Food Tank
By Danielle Nierenberg and Alonso Diaz
With record high unemployment, a reeling global economy, and concerns of food shortages, the world as we know it is changing. But even as these shifts expose inequities in the health and food systems, many experts hope that the current moment offers an opportunity to build a new and more sustainable food system.
<p>To understand what it will take to move forward, Food Tank has compiled its summer reading list to delve into the issues that affect our food system today. These 20 books provide insight into food access and justice in Black communities, food relief and school nutrition programs, the effects of technology on global food supply chains, the relationship between climate change and food production, and much more.</p>
1. Be My Guest: Reflections on Food, Community, and the Meaning of Generosity by Priya Basil (forthcoming November 2020)
<p>Priya Basil explores the meaning of hospitality within a variety of cultural, linguistic, and sociopolitical contexts in this short read. Basil uses her cross-cultural experience to illustrate how food amplifies discourse within families and touches on the hospitality and the lack thereof that migrants and refugees experience. <em>Be My Guest </em>is at once an enjoyable read and a hopeful meditation on how food and hospitality can make a positive difference in our world.</p>2. Biodiversity, Food and Nutrition: A New Agenda for Sustainable Food Systems by Danny Hunter, Teresa Borelli, and Eliot Gee
<p>In <em>Biodiversity, Food and Nutrition</em>, leading professionals from Bioversity International examine the positive impacts of biodiversity on nutrition and sustainability. The book highlights agrobiodiversity initiatives in Brazil, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Turkey, featuring research from the <a href="https://www.bioversityinternational.org/research-portfolio/diet-diversity/biodiversity-for-food-and-nutrition/" target="_blank">Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Project </a>(BFN) of the <a href="https://www.bioversityinternational.org/alliance/" target="_blank">Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT</a>. Through this analysis, the authors propose that the localized activities in these countries are not only benefiting communities, but are transferable to other regions.</p>3. Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, D.C. by Ashanté M. Reese
<p>In <em>Black Food Geographies, </em>Ashanté Reese draws on her fieldwork to highlight community agency in response to unequal food access. Focusing on a majority-Black neighborhood in Washington, DC, Reese explores issues of racism, gentrification, and urban food access. Through her analysis, she argues that racism impacts and exacerbates issues of unequal food distribution systems.</p>4. Black Food Matters: Racial Justice in the Wake of Food Justice edited by Hanna Garth and Ashanté M. Reese (forthcoming October 2020)
<p>Access, equity, justice, and privilege are the central themes in this forthcoming collection of essays. The food justice movement often ignores the voices of Black communities and white food norms shape the notions of healthy food. Named for Black Lives Matter, <em>Black Food Matters </em>highlights the history and impact of Black communities and their food cultures in the food justice movement.</p>5. Diners Dudes & Diets: How Gender and Power Collide in Food Media and Culture by Emily J.H. Contois (forthcoming November 2020)
<p>In <em>Diners, Dudes & Diets</em>, Emily Contois looks at media's influence on eating habits and gendered perceptions of food. Focusing on the concept of dude foods, the book follows the evolution of food marketing for men. In doing so, Contois shows how industries used masculine stereotypes to sell diet and weight loss products to a new demographic. She argues that this has influenced both the way consumers think about food and their own identities.</p>6. Feeding the Crisis: Care and Abandonment in America’s Food Safety Net by Maggie Dickinson
<p>The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is essential for individuals who face food insecurity on a daily basis. Still, the program fails to reach many, including those who are unemployed, underemployed, or undocumented. <em>Feeding the Crisis</em> provides a historical overview of SNAP's expansion and traces the lives of eight families who must navigate the changing landscape of welfare policy in the United States.</p>7. Feeding the Other: Whiteness, Privilege, and Neoliberal Stigma in Food Pantries by Rebecca T. de Souza
<p>In <em>Feeding the Other</em>, Rebecca de Souza explores the relationship between food pantries and people dependent on their services. Throughout the work, de Souza underscores the structural failures that contribute to hunger and poverty, the racial dynamics within pantries, and the charged idea of a handout. She argues that while food pantries currently stigmatize clients, there is an opportunity to make them agents of food justice.</p>8. Feeding the People: The Politics of the Potato by Rebecca Earle
<p>In <em>Feeding the People,</em> Rebecca Earle tells the story of the potato and its journey from a relatively unknown crop to a staple in modern diets around the world. Earle's work highlights the importance of the potato during famines, war, and explains the politics behind consumers' embrace of this food. Interspersed throughout are also potato recipes that any reader can try.</p>9. Food in Cuba: The Pursuit of a Decent Meal by Hanna Garth
<p>In <em>Food in Cuba</em>, Dr. Hannah Garth looks at food security and food sovereignty in the context of Cuba's second largest city, Santiago de Cuba. Throughout the work, Garth defines a decent meal as one that is culturally appropriate and of high quality. And through stories about families' sociopolitical barriers to food access, Garth shows how ideas of food and moral character become intimately linked.</p>10. Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America by Marcia Chatelain
<p>Scholar, speaker, and strategist Marcia Chatelain provides readers insight into the ways fast food restaurants expanded throughout Black communities. Dr. Chatelain traces their growth during the 20th century and their intersection with Black capitalists and the civil rights movement. This book highlights the dichotomy between fast food's negative impacts on Black communities and the potential economic and political opportunities that the businesses offered them.</p>11. Honey And Venom: Confessions of an Urban Beekeeper by Andrew Coté
<p>In <em>Honey and Venom,</em> Andrew Coté provides a history of beekeeping while taking the reader through his own trajectory in the industry. A manager of over one hundred beehives, Coté raises colonies across New York City, on the rooftops of churches, schools, and more. Coté's<em> </em>passion for beekeeping comes through clearly as he narrates the challenges and rewards of his career.</p>12. Life on the Other Border: Farmworkers and Food Justice in Vermont by Teresa M. Mares
<p>Agriculture, immigration, and Central American and Mexican farm workers may conjure ideas of the Mexico-U.S. border, but in <em>Life on the Other Border</em>, Teresa Mares gives a voice to those laboring much farther north. Mares introduces the readers to the Latinx immigrants who work in Vermont's dairy industry while they advocate for themselves and navigate life as undocumented workers. This is an inspiring read that touches on the intersection of food justice, immigration, and labor policy.</p>13. Meals Matter: A Radical Economics Through Gastronomy by Michael Symons
<p>In <em>Meals Matter</em>, Michael Symons argues that economics used to be, in its essence, about feeding the world but has since become fixated with the pursuit of money. Symons introduces readers to gastronomic liberalism and applies the ideas of philosophers like Epicurus and John Locke to the food system. Through this approach, he seeks to understand how large corporations gained control of the market and challenges readers to rethink their understanding of food economics.</p>14. No One is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg
<p>Greta Thunberg addressed the United Nations at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit and has since been a global symbol of environmental activism. Her community organizing and impassioned speeches are uncompromising as she argues that climate change is an existential crisis that needs to be confronted immediately. <em>No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference </em>includes Thunberg's speeches and includes her 2019 address to the United Nations.</p>15. Perilous Bounty: The Looming Collapse of American Farming and How We Can Prevent It by Tom Philpott (forthcoming August 2020)
<p>In <em>Perilous Bounty</em>, journalist Tom Philpott critically analyzes the centralized food system in the U.S. and argues that it is headed for disaster unless it sees some much-needed changes. Philpot argues that actors within the U.S. food system are prioritizing themselves over the nation's wellbeing and provides well-researched data to back up his claims. Providing readers insight into the experiences of activists, farmers, and scientists, this is a great read for those starting to learn about the state of the country's food system and for those who are already deeply involved.</p>16. Plucked: Chicken, Antibiotics, And How Big Business Changed The Way The World Eats by Maryn McKenna
<p>In this exposé on the chicken industry, acclaimed author Maryn McKenna explains the role antibiotics played in making chicken a global commodity. <em>Plucked </em>makes it clear that food choices matter and show how consumers' desire for meat, especially chicken, has impacted human health. McKenna also offers a way forward and outlines ways that stakeholders can make food safer again.</p>17. Stirrings: How Activist New Yorkers Ignited a Movement for Food Justice by Lana Dee Povitz
<p>Between 1970 and 2000, food activists in New York City pushed to improve public school lunches, provide meals to those impacted by the AIDS epidemic, and established food co-ops. In <em>Stirrings</em>,<em> </em>Lana Dee Povitz draws on oral histories and archives to recount the stories of individuals who led these efforts. She highlights the successes of grassroots movements and reminds readers of the many women leaders in the New York food justice movement.</p>18. The New American Farmer: Immigration, Race, and the Struggle for Sustainability by Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern
<p>In <em>The New American Farmer</em>, Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern offers a look at farm labor in the U.S. Although most farm owners are white Americans, farm workers are overwhelmingly immigrants and people of color. In this book, Minkoff-Zern details the experiences of farm laborers who are becoming farm owners themselves and outlines the many barriers that workers must overcome during this transition. Through interviews with farmers and organizers, Minkoff-Zern shows that these farmers bring sustainable agricultural practices that can benefit our food system.</p>19. The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here by Hope Jahren
<p>Hope Jahren breaks down climate change for readers in an accessible and data-driven book. <em>The Story of More </em>explains<em> </em>how greenhouse gas emissions and consumption of natural resources in developed nations exacerbate climate change and outlines the consequences of these actions. Although she argues that the planet is in danger, she also provides a variety of everyday actions, like decreasing meat consumption, that consumers can take to make a difference.</p>20. Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes by Bryant Terry
<p>Author, chef, and food justice activist Bryant Terry provides readers with over a hundred recipes to create approachable and flavorful vegan dishes, without relying on meat alternatives. This book is a wonderfully practical recipe book that begins with a list of recommended tools, is organized by ingredients, and even includes a music playlist. Vegans and non-vegans alike will appreciate Chef Terry's <em>Vegetable Kingdom</em>.</p><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Make+this+summer+a+season+of+reflection+and+self-education+with+Food+Tank%27s+reading+list+%E2%80%94+new+and+important+books+from+%40AMReese07%2C+%40GretaThunberg%2C+%40EmilyContois%2C+%40BryantTerry%2C+%40DrMChatelain%2C+and+more&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffoodtank.com%2Fnews%2F2020%2F07%2Ffood-tanks-summer-2020-reading-list%2F&via=foodtank"><span></span></a>
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A pair of trees grow out of a book that rests on scorched earth to depict climate change. vencavolrab / Getty Images
A record number of Americans are concerned about climate change, a recent study by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication found. If you're among them, you may be interested in learning more about the climate crisis and what you can do about it. Luckily, you don't have to comb through scientific papers in order to educate yourself (unless you'd like to): More and more books on climate change and climate action are published every year, ranging from grimly realistic takes on the severity of the crisis to optimistic visions of social and technological solutions. To find out which ones are worth a read, Teen Vogue reached out to 11 climate activists for their recommendations. Here are the books they said were most informative and inspiring.
