Reviews
Thisengaging book is a must-have resource for anyone involved or interested insmall-scale food production, from gardeners to instructors to entrepreneurs tocommunity empowerment programs. Based on the latest research in multipleacademic fields, the authors provide up-to-date and thoughtful guidance on howto think about, create, maintain and benefit from gardens in differentenvironments and changing climates. Look here for answers to all yourquestions: How can gardens combat greenhouse gas emissions? How do plants takeup soil nutrients? Should I consume organic or non-organic fruit? What vitalsocial and cultural resources are provided by community gardens? How doeseating a cookie compare nutritionally with an apricot? How do gardens improvemental and physical health? Why and how do bees and other insects pollinate crops?How much of my family's budget can I save if I grow my own? Food Gardens for a ChangingWorld provides comprehensive, detailed yetcontextual information across the biophysical, ecological, agronomic, social,economic, and political aspects of locally-grown produce., The confluent imperatives of public and planetary health call for pragmatic solutions. Food Gardens for a Changing World offers up just the kind of guidance we all need now--an approach that engages and empowers us to be part of the solution to multiple problems. Thorough, thoughtful, and actionable--this book is as encouraging as it is informative., Observe, test, learn, adapt: a culture of empiricism may be what we most need to grow in our gardens and food systems--the front lines of humanity's survival in a changing climate. This book is a resource for communities to take charge of their gardening through experimentation, and for scientists to adjust their practices towards transparency and mutual respect. The readable concepts and examples provided show how to equitably partner across formal science and informal garden institutions, and collaborate to produce and use diverse knowledge--essential for improving our individual and collective capacity to change., Thisbook is a great defense of the garden. It helps us understand why gardens areimportant and how they fit in the world, and how we as gardeners, researchersand citizen scientists can have impact and give direction in an uncertainfuture. It combines all and more of the research I have ever done about gardensand their connections. Nice to have it all in one place. I applaud the authors'work., Whatcan one do to live more pleasurably and sustainably in this period of rapidlychanging social and ecological circumstances? This stimulating and inspiring--yetpractical--book suggests that you put some seeds in the ground and learn tonourish your plants, your place, your body, and your mind. Beginners will findthe book an effective guide to taking the first steps into establishing andmaintaining a rewarding garden. Experienced gardeners will discover a wealth ofinformation about the scientific underpinnings of their practice and how theycan adjust to a changing environment., Thereis so much I like about this book. It's organized like a text book andreference book, but reads like a conversation with a wise and trusted friend.It is full of useful, practical tips and resources--especially for people whoare interested in adapting their gardening to changing conditions. It connectsthe dots between local gardens and global issues like climate change, socialand environmental justice, public health and nutrition. It helped me see howgardens could be expressions of the things I value--science, nature,cooperation, traditional knowledge, ingenuity, compassion--and how gardens canbe part of systemic change. Most of all, it made me want to get outside, dig inthe dirt, and collect and analyze data., Food Gardens for a Changing World is a rich and comprehensive resource written by thoughtful, creative scientists in service to gardeners and small-scale farmers. It weaves prosocial culture, scientific documentation, best garden practices, botanical basics for seed savers, and a big picture look at challenges for food production that have already arrived with increasing global temperatures of climate change. Reference lists encompassing the breadth of ideas presented are extensive for every chapter., Food Gardens for a ChangingWorld will be of broad interest to academics,students, and gardeners who want to know more about how gardens function bothecologically and socially. The authors provide support for gardeners to go outand run their own experiments to better understand the processes happeningabove and belowground in their garden plots. Readers will enjoy the beautifuldrawings that help elucidate all the wonderful ways people use and explore theirgardens., "Afterperusing Food Gardens for a ChangingWorld , I decided to use it as one of therequired readings for my non-majors "California Cornucopia" course. The typicalstudent is a last-quarter Senior who has put off their science class until theend of their career. This is a last chance to detoxify science fornon-scientists about to enter their career path. Therefore, the course isbroad, but necessarily spotty--using California crops and their products toteach the basics of cell biology, ecosystem science, evolution, genetics, andthe interaction of science and all aspects of sustainability. Using this bookwill give me the opportunity to make sure that every aspect of the science ofgrowing plants - including their connection to health and sustainability - iscovered in a straightforward way. I especially like how the science isinterwoven with practicality. The price of the paperback brings it within thebudget of most undergraduates. Students will find the accessible prose andlively artwork a surprising comfort for a science book.", Assomeone who has a thoroughly dog-eared printout of Cleveland and Soleri's Food from Dryland Gardens on my shelf, I was thrilled to get a chance to read theirnewest book, Food Gardens for a ChangingWorld , written with Steven Smith. I was notdisappointed. The authors have distilled their academic knowledge and thewealth of experience they've gained from years working in the hot fields ofMexico and the Southwest into a comprehensive, practical guide to all aspectsof growing food on our increasingly erratic planet. The brilliantly illustratedminiguides to topics ranging from disease diagnosis to transplanting tocalculating the effects of shade are worth the price alone. As a seed systemadvocate, I found their chapter on seed to be very comprehensive, covering notjust the practical aspects of seed saving, but touching on plant breeding andthe larger issues of genetic conservation and seed privatization as well. Buythis book if you want to understand how food will be grown 10, 20, 50 years inthe future., Food Gardens for a ChangingWorld compiles a large volume of informationabout how gardens can serve as a system for understanding people's connectionwith productive landscapes and how these settings are so much more than just apiece of land to grow food. Through scores of examples, the authors stitchtogether a compelling case for how and why these parcels of land serve as amicrocosm for healthy, active, and sustainable lifestyles and social andemotional wellbeing, and that these nodes are part of broader food networks andthus have the potential to ignite system level changes. Importantly, Food Gardens for a ChangingWorld nicely balances the presentation ofscientific evidence supporting gardens as a social, health, and ecological resource,with practical information about the art and science of gardening under rapidlychanging environmental and social conditions., Food Gardens for a ChangingWorld is a gardening book for gardeners whoseek to interrogate their efforts in the larger global context while stillattending to the intimate considerations of what makes the garden grow. It is abook for home and community gardeners who have moved beyond the seductiveimages of strawberries and kale that embellish the typical garden book and insteadseek to study their gardens, reflect on their significance amid global andlocal change, and improve their garden's productivity while enriching theirpersonal experience. Food Gardens for a ChangingWorld is encyclopedic in its breadth ofinformation and provides rich references and bibliographic information toencourage further research. Community gardeners and their supportinginstitutions will find this book a must-have for guidance in environmentally friendly,socially equitable production and documentation of community gardens' benefits.This book will undoubtedly be the 'go to' book on any inquisitive gardener'sbookshelf., The unique contribution of Food Gardens for a Changing World is to combine findings from the natural and the social sciences to allow us to understand better the new challenges food gardening faces. For growing food is not just a matter of maintaining healthy soils and cultivating the plant: it is also about strengthening links with others, co-finding solutions for scientists, and ultimately, by reconnecting with nature, healing communities., The readable concepts and examples provided show how to equitably partner across formal science and informal garden institutions, and collaborate to produce and use diverse knowledge-essential for improving our individual and collective capacity to change. - Liz Barry, Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science
