Reading · Climate Culinarians

Dear Climate Culinarians,

Did my previous newsletters make you dream of pretty small farms with country kitchens? Or did they make you want to learn more about our food system? I got you.

I love to share what I’ve been reading. And - maybe even more importantly? - what’s in my “books to read next” stack. Here’s my selection for farms, big and small, old-school, modern or utopian, and their harvests.

Big Team Farms + Farm (And Other F-Words) by Sarah Mock (New Degree Press, 2021 + 2022)

These two books are the reason why I interviewed Sarah Mock for the last two newsletters (read part 1 and part 2)! The food and agriculture reporter grew up on a small farm and later was thrilled by what she calls a second back-to-the-land movement. Then she realized that these young new farmers failed within about a decade. Why? Mock travelled the country to research what older farmers might do better. The result turned into Farm (And Other F-Words), followed by a book about Mock’s ideas of a modern farming concept, Big Team Farms. She keeps at it with a newsletter here on Substack called People Eat The Land.

The Farm Bill - A Citizen’s Guide by Daniel Imhoff with Christina Badaracco (Island Press, 2019)

Why should you care about the Farm Bill? Because you care about what you eat. After the current Farm Bill became law, writer and activist Daniel Imhoff and public health policy specialist Christina Badaracco translated legalese into English. They explain the three main components of the bill—farm subsidies, food stamps (aka SNAP), and conservation programs. The book doesn’t stop there. It helps understand current policies, barriers to reform and opportunities for major change. Imhoff also shows readers how to make their voices heard in a legislative process dominated by interest groups, including the owners of very large farms. The book may be almost seven years old, but the debate is current: Congress is overdue with approving the next Farm Bill.

Reaping What She Sows - How Women Are Rebuilding Our Broken Food System by Nancy Matsumoto (Melville House, 2025)

I’d say we got the food system covered now. But did you know there is an alt food system, too? With this book, Nancy Matsumoto introduces regional or local supply chains built by women who drive change. You’ll meet seed-savers, a direct-to-consumer fishery, or farmers, millers and bakers tackling grains. The author continues to write about people who build short food supply chains in her newsletter Reaping.

The Catskills Farm to Table Cookbook by Courtney Wade (Hatherleigh Press, 2025)

So you bought a few things from local farms. How do you put them to good use? I’d say look for regional cookbooks. Author Courtney Wade uses her knowledge of the Catskills region (warning: her photos may make you want to move there). She roped in restaurants and farms to offer more than 100 recipes and their local history. Get ready for grilled lemon peppercorn asparagus, spring chicken and herb buscuits and apple cider doghnuts. And since the book includes foraging, sauteed fiddleheads will pop up, too.

What kind of dishes to you make from your local farm’s bounty?

5 books about small farms and our food system

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