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<p><strong>1. <em>Down to Earth: Nature's Role in American History</em> by Ted Steinberg</strong></p><p>"<em>Down to Earth</em> is a history of North America from an environmental perspective. It's an easy read, and very interesting. One chapter explains how we used to know where our food came from, but eventually we pushed agriculture out to the sidelines of our cities, causing many other problems. <em>Down to Earth</em> made me realize that this country was founded on exploitation and that everything we do has an impact." —Natalie Blackwelder, commissioner of sustainability, Santa Barbara City College</p><p><strong>2. <em>Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming</em> by Paul Hawken</strong></p><p><strong></strong>"<em>Drawdown</em> is a handbook for how to stop and then reverse climate change. It lists dozens of actions to not just avoid putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but to draw carbon dioxide down out of the atmosphere. When you combine 'family planning' and 'educating girls' from the top 10 actions list, they draw down more CO2 from the atmosphere than anything else on the list. <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/climate-activists-explain-why-climate-justice-movement-needs-feminism" target="_blank">Feminism literally saves humanity from climate catastrophe.</a>" —Cassian Lodge, LGBTQ+ and environmental activist, U.K.</p><p>"When I felt overwhelmed at the big challenge of stopping climate change, this book broke things down to something manageable. It's like a playbook of climate solutions. I was fascinated to learn about marine permaculture, which is one of the proposed solutions. It's a method of growing seaweed on floating platforms that not only removes carbon from the atmosphere, but can also restore life to the oceans and provide an economic boon to coastal communities. I've since learned a lot about it, and I even helped lead a fundraiser that will help build some platforms off the coast of Tasmania." —Mark Abersold, software developer and Citizens' Climate Lobby member; moderator for <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/ClimateOffensive/" target="_blank">Reddit's Climate Offensive forum</a></p>
<h2><span></span></h2><h2><br></h2><p><strong>3. <em>Frontlines: Stories of Global Environmental Justice</em> by Nick Meynen</strong></p><p>"Nick Meynen's storytelling is personal, powerful, and inspiring. Every unpacked frontline is one cutting edge of an economic system and political ideology that is destroying life on earth. Revealing our ecosystems to be under a sustained attack, Meynen finds causes for hope in unconventional places. He reminds us that it is up to each and every one of us to play our role in the fight to achieve the radical changes necessary to save the planet." —Paola Hernández Olivan, food project and policy officer, Health Care Without Harm, Brussels</p><h2></h2><strong>4. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg<br></strong><p><br>"<em><a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/greta-thunberg-book-review-no-one-is-too-small-to-make-a-difference-climate-rebellion" target="_blank">No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference</a></em> contains the speeches made by the Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg — in climate rallies across Europe, to audiences at the U.N., the World Economic Forum, and the British Parliament. Greta inspires me because she says it like it is. She doesn't wrap the truth up in pretty paper to make it easier to take. Among millions of activists, <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/greta-thunberg-climate-strike-teen-vogue-special-issue-cover" target="_blank">Greta has one of the most powerful voices</a> because she occupies the moral and ethical high ground of someone from the next generation whose life is being destroyed." —Christine Essex, coordinator, Extinction Rebellion Newbury<br></p><p>Favorite quote: <em>And we will never stop fighting, we will never stop fighting for this planet, and for ourselves, our futures, and for the futures of our children and our grandchildren.</em></p>
<p><strong>5. <em>The No-Nonsense Guide to Climate Change</em></strong><strong> by Danny Chivers</strong><br></p><p>"This is the clearest and most succinct book I have ever read about the nature of climate change, the forces that are blocking action on it, and the forces that have arisen to confront it. I teach classes on this subject, and this book works year after year to bring everyone up to speed on the problem and potential actions we can take. It's funny, readable, engaging, and powerful." —John Foran, professor of sociology and environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara</p><p>Favorite passage: <em>This is going to be the most amazing, inspiring, and unifying social movement that the world has ever seen. It's going to be difficult, and frustrating at times, but it's also going to massively enrich the lives of everyone who's a part of it. This includes you.… [You can] be part of the most exciting and important social uprising of our lifetimes.</em></p><p><strong>6. <em>The Water Knife</em> by Paolo Bacigalupi</strong></p><p><em></em>"By the author of <em>The Windup Girl, The Water Knife</em> is a fictional portrayal of the effects of climate change on the western United States. It includes scenes of trying to get by in Phoenix when it's basically a desert. It's a powerful, well-written story that emphasizes the impacts of climate-induced social collapse on women." —D. Kempton, Climate Reality Canada, Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora</p>
<h2><br></h2><p><strong>7. <em>As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, From Colonization to Standing Rock</em> by Dina Gilio-Whitaker</strong></p><p>"This book covers the 500-year history of Native American resistance to colonialism and ecocide. It contextualized my environmental work as part of a struggle that has been taking place in the Americas since European contact, and it made me feel more connected to the larger Native American environmental movement as a cohesive whole both over time and across cultures and places. For Native people, this book is a reminder of how connected and similar our environmental justice struggles have been. This is especially important because the climate crisis requires cooperation across cultures and locations in an unprecedented way." —Shaylon Stolk, Indigenous (Scottish/Wayúu) renewable energy scientist and organizer with Extinction Rebellion justice; based in occupied Duwamish land (Seattl</p><p><strong>8. <em>The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming</em> by David Wallace-Wells</strong></p><p>"This book offers specific, science-based predictions about the effects of unchecked global warming. It scared me silly, and it inspired me to reflect and act." —Gregg Long, high school English teacher, Illinois</p><p>Favorite quote: <em>It is worse, much worse, than you think.</em></p>
<br><p><strong>9. <em>This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate</em> by Naomi Klein</strong></p><p>"<em>This Changes Everything</em> makes the case that the climate crisis is a consequence of capitalism, but it is a crisis that offers an opportunity to organize a new political system. It convinced me that we won't invent or grow our way out of this problem, but that it can be solved by political organizing. It's sobering and empowering, which is a difficult tightrope to walk." —Evan, Climate Justice committee coordinator, Democratic Socialists of America, Los Angeles chapter</p><p>Favorite passage: <em>And that is what is behind the abrupt rise in climate change denial among hard-core conservatives: They have come to understand that as soon as they admit that climate change is real, they will lose the central ideological battle of our time — whether we need to plan and manage our societies to reflect our goals and values, or whether that task can be left to the magic of the market.</em></p><p><strong>10. <em>This Is Not a Drill: An Extinction Rebellion Handbook</em> by Extinction Rebellion</strong></p><p>"<em>This Is Not a Drill</em> is a handbook on nonviolent civil disobedience for the challenges of the 21st century. Only a mass social movement will save us. This book provides the tools for that." —George, youth climate activist, U.K.</p><p>Favorite passage: <em>We may or may not escape a breakdown. But we can escape the toxicity of the mindset that has brought us here. And in doing so we can recover a humanity that is capable of real resilience.</em></p>
<p><em>This story originally appeared in </em><a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/best-books-about-climate-change" target="_blank"><em>Teen Vogue</em></a><em> </em><em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Kien Virak / Pixabay
By John R. Platt
When things get tough, many of us often turn to books for new information, inspiration or simple entertainment. Well, we've got you covered on all three counts, with 14 great new environmental books coming out this month. The list includes books for eco-interested kids, dedicated activists and everyone in between.
