What people are saying about Our Food, Our Right

Have you read the amazing reviews from authors and activists Eric Holt-Gimenez, Mark Winne, Brian Tokar, and community college culinary school chef Gregg Shiosaki about “Our Food, Our Right: Recipes for Food Justice”? Check them out below!

If you haven’t gotten your copy, order it online today.

Save the date for some upcoming readings with Our Food, Our Right contributors in Olympia on February 27.

“Turn on the television and surf a few channels. You will inevitably find some celebrity chef either whipping up a gourmet delight, traveling to savor some exotic cuisine among faraway, folksy villagers, or  telling you what not to eat. What passes for cooking education is actually food pornography, and while the recipes are appetizing, the stories are tasteless, packed with titillating information that misses the real drama of food. The Community Alliance for Global Justice has an antidote for food pornography: Our Food, Our Right: Recipes for Food Justice. It is a cookbook that tells the story of food sovereignty, the right of people to determine their own food and agricultural systems. That means that as well as mouth-watering recipes this collectively-produced book also shares stories of the struggle to make our food fair, healthy, accessible and sustainable. It comes from the movement to feed the movement. Now that is truly nurturing.”

– Eric Holt-Gimenez, Executive Director, Food First

“People, public policies, and great local food are pretty much the big stories of the day. And when they come together in such abundance as do in the second edition of Our Food, Our Right, well, it makes for a very satisfying meal. From the opening prayer — a way to grace this book — to the final chart diagramming humankind’s descent into the Monsanto Inferno, Our Food, Our Right is well provisioned with important food news, profiles of food heroes, and delicious local recipes. You’ll find between its covers what you need to become not just a good food consumer, but a good food citizen as well, and you’ll no doubt get a little spiritual uplift along the way. There are at least a million-and-one ways we might find our way back to Paradise through food, community, and the fair treatment of our fellow human beings. I guarantee you that you’ll find most of them in Our Food, Our Right. ”

Mark Winne, author Food Rebels, Guerrilla Gardeners, and Smart-Cookin’ Mamas: Fighting Back in an Age of Industrial Agriculture

“Local food is all the rage these days, and rightfully so.  People across the US are increasingly frustrated by the chemical-laden, processed calories that pass for food in most major supermarkets and are increasingly looking to alternative sources, from farmers markets and farm share programs to co-ops and natural food stores. But with food prices rising everywhere, healthy food is in danger of becoming even more of an elite niche market, accessible only to those with surplus income to spend. While some of us will pay more for food that is local, organic and fair-trade, many of our neighbors are often limited by shrinking household budgets to food that is nutrient-deficient, genetically engineered, and potentially hazardous to health.

Fortunately, new movements committed to food justice and food sovereignty are challenging this paradigm, and a new book, Our Food, Our Right, by the Seattle-based Community Alliance for Global Justice, offers a comprehensive, inviting, and highly accessible introduction to all the inspiring new efforts to democratize our food system and make good food accessible to all. Filled with stories from local efforts in the Seattle area and beyond, the book helps us see a much broader scope of challenges to agribusiness dominance and illuminates often-invisible efforts based in immigrant neighborhoods, innovative community garden projects, and on sustainable local farms, among others.

We get a glimpse into Native American kitchens, new efforts to organize farmworkers, and the front lines of resistance to agribusiness control and GMOs from as far away as Brazil and Kenya. The book also features interviews with an impressive array of farmers, mainly youthful ones, whose farms are urban, subscription-based (CSA), biodynamic, or located on formerly vacant lots. The interviews offer an opportunity to understand each farm’s unique challenges, accomplishments, and how they benefit from community support. There are numerous photos and illustrations, and even a section of color photos.

Uniquely for a book of this type, there are also 22 recipes, often relying on wild edibles as well as garden vegetables, along with a healthy share of fresh salmon – probably the Northwest’s most important signature food. There’s also an excellent how-to section offering tips on gardening and winter food preservation. In short, this book offers something to everyone who’s concerned about the future of our food, with numerous inviting starting points for those who are just starting to learn about the new community-based food movements. It’s an outstanding resource for libraries, schools, community centers, and for everyone you know who’s concerned about the state of our food system and wants to know what to do about it.”

Brian Tokar, Institute for Social Ecology

“I’ve selected Our Food, Our Right [OFOR] as the textbook for my Sustainable Food System Practices class at Seattle Culinary Academy.  It starts by introducing the concept of Food Sovereignty, which is how I begin my class.  It is full of examples of what people have accomplished to bring about positive changes in our struggling food system.  The Farmer Profiles chapter is a reminder that farmers’ struggles and successes are interrelated to our communities.  I feel that it is a great educational tool for aspiring culinary professionals who want to make food justice part of their work.

OFOR is a “sustainable food” guide for people wanting to initiate positive changes in their kitchens, backyards, communities, and world.  The DIY food growing and preservation chapter is a great way to make changes at home.  Stories of local and global food activism are inspiring.  Readers will find many references to help gather more information and find ways to get involved and bring about change.  This book is an informative and motivating resource for anyone wanting to improve our food system.”

– Gregg Shiosaki, Instructor, Seattle Culinary Academy

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