lately about the hazards of our present food system and various explanations for its deterioration. Farmer Jane instead highlights women who are involved in hopeful, creative, and inspiring food and farming ventures.

Farmer Jane covers a lot of ground--including women who are involved with community supported agriculture (CSA's), farming, markets, seed saving, farm to school programs, rural and urban farms, filmmaking, and writing. Some of the women are farmers, chefs and restaurant owners, activists working in nonprofit organizations, and one who calls herself a "culinary anthropologist." This book is well-written reportage, filled with facts, individual chronologies concerning food activism, explanations of techniques and strategies, and quotes by the featured women. The back section includes a helpful bibliography and a listing of over 30 women mentioned in the book and their affiliations and contact information.

There are many women with serious plans and also those with a sense of humor. Some of the cute place names noted are Full Belly Farm, Ghost Town Farm, and Inn Serendipity. My favorite is Pie Ranch--where, in addition to many other farm products, wheat and many varieties of berries are grown to make and sell their namesake desserts.

The author serves us politics with a passion, which occasionally degenerates into pontification. An example:

When you work to create a more equitable and sustainable food system, as you do when you join a CSA or other form of buying direct from farmers, you inevitably become an activist--an activist for a new type of food system, one that does not enslave poeple or commodify or pollute the Earth, so that future generations too may enjoy this ethical and healthful eating.

Although I think Farmer Jane lacks a storytelling quality which might make it more inspirational, it is a wonderful reference for anyone interested in the many ways that women are positively effecting the food landscape. So even if after reading Farmer Jane you don't become an activist, this book may help you to reflect on your personal food habits and values. It just might also encourage more of us to join together to collaborate and create more healthy eating opportunities. Bon Appetit!

by Barbara L. Heller
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Its OK July 13, 2011

By S. Anderson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is OK, but not what I was expecting. Basically a series of essays about various women doing various things agriculturally in America. Most of them, however, didn't actually seem to be farmers. Social workers, activists, people doing noble things and leading the sort of lives that just reading about makes me exhausted...but not so much with the farming. A very good book, well written, interesting, better for social activists, though, than farmers.