<p>The publishing industry isn't immune to the economic threats posed by the current pandemic. Most local bookstores and libraries have closed their doors to customers and patrons, and many authors have needed to cancel their planned promotional tours. Publishers themselves are feeling the pinch, and at least three additional books that would have appeared on our list this month have been pushed back to later in the spring or summer.</p>
<p>But we're all adapting. Many publishers and bookstores will happily ship new books to you (or, in the case of local shops, offer curbside pickup). E-books may also be great options (they're often available through publishers or your local library website). The links below go to publishers' sites for each new book, which should provide you with a variety of options.</p><p>No matter how the books end up coming your way, may they offer the ideas and inspiration you need to keep you going and continuing to find ways to protect the planet.</p>
1. Nature Obscura: A City’s Hidden Natural World by Kelly Brenner
<p>With many of us currently restricted to our homes or neighborhoods, now's the perfect time to become a backyard naturalist (<a href="https://therevelator.org/backyard-naturalist-birding/" target="_blank">as we wrote recently</a>). This magnificent book offers stories about the varied plants and wildlife that lives around us — even in the hearts of big cities — and ideas about how to make our urban ecosystems even wilder.</p>2. The Not BAD Animals by Sophie Corrigan
<p>An utterly delightful kids' book that tries (and succeeds) to soften the reputation of the critters "that make us squirm and wriggle in our seats," but which, beneath their sharp teeth and odd habits, fulfill important roles in the world. You'll never look at a spider or vulture the same way again.</p>3 - 4. Becoming Wild and Beyond Words by Carl Safina
<p>Two new books from the famed ecologist and bestselling author. The first, for adult audiences, examines "how animal cultures raise families, create beauty and achieve peace." The second, for younger readers, adapts one of Safina's earlier adult books and discusses the inner lives of wolves and dogs. Both are must-reads.</p>5. Green Meat? Sustaining Eaters, Animals and the Planet edited by Ryan M. Katz-Rosene and Sarah J. Martin
<p>This book tackles some tough questions about meat, examining issues related to production and consumption through a wide and varied set of lenses. Throughout, the book and its contributors invite readers to examine what they eat, where it comes from and how it's produced. You won't find easy answers inside, but it'll give you something to chew on.</p>6 - 7. A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety by Sarah Jaquette Ray and Facing the Climate Emergency by Margaret Klein Salamon
<p>"Climate grief" is both real and draining. These two complementary titles offer readers some great psychological tools necessary to keep going in these trying times — and beyond. <em>Field Guide</em> is aimed more at young adults ("the climate generation"), but both books provide key tips for turning your negative emotions into powerful action.</p>8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Cars? Public Transit in the Age of Google, Uber and Elon Musk by James Wilt
<p>Public transportation was already in crisis before the pandemic, thanks in no small part to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/26/koch-activists-phoenix-ban-light-rail" target="_blank">Koch brothers' assault on local transit systems</a>. Things could get even worse now, with ridership in trains and busses <a href="https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-public-transportation-subway-bus-ridership-9f039bd9-459b-45f9-954c-b26380a037dc.html" target="_blank">on the decline</a> while we maintain safe distance from each other, a trend that could undermine critical low-carbon transportation initiatives. This book, which addresses issues ranging from transit to electric cars to ridesharing, aims to provide a model for a greener future.</p>9 - 10. How Birds Work and How Insects Work by Marianne Taylor
<p>These two heavily illustrated science books provide great insight into both intriguing groups of species. Taken together or individually, they may offer hours of fun educational opportunities in this era of home-schooling.</p>11. Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire by Rebecca Henderson
<p>The pandemic reinforces the tragic reality that our systems are terribly broken. Many experts and activists feel that this crisis — which comes on top of the already existing climate and wildlife crises — also provides an opportunity for change. This book offers an ever-so-timely economic model, along with working examples, for a safer and more just future. (Expect several more books on similar topics in the months ahead.)</p>12. Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park by Conor Knighton
<p>We probably shouldn't personally be visiting <a href="https://therevelator.org/pandemic-parks/" target="_blank">national parks during the pandemic</a>, but here's the next best thing. This thoroughly delightful travelogue (from a <em>CBS Sunday Morning</em> correspondent) brings national parks to you and delivers a deeply personal and revelatory take on what makes America's natural spaces so important.</p>13. The Human Planet: Earth at the Dawn of the Anthropocene by George Steinmetz and Andrew Revkin
<p>Steinmetz is renowned for his aerial photography projects, which often capture the stark reality of climate change, agriculture and sea-level rise. Revkin is a prominent environmental journalist and educator. Together they've delivered a beautiful, haunting coffee-table book that provides a powerful portrait of the ways we're changing the planet.</p>14. Sea Otters: A Survival Story by Isabelle Groc
<p>Your required dose of cuteness combined with important conservation messages, all wrapped up in a fun and heavily illustrated book for teen readers. Dame Judy Dench provides the foreword, which may be the most unexpected fact in this whole column.</p><p>That's it for this month. Stay safe and stay tuned for another batch of books on May's list in a few short weeks. Until then you can find dozens of additional eco-books in the <a href="https://therevelator.org/tag/revelator-reads/" target="_blank">"Revelator Reads" archive</a>.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/environmental-books-april-2020/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2645850225#/" target="_self"></a></em><em></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Take Your Climate Activism to the Next Level With January’s New Environmental Books
11 January
Popular
Pixabay
By John R. Platt
The New Year got off to a rocky start, with deadly fires throughout Australia and international political tensions rising to a frightening level.
<p>What's the best way to get past the dread and return to action? One option is to turn your attention toward new and proven ideas for saving what matters most.</p><p>Below you'll find the eight most interesting, inspiring and energizing new books coming out in January 2020. Half of them cover the climate crisis in one way or another, while the rest take on issues related to animals and wildlife. Some are for professional conservationists, while others are for anyone interested in the issues that define our modern world. All are worth your time.</p>
The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Success by Mark Jaccard
<p>Ever feel paralyzed by the scope and threat of climate change? You're not alone, but this new book aims to turn that around and get people moving. Part of it discusses the best individual actions we can all take, while the rest focuses on identifying the most important societal and political actions to prioritize. Along the way the book busts some myths perpetuated by the climate-denier industry and even debunks a few misconceptions held by well-meaning environmentalists. Jaccard can be a bit <em>too</em> provocative at times, but he backs his conclusions up with the latest science and delivers a book worth reading and discussing — not to mention acting upon. (<em>Guide</em> is out in paperback this month, with a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/citizens-guide-to-climate-success/49D99FBCBD6FCACD5F3D58A7ED80882D" target="_blank">free open-access PDF available in February</a>.)</p>Climate Change From the Streets by Michael Méndez
<p>Méndez argues that the climate crisis is also a crisis for public health, especially in lower-income communities of color, and that both problems can only be solved by addressing issues of environmental justice. His book, subtitled "How Conflict and Collaboration Strengthen the Environmental Justice Movement," taps into Méndez's own research into California communities and grassroots activism to show how the problems that plague us can also bring us together — but only if we invite everyone to the table.</p>Under the Influence: Putting Peer Pressure to Work by Robert H. Frank
<p>This broadly themed book addresses the complexities of our <em>social</em> environments — for example, how group behavior gives rise to bullying — but a lot of what it discusses applies to worldwide environmental issues, too. The result is a combination of psychology and economics that illustrates how the human "herd instinct" can be put to good use to solve the climate crisis and other problems.</p>It’s Earth Day, Cookie Monster! by Mary Lindeen
<p>Every day is Earth Day, just as every day is another opportunity to eat a cookie — or help teach kids to take care of the planet. This is the sixth book in the deliciously fun "Go Green with Sesame Street" series, which just goes to show you that "C is for Conservation."</p>Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther by Craig Pittman
<p>Pittman has done more than probably any other newspaper journalist to document the twists and turns of efforts to conserve and protect the Florida panther — not to mention the failures we've had along the way. Now he revisits the history of these critically endangered big cats and the people who helped them in this remarkable work of longform reporting.</p>And Here We Are: Stories From the Sixth Extinction by Bil Zelman
<p>A stunningly beautiful photo book — shot like a moody black-and-white movie — showcasing endangered species and the fragile, human-influenced environments in which they precariously hang on. Biologist E.O. Wilson (<em>Half-Earth</em>) provides the foreword.</p>The Nib: Animals
<p>Here's something different: a thick, square-bound magazine from the folks behind <em>The Nib</em>, the web's best political cartooning site (which often covers environmental topics). This collection includes short stories, art and gags by more than three dozen writers and cartoonists, covering topics like extinction, wildlife trafficking, livestock and our relationships with our pets. The result is a heady mix of politics, journalism, philosophy and eye-opening humor.</p>The Pollinator Victory Garden by Kim Eierman
<p>Victory gardens helped feed communities and troops during the first and second world wars. This book aims to translate that success to a similar effort: establishing year-round pollinator-friendly gardens in our backyards to help boost populations of bees, birds, bats, butterflies and other species — and in the process help "win the war against pollinator decline." It's not just for backyards, though; Eierman also discusses lawn alternatives (get rid of that grass!) and how to apply the same ideas to other areas throughout our developed communities. The book includes a resource list to help readers apply its recommendations to the needs of plants and wildlife in various parts of the country.</p><p>Well, that's it for this month. Stay tuned for a fresh batch of books on February's list in a few short weeks. Until then you can find dozens of additional eco-books in the <a href="https://therevelator.org/tag/revelator-reads/" target="_blank">"Revelator Reads" archive</a>.</p>
<p> <em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/environmental-books-january-2020/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>. </em><em></em></p>
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Close-up of an octopus in the sea. Alexander Rieber / EyeEm / Getty Images
By Leslie Crawford
Remember back when we were all tubes?
<p>Sy Montgomery does. That was a simpler time, eons before the octopus and <em>Homo sapiens</em> went their separate evolutionary ways, and certainly long before that highly intelligent cephalopod, which appeared some 300 million years ago, ended up boiled, stewed and fried. "Our lineage goes back a half-billion years ago when everyone was a tube," says Montgomery, a naturalist and author of many books about animals. "That was when there were no eyes. Yet we have evolved almost identical eyes. I just love that."</p>
<p class=""><em>Leslie Crawford is the author of <a href="https://stonepierpress.org/store/sprig-the-rescue-pig" target="_blank">Sprig the Rescue Pig</a> and <a href="https://stonepierpress.org/store/gwen-the-rescue-hen-book" target="_blank">Gwen the Rescue Hen</a>. She lives in San Francisco with her two children, six hens and four foster pigeons. No partridges. Follow her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/lesliemcrawford" target="_blank">@lesliemcrawford</a>.</em></p><p><em>This article was originally published by <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/youre-not-so-different-from-an-octopus-rethinking-our-relationship-to-animals/" target="_blank">Truthout</a> and produced as part of a partnership between <a href="https://www.stonepierpress.org/" target="_blank">Stone Pier Press</a> and <a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" target="_blank">Earth | Food | Life</a>, a project of the Independent Media Institute.</em></p>
<p>Montgomery's enthusiasm and devotion to Earth's creatures—and the similarities we share with them — has inspired her readers to get to know the eight-tentacled and big-brained wonders in <a href="https://tinyurl.com/zy436hz" target="_blank"><em>The Soul of the Octopus</em></a>, and taken us to the ends of the Earth and back to our own backyards in such award-winning books as <a href="https://tinyurl.com/pvnbgtq" target="_blank"><em>Spell of the Tiger</em></a> and <a href="https://tinyurl.com/rg6fk8q" target="_blank"><em>Birdology</em></a>.</p><p>A real-life Dr. Dolittle, Montgomery says she's always related best to animals and — sometimes straining the patience of her bipedal family members — has long treated her home as a land-bound ark for orphaned animals. In scientifically precise but poetic prose, she writes that we share greater similarities than differences with the electric eel, the tarantula, the tree kangaroo and the snow leopard. Don't forget, she says, that we hail from the same genetic pool, or more likely, gurgling swamp. By paying attention to the commonalities we have with our fellow animals — our singular capacity for what Montgomery argues is a broad range of emotions and zeal for life — humans can transcend the "we-shall-rule-the-Earth" anthropocentric focus, she says, and see that we are all in this together.</p><p>"We are on the cusp of either destroying this sweet, green Earth — or revolutionizing the way we understand the rest of animate creation," Montgomery <a href="https://tinyurl.com/sdhca33" target="_blank">said</a>. "It's an important time to be writing about the connections we share with our fellow creatures. It's a great time to be alive."</p><p>Montgomery recently chatted with Leslie Crawford, author of animal-focused children's books <a href="https://stonepierpress.org/store/gwen-the-rescue-hen-book" target="_blank"><em>Gwen the Rescue Hen</em></a> and <a href="https://stonepierpress.org/store/sprig-the-rescue-pig" target="_blank"><em>Sprig the Rescue Pig</em></a>, and compared notes on delving into the minds of animals.</p>
Leslie Crawford: Do you understand animals more than people?
<p><strong>Sy Montgomery:</strong> As a child, I grew up on an Army base and I did not have a single human friend. It allowed me the freedom to get to know other species. I vividly remember my 20s like it was yesterday. As a young person, I was often worried about whether or not I was reading other people correctly. And yet these are organisms that use the same English language. It's terrific to be in my 60s and know I can read animals. I have always read animals better than people.<span></span><br></p>What did you find surprising about humans as a child?
<p>I was shocked to learn that people use their language to lie. Even little kids lie. Of course, animals will lie, too. An octopus will say, "I'm four or five sea snakes." What the octopus does is change each of its arms to look like a sea snake, which is very poisonous.<em></em> Chimpanzees lie all the time. But the degree to which humans use language to lie shocked me. I've always dealt with animals in a very straightforward way. I wasn't ever trying to conceal things from them. Humans often want incorrect information about you and project incorrect things on you.</p>So much has changed about our understanding of animals since you started writing about them. When did you first realize that animals are sentient beings?
<p>I think most of us realize as children that animals are sentient beings. But then, somehow, for so many people, this truth gets overwritten — by schools teaching old theories, by agribusiness that wants us to treat animals like products, by the pharmaceutical and medical industries who want to test products on animals as if they were little more than petri dishes. But thankfully, scientific and evolutionary <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/what-the-crow-knows/580726/" target="_blank">evidence for animal sentience</a> has grown too obvious to ignore.</p>What have you learned about animals and consciousness?
<p>You don't want to project onto animals your wishes and desires. You have to respect your fellow animals. I don't want to roll in vomit, but a hyena would enjoy that. I don't want to kill everything I eat with my face, but that's what I'd do if I'm a great white shark. If I were eating a carcass, I would not be as happy about it as a scavenger. We have different lives but what we share is astonishingly deep, evolutionarily speaking.</p>When did you know you were an animal person?
<p>Animals have always been my best friends and the source of my deepest joy. Before I was 2, I toddled into the hippo pen at the Frankfurt Zoo, seeking their company, and totally unafraid. When I learned to speak, one of my first announcements to my parents was that I was really a horse. The pediatrician reassured my mother I would outgrow this phase. He was right, because next I announced I was really a dog.</p><p>My father loved animals. Growing up, my mother had a dog named Flip who she adored. But I seem to have had an even greater attachment to animals than they did. My friend, the author <a href="http://www.brendapetersonbooks.com/about/" target="_blank">Brenda Peterson</a>, says that I must have been adopted at the local animal shelter.</p>How many animals do you currently live with?
<p>Right now, the only animal who lives with us is a border collie named Thurber. I travel a lot: Thailand, Ecuador, Germany, Spain. I can't force my husband to have a house filled with animals. I had chickens but predators got almost all of them. Weasels got into the coop. They are so smart. Even though we buried wire beneath the floor, weasels need just a tiny opening to get through. You can never weasel-proof an old barn.</p>It sounds like you have some respect for weasels even though they killed your chickens?
<p>They were there first. I learned my chickens were killed on Christmas morning when I brought a bowl of popcorn to them and saw this white creature with black eyes staring at me. You'd think I'd be angry. But the beauty and ferocity of this creature filled me with awe. At the same time that I mourned my beloved chickens, I admired the weasel.</p>You originally studied psychology. How do you go about thinking about what animals are thinking? Or is it a mistake for people to imagine animals are thinking in a way that we think?
<p>I triple majored in college, and psychology was one of them. But thinking about animals wasn't really part of the coursework. I think it's perfectly reasonable to assume that nonhuman animals share our motivations and much of our thought processes. We want the same things: food, safety, interesting work and, in the case of social animals, love. But we can't always apply human tastes to animals — otherwise fish would seek to escape from the water and hyenas wouldn't roll in vomit.</p>When did you stop eating meat and dairy and why do you think some people make the decision and others don’t?
<p>I read <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780061711305/animal-liberation/" target="_blank"><em>Animal Liberation</em></a>, by Peter Singer, in my 20s. Even though I loved meat, I haven't eaten it since. I can't wait to try the Impossible Burger!</p>In writing Sprig, I learned so much about pigs, including how smart they are. What do you love most about pigs?
<p>They are so sensitive and emotional. And they're wise. They know what matters in life: warm sun, the touch of loving hands and great food.</p>Similarly, when I wrote Gwen, I found out how remarkable hens are with their own superpowers, including keen eyesight and a strong community that includes watching out for each other.
<p>I agree with you. I love these aspects of their lives. I love how similar they are to us in so many ways, but I also love the otherness of these animals.</p>Speaking of “otherness,” in your book Soul of an Octopus, you came to know Athena, an octopus, as a friend. But can a person really know an octopus?
<p>Until the day I met Athena in 2011, pretty much all of the creatures I got to know personally were vertebrates. We are so like fellow mammals, with whom we share 90 percent of our genetic material.</p><p>I didn't know if I would be able to bring what I understand about other animals to an invertebrate, but I was delighted to see it was true of the octopus. It was clear the octopus was just as curious about me as I was about her.</p><p>There are some animals who aren't interested in you. But when you have an octopus look you in the face and investigate you with her suckers with such an intensity, well, what that octopus taught me [about consciousness] blew me away. When Athena grabbed me, I correctly understood that she wasn't being aggressive, just curious.</p>How do you convince people to consider an octopus as something other than something to eat?
<p>I tell them about my octopus friends, Octavia and Kali and Karma — specific individuals to whom they could relate.</p>I have realized that preaching to people about seeing animals as worthy of the same compassion and dignity as is owed humans doesn’t work. But if preaching isn’t effective, what do you think works to change hearts and minds — and stomachs?
<p>Teach by example. It's the most powerful tool we have. Your love for pigs, told through your stories of Sprig and Gwen, is contagious because of your example. You show how much fun it is to let these animals enrich your life and make others want to be part of it. That's much more appealing than a lecture.</p>Are there one or two calls to action you would ask of people who want to improve the world for animals?
<p>I would suggest that individuals find the action that best suits them. For me, when I was young, working 14 hours a day and making relatively little money, I had no extra time for volunteer work, and my tithes to animal causes amounted to far too little. But I could change my diet, so I did. For another person, an overnight <a href="http://www.eatingwell.com/article/279566/9-healthy-tips-to-help-you-start-eating-a-vegan-diet/" target="_blank">change to vegetarianism or veganism</a> might be too tough, but perhaps they could <a href="https://www.wikihow.com/Volunteer-at-an-Animal-Shelter" target="_blank">volunteer at a shelter</a>.</p><p>I personally hate politics, though I vote and donate. But other people might throw themselves joyously into working toward electing candidates that <a href="https://aldf.org/article/protecting-animals-through-local-legislation/" target="_blank">support conservation and animal welfare legislation</a>. Happily, we can all work with our individual strengths to make the change animals deserve.</p>What about everything we learn daily about climate change and the growing risk of mass extinctions?
<p>Sometimes you don't want to read the headlines. It's so depressing. During the civil rights movement, I was too young to have anything to do with that. But now we can choose to be part of what is definitely a movement, one that recognizes that <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/what-the-crow-knows/580726/" target="_blank">nonhuman animals think and know and feel the way we do</a>. We know this based on cognitive and behavioral science. That change has happened within my lifetime, which is fantastic.</p><p>The fact that we live during a challenging time gives us an opportunity to be courageous. I'm thrilled to be able to apply my courage to such a worthy endeavor and with such worthy partners.</p>From Your Site Articles
- 60% of Earth's Wildlife Wiped Out Since 1970 ›
- 'Eating Animals' Drives Home Where Our Food Really Comes From ... ›
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By Rob Moore
As the planet heated up to record-breaking levels, the seas continued to rise and wildfires, storms, floods or other manifestations of climate change made headlines every single day, the stream of climate change literature turned into a deluge.
<p>The quantity and quality of research, journalism and fiction writing that revolved around climate change and its impacts in 2019 was impressive.</p><p>Admittedly, I was only capable of reading a small sliver of it all. This year-end list comprises the pieces I recommend you all read. Because my work at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) revolves around the impacts of climate change, particularly the relationship to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding">flooding</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise">sea level rise</a> and climate-driven disasters more generally, my annual reading list reflects that as well. It's a collection of research, policy papers, reporting by journalists and works of climate fiction.</p><p>And this year, because I'm insecure and fear someone judging me by what's not on this list ("How can you not have that on here?!" I know. I know. I hear ya.) I'm including a short compilation of the things that I still intend to read and you do should too!</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/rob-moore" target="_blank">Rob Moore</a> is a Senior Policy Analyst at the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a>. </em></p>
Major Climate Reports
<ul> <li><em></em><a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/" target="_blank"><em>Special Report on Climate Change and Land</em></a>, International Panel on Climate Change</li></ul><ul> <li><a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/" target="_blank"><em>Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate</em></a>, International Panel on Climate Change</li></ul><ul> <li><a href="https://ipbes.net/global-assessment-report-biodiversity-ecosystem-services" target="_blank"><em>Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services</em></a>, IPBES</li></ul><ul><li><a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/27687/Arctic_Graphics.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y" target="_blank"><em>Global Linkages: a graphic look at the changing Arctic</em></a>, UN Environment Programme</li></ul><p>These reports detailed just how much the world has changed with 1 degree C of warming in the rearview mirror and how much more dire the situation could become. Widespread changes are already apparent on land, in the oceans, in the cryosphere (that's a fancy word for areas that are always cold), and for all life on Planet Earth. These reports are the most comprehensive view yet on the impacts we're already feeling, those that are unavoidable, and the ones we have to make sure we never realize.</p><p><strong>Takeaway: </strong>The first step to solving a problem is to acknowledge just how big of a problem you're dealing with. And we've got big problems. On the plus side, we've got a good idea of what the big solutions are.</p>Climate Fiction
<ul> <li><a href="https://www.guernicamag.com/climate-fiction/" target="_blank"><em>Climate Fiction: A Special Issue</em></a>, Guernica Magazine, Amy Brady, Editor</li></ul><ul><li><a href="https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/mcsweeney-s-issue-58-2040-ad-climate-fiction?taxon_id=1" target="_blank"><em>Issue 58: 2040 AD</em></a>, McSweeney's, Claire Boyle, Editor</li></ul><p>Climate fiction is the hot genre to be writing in these days! This year, both Guernica and McSweeney's elevated the profile of climate fiction with special editions. Addressing the multiple challenges of climate change isn't just a scientific or technical problem … it's also a cultural problem. That's why it's so encouraging that writers, artists and other creative-types are incorporating climate themes into their works, reaching broader and more diverse audiences and subtly helping bring about those cultural changes.</p><p><strong>Side-note: </strong>I had the distinct privilege of working with <a href="https://twitter.com/ingredient_x" target="_blank">Amy Brady</a> at Guernica on an event around <a href="https://www.guernicamag.com/four-storytellers-tackle-climate-change/" target="_blank">climate change and storytelling</a> this year, and was part of a <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/rob-moore/mcsweeneys-and-nrdcs-climate-collaboration" target="_blank">team of people at NRDC that worked with Claire Boyle at McSweeney's on Issue 58</a>. These were such amazing enjoyable projects to be a part of and many thanks to the amazing Elizabeth Corr for coordinating NRDC's involvement in both.</p><p><strong>Takeaway:</strong> Diving deep into climate science isn't for everybody, but everybody shares stories. The stories contained in these editions give all of us a new place that we can start the climate conversation from.</p><ul><li><em><a href="https://www.amitavghosh.com/" target="_blank">Gun Island</a></em>, Amitav Ghosh</li></ul><span></span><p>This book had garnered an enormous amount of attention since it's release and is making many of the "Best Books of 2019" lists. Deservedly so, because it's an arresting and beautifully crafted novel that draws upon Bengali folklore, linguistic history and a globe-spanning story that intersects multiple manifestations of our altered climate.</p><p><strong>Takeaway: </strong>"Amid the freak cyclones and oxygen-starved waters comes the story — or stories — of migration across the ages; tales of escapology, of deprivation and persecution, of impossible yearnings for a new world that bring us, inexorably, to the terrified refugees on the Mediterranean." — <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/05/gun-island-amitav-ghosh-review" target="_blank">The Guardian</a></p>Climate Journalism
<ul><li><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25112019/american-climate-shared-experience-disaster-essays-science-video-project" target="_blank"><em>American Climate: The Shared Experience of Disaster</em></a>, Inside Climate News</li></ul><em></em><p>Stories of people whose lives have been deeply affected by climate change aren't just the subject of fiction, they're an all too real part of the world we live in. Inside Climate News collected these first-hand accounts from survivors of the wildfires in Paradise, California; Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Florida; and from those affected by widespread flooding throughout the Midwest.</p><p><strong>Takeaway: </strong>These personal stories are a visceral reminder that the impacts of climate change aren't some theoretical possibility but are already a reality for many in the U.S.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/the-other-kind-of-climate-denialism" target="_blank"><em>The Other Kind of Climate Denialism</em></a>, Rachel Reiderer, The New Yorker</li></ul><p>When faced with the enormity of the challenges of climate change, people can enter a form of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-denial">climate denialism</a>. No, not denying that it's occurring or that humans are the cause; but denying that anything can be done about it. This essay examines David Wallace-Wells' book, <em>The Uninhabitable Earth</em>, and the work of many others, including NRDC's own <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryHeglar" target="_blank">Mary Heglar</a>, to examine how we overcome this social-psychological barrier to action.</p><p><span></span><strong>Takeaway:</strong> Hey, it's okay to be fearful, or feel overwhelmed, or be angry because those are the feelings that inspire us to act.</p><p><a href="http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/despairing-about-climate-crisis/" target="_blank"><em>Despairing About the Climate Crisis? Read This</em></a>, Earth Island Journal, Interview with Dr. Susi Moser by Laurie Mazur<br></p><p>Along the same lines, this interview with Dr. Susi Moser, "talks about communicating bad climate news, the benefits of 'functional denial,' the varied flavors of hope, and the better world we can build in the wreckage of life as we know it." Dr. Moser has been working on climate change issues for a long time from multiple angles. She's seen her share of failures, or at least things that have not come fully to fruition. Still, she remains hopeful because there are so many things we can do, but just haven't yet.</p><p><span></span><strong>Takeaway: </strong>It's not whether you fall down or fail. It's whether you pick yourself up and keep trying.</p>NRDC Flood Reports
<ul><li><em></em><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/anna-weber/going-under-post-flood-buyouts-take-years-complete" target="_blank"><em>Going Under: Long Wait Times for Post-Flood Buyouts Leave Homeowners Underwater</em></a>, Anna Weber and Rob Moore, Natural Resources Defense Council</li></ul><span></span><p>As sea levels rise, flooding becomes more prevalent and other types of hazards lead people to the conclusion that it's time to relocate, what assistance is available to help make that happen? This report examined more than 30 years of FEMA data on that agency's efforts to finance buyouts of flood prone homes. The typical project takes more than five years to complete after a flood happens. That's not gonna cut it — and the current paradigm for doing buyouts definitely can't scale up to meet the future demand driven by climate change. Inside this report you'll find several recommendations for how buyouts could become more equitable, more efficient and more widely available.</p><p><strong>Takeaway: </strong>As the old saying goes, "Build it and they will come." With buyouts the corollary is, "If people want to leave, we should unbuild it." Okay, that's not too snappy a phrase, but we'll keep working on it. Meanwhile, you can hear about the buyout experience directly from Kentucky resident <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-long-does-it-take-get-fema-buyout-flooded-home" target="_blank">Olga McKissic</a>, who pursued a buyout for years before her repeatedly flooded home was finally demolished this summer.</p><ul><li><em><a href="https://www.eli.org/vibrant-environment-blog/changing-flood-insurance-changing-climate" target="_blank">Changing the National Flood Insurance Program for a Changing Climate</a>, </em>Environmental Law Reporter, Michael Burger and Dena Adler, Columbia University's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law; Joel Scata and Rob Moore, Natural Resources Defense Council</li></ul><span></span><p>This paper lays out ways to fix a program that we should already be relying upon to adapt to the growing number of floods that come with climate change. Some of the fixes? Give people accurate information about flood risks and past damages to their home or a home they're buying. Improve community compliance with minimum standards and codes. And if people want to move to higher ground (and doing so would actually save the flood insurance program some dough) then why aren't we doing that?! </p><p><strong>Takeaway:</strong> The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. And, currently, that's what the flood insurance program is all about: flood, rebuild, repeat. But it doesn't have to be that way. Congress just keeps it that way.</p>Climate Non-Fiction
<p><em><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/building-a-resilient-tomorrow-9780190909345?cc=us&lang=en&" target="_blank">Building a Resilient Tomorrow: How to Prepare for the Coming Climate Disruption</a></em>, Alice Hill & Leonardo Martinez-Diaz</p><p>With the world already having warmed by 1 degree C, the impacts of climate change are being felt in the U.S. This insightful book offers up some real solutions for how communities can cope with the vulnerabilities that have already been exposed and those that will be in the future.</p><p><strong>Takeaway</strong><strong>:</strong> If you were to boil this down to two sentences: First, don't make your problems worse by making bad decisions that you'll regret in the future. Second, start figuring out how to address the vulnerabilities you know you have, then the ones that are foreseeable.</p><p><em><a href="http://michaelklare.com/" target="_blank">All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon's Perspective on Climate Change</a></em>, Michael Klare</p><p>As the Trump administration has dismantled our nation's response to climate change, the Pentagon has been remarkably successful at continuing to address the issue in its own way. This fascinating book looks at why the Pentagon views climate change as a huge national security risk. Climate change threatens its bases, climate change puts additional operational pressure on the military, and climate change may hasten the destabilization of governments, exacerbating regional tensions.</p><p><strong>Takeaway:</strong> Keep this close by for the climate throwdown with your conservative national security conscious family members. It may just bring them around.</p>What I Should Have Read, Am Still Going to Read, and You Should Read Too!
<ul> <li><em><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374160807" target="_blank">The Geography of Risk: Epic Storms, Rising Seas, and the Cost of America's Coasts</a></em>, Gil Gaul</li></ul><ul> <li><em><a href="https://islandpress.org/books/new-coast" target="_blank">A New Coast: Strategies for Responding to Devastating Storms and Rising Seas</a></em>, Jeffrey Peterson</li></ul><ul> <li><em><a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/sea-level-rise" target="_blank">Sea Level Rise: A Slow Tsunami on America's Shores</a></em>, Orrin Pilkey and Keith Pilkey</li></ul><ul><li><em><a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/an-ecotopian-lexicon" target="_blank">An Ecotopian Lexicon</a></em>, Matthew Schneider-Mayerson and Brent Ryan Bellamy, Editors</li></ul>From Your Site Articles
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By Danielle Nierenberg and Katherine Walla
As the holiday season ramps up for many across the world, Food Tank is highlighting 15 children's books that will introduce young eaters, growers and innovators to the world of food and agriculture. Authors and organizations are working to show children the importance — and fun — of eating healthy, nutritious and delicious food, growing their own produce, and giving food to others in need.
<p>The books on this list show that food provides more than calories — it also connects people across cultures, countries and culinary traditions. From these books, children and adults alike can learn that even non-perfect foods can be tasty and that diverse people, like diverse vegetables in a garden, can make the world a beautiful place.</p><p>Food Tank is highlighting 15 children's books that show how food, nutrition and agriculture are springboards to connecting with one another this holiday season:</p>
<p class=""> <em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://foodtank.com/news/2019/12/15-childrens-books-celebrating-food/" target="_blank">Food Tank</a>. </em><em></em></p>
1. Before We Eat: From Farm to Table by Pat Brisson, illustrated by Mary Azarian
<p>Adopted by the USDA's Agriculture in the Classroom program, <em>Before We Eat</em> shows that before food gets to the table, many people work hard to make our plates full. The book reminds readers that nourishing one person involves a team of fishers, farmers, ranchers and farm workers to enrich our food system. The expanded edition includes features about school gardens and the farm-to-school movement for budding activists and community leaders ready to make a change.</p>2. Can You Eat? by Joshua David Stein, illustrated by Julia Rothman
<p>Food critic Joshua David Stein rhymes through familiar foods and other goofy, common items for a simple and fun exploration of what can — and cannot — be eaten. Through laughter and smiles, children will see how fun it is to have variety in their diet and explore the abundance of biodiversity in the edible world.</p>3. Everyone Eats! by Julia Kuo
<p><em>Everyone Eats</em> explores a diversity of eaters: the cute animals and critters that make up our ecosystem. Kuo features each animal and the foods they eat that are familiar, edible and even nutritious to readers. Each page will show toddlers how to be fearless in eating these healthy snacks and also that humans and animals are more alike than they thought — therefore, it is important to protect their habitats.</p>4. Farm Anatomy, Nature Anatomy, and Food Anatomy by Julia Rothman
<p>This collection of books from Julia Rothman joins intricate illustrations with entertaining facts and guides about the food world. Covering topics from life on a farm and the natural world to global kitchens and cuisines, Rothman shows how food, farms and nature intersect to create a delicate — but exciting — system. Readers of all ages will be able to add to their knowledge of history, practical skills, and understanding of the food system and ecosystem.</p>5. Farming by Gail Gibbons
<p>Gibbons' introduction to farming shows that farming is a busy practice throughout the year. Not only are animals born, fields tended, and crops harvested, but farmers are also incorporating new technologies and adapting to the forces of nature. The newest edition of <em>Farming</em> uses the same bright colors and simple illustrations, with added expertise on agricultural science and updated farming procedures.</p>6. Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
<p><em>Fry Bread</em> tells the story of a modern Native American family through the role fry bread plays in their family and community. The powerful poetry shows that even a staple food can say so much about family, history, memory and community. In the end, Maillard shows how the bread serves as a tool to promote connectivity between communities and among nations.</p>7. Just Ask! By Sonia Sotomayor, illustrated by Rafael López
<p>Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor joins with López on a book that celebrates not only diversity in a garden, but also diversity in mankind. In <em>Just Ask</em>, children can celebrate the different abilities that kids have by reading about children starting a community garden. In building the garden, the kids ask each other often-ignored questions to encourage readers to do the same: This book shows children that when encountering someone different than them, it is best to just ask and celebrate everyone's unique abilities. In the end, Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor hopes children realize that, just like in a garden, diversity makes the world more vibrant and wonderful.</p>8. My Food, Your Food by Lisa Bullard, illustrated by Christine M. Schneider
<p>In <em>My Food, Your Food</em>, leading character Manuel enjoys food week in class. As each child reminisces about a special meal their family cooks and eats — and special ways they eat them — Manuel realizes that food across cultures is incredibly different. But by enjoying the diverse food traditions, eating with chopsticks, forks and hands, Manuel realizes that eaters across cultures are actually surprisingly alike.</p>9. Pancakes to Parathas: Breakfasts Around the World by Alice B. McGinty, illustrated by Tomoko Suzuki
<p><em>Pancakes to Parathas</em> explores unique breakfasts from country to country. Although the breakfasts differ across the twelve countries, like Australia, India, Japan, and Brazil, readers will find that the meal joins eaters at dawn to get their day started. The bold illustrations help children imagine breakfasts like soured soybeans and coffee — with lots of milk — as they explore what children around the world feast on in the morning.</p>10. Right This Very Minute by Lisl H. Detlefsen, illustrated by Renee Kurilla
<p>Detlefsen offers children a look at where food comes from before they see it in stores and restaurants. Whenever a child says they're hungry right this very minute, this book will remind them of food's incredible journey, from farmer to plate. Showing the variety of farmers involved in making different meals — including orchardists, beekeepers, and livestock, grain, and vegetable farmers — the book reminds children that the supply chain connects them to farmers all around the world.</p>11. See What We Eat!: A First Book of Healthy Eating by Scot Ritchie
<p>In <em>See What We Eat</em>, character Yulee and her four friends take a tour of her aunt's farm, pick apples and make apple crisp for a potluck dinner. Each stop on the tour helps the children understand more about an important component of a balanced meal: fields of grain, gardens of vegetables, hen houses and the barn for dairy and protein, and an orchard of fruit. Finally, the characters come together with a multicultural group of neighbors for a big potluck meal.</p>12. The Good Egg by Jory John and Pete Oswald
<p>In <em>The Good Egg</em>, an extremely good egg finds it hard to keep being good when the other eggs are being rotten. In his dozen, the other 11 eggs behave badly, so the good egg attempts to take charge to perfect the bunch. However, the pressure starts to wear its shell; the good egg self-reflects and eventually realizes that not everyone can be perfect and it is important to be good to others — no matter if they have brief moments of rottenness.</p>13. The Popcorn Book by Tomie dePaola
<p>Twins Tony and Tiny in <em>The Popcorn Book</em> love popcorn — but don't know how or where it is made. The twins join together to cook and learn about their favorite snack, exploring what exactly it is, how it is stored and its cultural significance in legends and stories from North America and Europe. In this 40th anniversary edition, however, dePaola joins with experts to present expanded historical facts, highlighting the role popcorn historically played in Native American communities and how they prepared the snack.</p>14. We Are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines
<p>In <em>We Are the Gardeners</em>, Gaines and her children describe their experience starting their family garden, from challenges and hurdles to new wisdom they hope to share. The family details their experience starting with a single fern plant, joining together to protect pollinators and soil dwellers, and standing up to the face of adversity: the faces of pesky rabbits who gnaw at their vegetables. Throughout the book, readers can learn how challenging — yet rewarding — starting a garden can be.</p>15. What’s On Your Plate?: Exploring the World of Food by Whitney Stewart, illustrated by Christiane Engel
<p>Stewart takes readers on a tour through the food traditions of 14 countries, highlighting that plates around the world are incredibly diverse. Exploring Brazil, Spain, Morocco, India, China and more, Stewart explores the people, cooking practices, food, and ways of thinking that make each place unique. And with easy recipes, readers will be able to try the meals that are connecting them to families around the globe.</p><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=This+holiday+season%2C+give+the+children+in+your+life+the+gift+of+knowledge+about+the+food+system%21+%23FoodTank+is+highlighting+15+books+that+help+young+people+learn+about+agriculture+and+food+traditions.&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffoodtank.com%2Fnews%2F2019%2F12%2F15-childrens-books-celebrating-food%2F&via=foodtank"><span></span></a>
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Solar panels at the Renewable Hydrogen Fueling and Production Station on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. U.S. Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel Barker / Released
By Tara Lohan
Three years into the Trump administration, its anti-climate and anti-science agenda is well established. Despite dire warnings from the world's leading scientists about the threats from rising greenhouse gas emissions, the administration has stubbornly continued to deny climate change, obstructed and undermined efforts to curb it, and moved again and again to roll back existing regulations that help reduce emissions.
<p>Under Trump there's only one government agency whose top officials continue to take the threat of climate change seriously, albeit out of the public spotlight: the Department of Defense.</p><p>As international threat expert Michael T. Klare recounts in his new book, <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781627792493" target="_blank"><em>All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon's Perspective on Climate Change</em></a>, U.S. military leaders view climate change as a threat to the country's security — as well as global stability. <a href="http://michaelklare.com/" target="_blank">Klare</a> explores what they're doing about it, mostly behind the scenes.</p><p>With long experience studying national security issues, Klare is currently director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass. He's written extensively about the military and global resources, including <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Race-Whats-Left-Scramble-Resources/dp/1250023971" target="_blank"><em>The Race for What's Left</em></a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Oil-Consequences-Dependency-Petroleum/dp/0805073132/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=Blood+and+Oil&qid=1574885619&s=books&sr=1-7" target="_blank"><em>Blood and Oil</em></a>.</p>
<p>"While discussion of climate change has indeed largely disappeared from the Pentagon's public statements, its internal efforts to address the effects of global warming have not stopped," Klare writes.</p><p>Klare begins by tracing the evolution of the Pentagon's understanding of the potential dangers of climate change, which goes back more than a decade. The Department of Defense has published numerous reports and briefs since and is currently conducting an assessment of the climate-related threats to the hundreds of U.S. military bases at home and abroad. While the study isn't complete, results so far have shown that half of all bases face at least one climate-related threat. Many face several.</p><p>What Pentagon analysts are most concerned about is not endangered species, like some other government agencies, but other humans.</p><p>"They see climate change as ratcheting up global chaos, which in turn means a greater likelihood of U.S involvement in ugly foreign wars," writes Klare.</p><p>In some places climate-related disasters such as droughts, heat waves and hurricanes may trigger mass migrations and failed states; in others climate change may not be the sole threat or even the greatest, but it could make a bad situation catastrophic. It's considered a "threat multiplier" — one that, in the age of globalization, can lead to far-reaching failures of energy, food and health systems.</p><p>"Try to picture a food-price crisis occurring at more or less the same time as a major pandemic and a mass migration event: the resulting chaos, distress and contention are almost unimaginable," he writes.</p><p>As climate change worsens, the U.S. military will face more humanitarian crises. Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013 and the quick succession of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017 gave a preview of what's to come — and the extensive resources needed.</p><p>Climate-related threats to food and water can also trigger what Klare calls "failed-state syndrome," like in Mali where resource scarcity, social unrest and natural disaster helped create political upheaval. Countries like Nigeria and Saudi Arabia could face similar threats.</p><p>There's also the potential for clashes among the world's heavyweights. A melting Arctic will open up access to shipping, drilling and other kinds of economic exploitation, which could prompt <a href="https://therevelator.org/arctic-melts-nations-race/" target="_blank">conflict between Arctic neighbors</a> like the United States, Russia, Norway and Canada. Not coincidentally, the United States recently restocked its Cold War stash of military equipment and weapons housed in caves in Norway, presumably in the case of conflict with Russia, writes Klare.</p><p>And across the world, China could go head-to-head with India over vital flows in the Brahmaputra and other rivers as melting Himalayan glaciers curtail water resources. A similar situation over water conflict could emerge between India and Pakistan, too, writes Klare.</p><p>And then there are the threats emerging at home. The military is already dealing with rising seas, increased inland flooding, and more severe hurricanes and wildfires. These aren't small problems: The Department of Defense mobilized more than 30,000 personnel in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.</p><p>Klare's review of both foreign and domestic threats from climate change is exhaustive and alarming, especially on top of what we already know about how climate change threatens vital ecosystems and species across the globe.</p><p>He makes a convincing case that there's ample reason for military leaders to be concerned — not to mention the rest of us: "It follows that if the armed services are worried about the safety and survival of <em>their</em> vital systems, we should be equally worried about our own."</p><p>Of course, many of us already are worried, which is why the last part of the book — what the Pentagon is actually doing about all of this — is so important… and also a bit disappointing. Klare reveals that many of the military's efforts to "go green" — for example, by using fewer fossil fuels — have been less about environmental concerns than strategy. Convoys to carry gasoline to remote military outposts are vulnerable to attack; using solar or other technologies to power barracks or vehicles reduces that risk.</p><p>And some programs were, well, less than they first appeared. For example, in 2006 the <em>USS Stockdale</em> set off as a part of the "Great Green Fleet," so named because the boat was using some "alternative fuels" to reduce its dependence on oil. But Klare reveals that the boat was actually running on a mix of 90% oil and 10% liquefied beef fat. It's hard to imagine that's either a green or scalable replacement for the petroleum used to power a destroyer across an ocean.</p><p>Other efforts have yielded better results, though. Today the different service branches use more solar and other renewables. And efforts are underway to vastly increase fuel efficiency of planes and ground vehicles.</p><p>And along the way they've achieved some measurable results: From 2011 to 2016, the DoD's consumption of petroleum for operating forces declined 20%. The energy supplied by renewables at home has also climbed 12% over 2003 levels.</p><p>Klare lists a few other statistics, but it's hard to put all of it into context as the book fails to mention the <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a28198372/us-military-carbon-pollution-study/" target="_blank">overall climate footprint</a> of the U.S. military — which other sources point out is more than in most other countries. There's also no mention of the sweeping environmental, social and related implications of U.S. imperialism, a significant omission.</p><p>Indeed the idea of the U.S. military being a big green savior is a tough pill to swallow. Sen. Elizabeth Warren found that out earlier this year, when she introduced the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1498" target="_blank">Department of Defense Climate Resiliency and Readiness Act</a>, which seeks to ramp up the military's potential when it comes to renewables and energy efficiency.</p><p>She received some swift backlash from progressives, including author and activist Naomi Klein who <a href="https://twitter.com/NaomiAKlein/status/1128702248282935296" target="_blank">tweeted</a> that, "The most powerful war machine on the planet is never going to be 'green.'"</p><p>Still, Klare claims that "given the immense size of the U.S. military establishment and its proven ability to embrace technological innovation, the Department of Defense is one of the few institutions in American society with the capacity to make a real difference in slowing the pace of warming."</p><p>But will that be enough? If climate change worsens the threats the military has identified, and makes military action more likely, the chances of reducing our armed forces' carbon footprint will get even slimmer. As Klare's own reporting shows, the vast, worldwide social and political upheaval that we'll likely experience due to climate change means we badly need civilian, as well as military, arms of government to get on board.</p>
<p> <em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/pentagon-climate-change-klare/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2641547447#/" target="_self"></a></em><em></em></p>
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An important theme runs through November's new environmental books: We're stronger together than apart.
<p>For one author that means fostering the ability of people and wildlife to coexist. For a group of experts, it involves working hard to adapt to the threats of climate change. And two new books make the case for diversifying the environmental movement — because we all need each other.</p><p>You'll find our selections for November's 12 most noteworthy eco-books below. Check them out, pick the ones (or pairs) that are best for you, and then prepare to do some illuminating and world-changing reading — and maybe pull a few friends along while you're at it.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://therevelator.org/environmental-books-november-2019/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>
Our Wild Calling: How Connecting With Animals Can Transform Our Lives — and Save Theirs by Richard Louv
<p>The author of the classic <em>Last Child in the Woods</em> returns with a howling-good new book about the scientific, moral, ethical and spiritual need for human-animal coexistence. (Hint: It will help the animals, too.)</p>Building a Resilient Tomorrow: How to Prepare for the Coming Climate Disruption by Alice C. Hill and Leonardo Martinez-Diaz
<div id="1da34" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="LMZOBC1576661200"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1190604190160052224" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">To ensure health care delivery during extreme events, communities must “harden” the system to weather extremes. Tha… https://t.co/qgZykFtEXK</div> — Alice Hill (@Alice Hill)<a href="https://twitter.com/Alice_C_Hill/statuses/1190604190160052224">1572697133.0</a></blockquote></div>A New Coast: Strategies for Responding to Devastating Storms and Rising Seas by Jeffrey Peterson
<p>With climate change already causing problems for coasts and other communities and habitats around the world, we'd better start planning how to adapt for a risky and uncertain future. These two new books by former officials in the Obama administration concentrate on developing actionable successes to minimize the damage and ensure that the systems we depend upon can persist.</p>Engage, Connect, Protect: Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders by Angelou Ezeilo
<p>The founder of the Greening Youth Foundation provides a critique of the too-white environmental movement and a toolkit for engaging younger participants from African-American, Latino and Native American communities.</p>Latinx Environmentalisms: Place, Justice, and the Decolonial edited by Sarah D. Wald, David J. Vázquez, Priscilla Solis Ybarra and Sarah Jaquette Ray
<p>More than a dozen top minds come together to examine thoughts and cultural processes otherwise ignored by the environmental movement.</p>The Case for the Green New Deal by Ann Pettifor
<div id="7d64b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="NFM60I1576661200"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1190189414196137984" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">To protect the systems that sustain life on earth, we need to do more than just reimagine the economy – we have to… https://t.co/fmxAHsj6DB</div> — Kirsten de Keyser 🌍 (@Kirsten de Keyser 🌍)<a href="https://twitter.com/KirstenInCamden/statuses/1190189414196137984">1572598243.0</a></blockquote></div>A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal by Kate Aronoff, Alyssa Battistoni, Daniel Aldana Cohen and Thea Riofrancos
<p>Radical publisher Verso Books brings us two new volumes about the Green New Deal this month. Each tackles the topic from a different perspective (the first covers economics, while the second focuses on politics), but both see it as a critical way to address the inequality that causes so many of the world's problems.</p>American Resistance: From the Women’s March to the Blue Wave by Dana R. Fisher
<p>What can we learn from the wave of resistance that blossomed after the election of President Donald Trump? And can efforts like the Climate Strike make a difference in 2020 and beyond? Fisher looks deep into the data to reveal how this movement can keep making progress.</p>Common Sense for the 21st Century: Only Nonviolent Rebellion Can Now Stop Climate Breakdown and Social Collapse by Roger Hallam
<p>One of the cofounders of Extinction Rebellion provides a call to action inspired by Thomas Paine's original Revolutionary War-era <em>Common Sense</em> but updated for a modern, warmer world and the need for civil disobedience.</p>All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon’s Perspective on Climate Change by Michael T. Klare
<p>If the Pentagon worries about floods, disease, drought, climate refugees and so many other threats, then the rest of us should, too.</p>Recycling by Finn Arne Jørgensen
<p>A fascinating examination of how we transform some things into other things — physically and culturally. This book follows a selection of products through the supply chain, from creation to disposal to re-creation. Along the way it aims to prove that recycling isn't just important for the planet; it also plays a vital psychological role for those of us participating in the process.</p>Science Be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River by Eric Kuhn and John Fleck
<p>The authors examine the Colorado River's history of mismanagement, providing both a cautionary tale and a look ahead at how we can (hopefully) resolve the mistakes of the past — and maybe avoid similar problems on other rivers.</p><p>That's our list for this month, but you'll find dozens of other recent eco-books in the <a href="https://therevelator.org/tag/revelator-reads/" target="_blank">"Revelator Reads" archive</a>.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Maskot / Maskot / Getty Images
By Alex Robinson
Youngstown, Ohio probably doesn't strike most people as a destination for foodies. But Mark Winne begs to differ.
<p>Over the last decade, the food activist and writer has witnessed an explosion of farm-to-table restaurants, brewpubs and independent coffee shops in America. Many might think this food renaissance is only happening in large coastal cities. But through his travels, Winne has found something much more expansive is going on.</p><p>Winne's new book, <a href="https://islandpress.org/books/food-town-usa" target="_blank"><em>Food Town, USA</em></a>, follows his journey through seven unlikely food towns to show the presence of good food is becoming a new normal across the country.</p><p>"Good food was available increasingly around the country in all kinds of places, and people were paying much more attention to locally produced food," Winne said.</p>
<p>He met with farmers, local politicians and brew masters in places like Sitka, Alaska and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. What these places had in common was an unexpectedly thriving food scene. Many of these places didn't have farmers' markets a decade ago, let alone farm-to-table restaurants and brewpubs. But the shifting population and demographics of these areas during that ten years created a greater demand for good food.</p><p>"They didn't want to eat at Denny's. They wanted to have the real thing," Winne said.</p><p>In addition to caring more about where their food came from, Winne said, people were also starting to care about tackling problems like food insecurity. One of the overarching concerns he heard everywhere was whether there would be enough new farmers to meet the emerging demand for good food.</p><p>In many of the places he went, Winne found new establishments had been started by young people who had grown up in these towns, left to learn their craft in big cities and then returned home to start their own businesses. Winne said some of these people knew their hometowns didn't necessarily have the same opportunities as the larger cities, but they felt a draw or homing instinct.</p>
<p>Chefs from Portland, Oregon were also moving to places like Boise, Idaho, because the culinary scene in the former was oversaturated and crowded. It also didn't hurt that real estate was cheaper.</p><p>One of the big questions Winne has wrestled with is whether economic development has brought good restaurants to these places, or if food was playing a part in bringing new businesses to town.</p><p>"It's a little bit of the chicken and egg deal. I saw a little bit of both," he said. In some places, Winne said, food has been seen as an economic engine that can jumpstart development. If these places were going to try to attract new businesses, the employees they would bring would want a quality of life similar to where they came from. So these towns needed to have nice coffee shops, good local brewpubs and a farmers' market.</p><p>Winne said he also saw the emergence of an entrepreneurial class. "They were looking at the marketplace and wondering is this place ready for good food, or do I need to make them ready by opening up a place and hoping they will come?" he added.</p><p>For Winne, this has all illustrated a new national consciousness that has taken hold across the country, and it is apparent in these new food towns.<br></p>
<p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/10/a-food-activists-journey-through-unlikely-food-towns/" target="_blank">Modern Farmer</a>.</em><em></em></p>Related Articles Around the Web
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Naomi Klein: 'We Are Seeing the Beginnings of the Era of Climate Barbarism'
17 September 2019
Climate
Author, social activist and filmmaker Naomi Klein speaking on the one year anniversary of Hurricane Maria on Sept. 20, 2018. Erik McGregor / Pacific Press / LightRocket / Getty Images
By Natalie Hanman
Why are you publishing this book now?
I still feel that the way that we talk about climate change is too compartmentalised, too siloed from the other crises we face. A really strong theme running through the book is the links between it and the crisis of rising white supremacy, the various forms of nationalism and the fact that so many people are being forced from their homelands, and the war that is waged on our attention spans. These are intersecting and interconnecting crises and so the solutions have to be as well.
<h4>The book collects essays from the last decade, have you changed your mind about anything?<br></h4><p>When I look back, I don't think I placed enough emphasis on the challenge climate change poses to the left. It's more obvious the way the climate crisis challenges a rightwing dominant worldview, and the cult of serious centrism that never wants to do anything big, that's always looking to split the difference. But this is also a challenge to a left worldview that is essentially only interested in redistributing the spoils of extractivism [the process of extracting natural resources from the earth] and not reckoning with the limits of endless consumption.</p><h4>What's stopping the left doing this?</h4><p>In a North American context, it's the greatest taboo of all to actually admit that there are going to be limits. You see that in the way Fox News has gone after the Green New Deal – they are coming after your hamburgers! It cuts to the heart of the American dream – every generation gets more than the last, there is always a new frontier to expand to, the whole idea of settler colonial nations like ours. When somebody comes along and says, actually, there are limits, we've got some tough decisions, we need to figure out how to manage what's left, we've got to share equitably – it is a psychic attack. And so the response [on the left] has been to avoid, and say no, no, we're not coming to take away your stuff, there are going to be all kinds of benefits. And there <em>are</em>going to be benefits: we'll have more livable cities, we'll have less polluted air, we'll spend less time stuck in traffic, we can design happier, richer lives in so many ways. But we are going to have to contract on the endless, disposable consumption side.</p><h4>Do you feel encouraged by talk of the Green New Deal?</h4><p>I feel a tremendous excitement and a sense of relief, that we are finally talking about solutions on the scale of the crisis we face. That we're not talking about a little carbon tax or a cap and trade scheme as a silver bullet. We're talking about transforming our economy. This system is failing the majority of people anyway, which is why we're in this period of such profound political destabilisation – that is giving us the Trumps and the Brexits, and all of these strongman leaders – so why don't we figure out how to change everything from bottom to top, and do it in a way that addresses all of these other crises at the same time? There is every chance we will miss the mark, but every fraction of a degree warming that we are able to hold off is a victory and every policy that we are able to win that makes our societies more humane, the more we will weather the inevitable shocks and storms to come without slipping into barbarism. Because what really terrifies me is what we are seeing at our borders in Europe and North America and Australia – I don't think it's coincidental that the settler colonial states and the countries that are the engines of that colonialism are at the forefront of this. We are seeing the beginnings of the era of climate barbarism. We saw it in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/14/christchurch-attack-suspect-sent-call-to-arms-letter-from-cell" target="_blank">Christchurch</a>, we saw it in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/04/el-paso-safe-city-white-man-killing-latinos" target="_blank">El Paso</a>, where you have this marrying of white supremacist violence with vicious anti-immigrant racism.</p>
<h4>That is one of the most chilling sections of your book: I think that's a link a lot of people haven't made.</h4><p>This pattern has been clear for a while. White supremacy emerged not just because people felt like thinking up ideas that were going to get a lot of people killed but because it was useful to protect barbaric but highly profitable actions. The age of scientific racism begins alongside the transatlantic slave trade, it is a rationale for that brutality. If we are going to respond to climate change by fortressing our borders, then of course the theories that would justify that, that create these hierarchies of humanity, will come surging back. There have been signs of that for years, but it is getting harder to deny because you have killers who are screaming it from the rooftops.</p><h4>One criticism you hear about the environment movement is that it is dominated by white people. How do you address that?</h4><p>When you have a movement that is overwhelmingly representative of the most privileged sector of society then the approach is going to be much more fearful of change, because people who have a lot to lose tend to be more fearful of change, whereas people who have a lot to gain will tend to fight harder for it. That's the big benefit of having an approach to climate change that links it to those so called bread and butter issues: how are we going to get better paid jobs, affordable housing, a way for people to take care of their families? </p><p>I have had many conversations with environmentalists over the years where they seem really to believe that by linking fighting climate change with fighting poverty, or fighting for racial justice, it's going to make the fight harder. We have to get out of this "my crisis is bigger than your crisis: first we save the planet and then we fight poverty and racism, and violence against women". That doesn't work. That alienates the people who would fight hardest for change. </p><p>This debate has shifted a huge amount in the U.S. because of the leadership of the climate justice movement and because it is congresswomen of colour who are championing the Green New Deal. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/29/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-met-greta-thunberg-hope-contagious-climate" target="_blank">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ilhan-omar" target="_blank">Ilhan Omar</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2018/nov/07/ayanna-pressley-massachusetts-first-black-congresswoman" target="_blank">Ayanna Pressley</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/14/rashida-tlaib-holocaust-israel-palestine-comments-democrats-defend-context-republican-attack" target="_blank">Rashida Tlaib</a>come from communities that have gotten such a raw deal under the years of neoliberalism and longer, and are determined to represent, truly represent, the interests of those communities. They're not afraid of deep change because their communities desperately need it.</p><h4>In the book, you write: "The hard truth is that the answer to the question 'What can I, as an individual, do to stop climate change?' is: nothing." Do you still believe that?</h4><p>In terms of the carbon, the individual decisions that we make are not going to add up to anything like the kind of scale of change that we need. And I do believe that the fact that for so many people it's so much more comfortable to talk about our own personal consumption, than to talk about systemic change, is a product of neoliberalism, that we have been trained to see ourselves as consumers first. To me that's the benefit of bringing up these historical analogies, like the New Deal or the Marshall Plan – it brings our minds back to a time when we were able to think of change on that scale. Because we've been trained to think very small. It is incredibly significant that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/greta-thunberg" target="_blank">Greta Thunberg</a> has turned her life into a living emergency.</p><h4>Yes, she set sail for the UN climate summit in New York on a zero carbon yacht ...</h4><p>Exactly. But this isn't about what Greta is doing as an individual. It's about what Greta is broadcasting in the choices that she makes as an activist, and I absolutely respect that. I think it's magnificent. She is using the power that she has to broadcast that this is an emergency, and trying to inspire politicians to treat it as an emergency. I don't think anybody is exempt from scrutinising their own decisions and behaviours but I think it is possible to overemphasise the individual choices. I have made a choice – and this has been true since I wrote <em>No Logo</em>, and I started getting these "what should I buy, where should I shop, what are the ethical clothes?" questions. My answer continues to be that I am not a lifestyle adviser, I am not anyone's shopping guru, and I make these decisions in my own life but I'm under no illusion that these decisions are going to make the difference.</p><h4>Some people are choosing to go on birth strikes. What do you think about that?</h4><p>I'm happy these discussions are coming into the public domain as opposed to being furtive issues we're afraid to talk about. It's been very isolating for people. It certainly was for me. One of the reasons I waited as long as I did to try and get pregnant, and I would say this to my partner all the time – what, you want to have a Mad Max water warrior fighting with their friends for food and water? It wasn't until I was part of the climate justice movement and I could see a path forward that I could even imagine having a kid. But I would never tell anybody how to answer this most intimate of questions. As a feminist who knows the brutal history of forced sterilisation and the ways in which women's bodies become battle zones when policymakers decide that they are going to try and control population, I think that the idea that there are regulatory solutions when it comes to whether or not to have kids is catastrophically ahistorical. We need to be struggling with our climate grief together and our climate fears together, through whatever decision we decide to make, but the discussion we need to have is how do we build a world so that those kids can have thriving, zero-carbon lives?</p>
<h4>Over the summer, you encouraged people to read Richard Powers's novel, The Overstory. Why?</h4><p>It's been incredibly important to me and I'm happy that so many people have written to me since. What <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/08/the-overstory-richard-powers-review" target="_blank">Powers is writing about trees</a>: that trees live in communities and are in communication, and plan and react together, and we've been completely wrong in the way we conceptualise them. It's the same conversation we're having about whether we are going to solve this as individuals or whether we are going to save the collective organism. It's also rare, in good fiction, to valorise activism, to treat it with real respect, failures and all, to acknowledge the heroism of the people who put their bodies on the line. I thought Powers did that in a really extraordinary way.</p><h4>What are you views on what Extinction Rebellion has achieved?</h4><p>One thing they have done so well is break us out of this classic campaign model we have been in for a long time, where you tell someone something scary, you ask them to click on something to do something about it, you skip out the whole phase where we need to grieve together and feel together and process what it is that we just saw. Because what I hear a lot from people is, ok, maybe those people back in the 1930s or 40s could organise neighbourhood by neighbourhood or workplace by workplace but we can't. We believe we've been so downgraded as a species that we are incapable of that. The only thing that is going to change that belief is getting face to face, in community, having experiences, off our screens, with one another on the streets and in nature, and winning some things and feeling that power.</p><h4>You talk about stamina in the book. How do you keep going? Do you feel hopeful?</h4><p>I have complicated feelings about the hope question. Not a day goes by that I don't have a moment of sheer panic, raw terror, complete conviction that we are doomed, and then I do pull myself out of it. I'm renewed by this new generation that is so determined, so forceful. I'm inspired by the willingness to engage in electoral politics, because my generation, when we were in our 20s and 30s, there was so much suspicion around getting our hands dirty with electoral politics that we lost a lot of opportunities. What gives me the most hope right now is that we've finally got the vision for what we want instead, or at least the first rough draft of it. This is the first time this has happened in my lifetime. And also, I did decide to have kids. I have a seven year old who is so completely obsessed and in love with the natural world. When I think about him, after we've spent an entire summer talking about the role of salmon in feeding the forests where he was born in British Columbia, and how they are linked to the health of the trees and the soil and the bears and the orcas and this entire magnificent ecosystem, and I think about what it would be like to have to tell him that there are no more salmon, it kills me. So that motivates me. And slays me.</p>
<p><em>This story was originally published by </em><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/14/naomi-klein-we-are-seeing-the-beginnings-of-the-era-of-climate-barbarism" target="_blank"><em>The Guardian</em></a><em>, and is republished here as part of the </em><em><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/series/covering-climate-now" target="_blank">Covering Climate Now</a> </em><em>partnership to strengthen the media's focus on the climate crisis.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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