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Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All
A host of books and films in recent years have documented the dangers of our current food system, from chemical runoff to soaring rates of diet-related illness to inhumane treatment of workers and animals. But advice on what to do about it largely begins and ends with the admonition to "eat local or "eat organic."
Fair Food is an enlightening and inspiring guide to changing not only what we eat, but how food is grown, packaged, delivered, marketed, and sold. Oran B. Hesterman shows how our system's dysfunctions are unintended consequences of our emphasis on efficiency, centralization, higher yields, profit, and convenience--and defines the new principles, as well as the concrete steps, necessary to restructuring it. Along the way, he introduces people and organizations across the country who are already doing this work in a number of creative ways, from bringing fresh food to inner cities to fighting for farm workers' rights to putting cows back on the pastures where they belong. He provides a wealth of practical information for readers who want to get more involved.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 6, 2011
31 people are currently reading
1155 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
August 3, 2011
If you're brand new to food justice, sustainable agriculture, food systems, and related topics, I could see this being a pretty good introduction. It's comprehensive without being overwhelming (in my mind). Food justice is a topic that can branch out into so many different subjects, and while Hesterman does touch upon many of them, I felt like he does so in a concise and user-friendly way.
If you're already well-acquainted with the topic, I'd skip to Part III on Becoming an Engaged Citizen -- it's what I enjoyed most about the book. A lot of books on this topic only talk about what's wrong with our current system and can seem very doom and gloom. I appreciated that Hesterman talks very concretely about what we can do, as individuals and collectively, to change things.
Even though I've done a fair amount of reading up on (and directly participating in) the food justice movement, I still learned a lot from that final section.
If you're already well-acquainted with the topic, I'd skip to Part III on Becoming an Engaged Citizen -- it's what I enjoyed most about the book. A lot of books on this topic only talk about what's wrong with our current system and can seem very doom and gloom. I appreciated that Hesterman talks very concretely about what we can do, as individuals and collectively, to change things.
Even though I've done a fair amount of reading up on (and directly participating in) the food justice movement, I still learned a lot from that final section.
January 31, 2014
Blah! This book is not written in an engaging style. It was torturous to the point that I skimmed through some sections, and extremely heavy in self-promotion. Author is a community organizer with thinly veiled contempt for Michael Pollan.
This is my zillionth food policy/culture book, so a lot of it is review (though the author claims it is not). Urban areas don't have grocery stores. If you live more than one mile from a grocery store (with produce, meat, and bakery department), you live in a food desert. Monoculture is bad. Irrigation and water rights issues are really big deals in western states. Pay for food industry workers (from pickers and packers to cooks in restaurants) is bad. Blah blah blah. Even if you're being as responsible as possible, you're not doing enough.
He writes about innovators (urban gardeners, urban bakers, CSA-runners like his brother-in-law, large-scale organic farmers, etc) but never mentions Joel Salatin which is very sad, though he does mention someone with a similar farming style.
Honestly, it's more like a Who's Who of Jewish food system innovators and Groups Who Are Changing Stuff, which gets tedious and full of alphabet soup after awhile. And even though he cites a few specific examples, a lot of the things he writes about in a very abstract sense, which makes them hard to follow.
Suggestions for improving food system are to vote with your food dollar and know where your food comes from, buy local, form community gardens and community buying clubs and community kitchens. Improve public school lunches, food sourcing for colleges/universities, and hospitals. Give money to food policy council lobbying groups to push for fairer food systems, using land preservation legislation and the omnibus Farm Bill, as well as more local policies and ordinances.
This is my zillionth food policy/culture book, so a lot of it is review (though the author claims it is not). Urban areas don't have grocery stores. If you live more than one mile from a grocery store (with produce, meat, and bakery department), you live in a food desert. Monoculture is bad. Irrigation and water rights issues are really big deals in western states. Pay for food industry workers (from pickers and packers to cooks in restaurants) is bad. Blah blah blah. Even if you're being as responsible as possible, you're not doing enough.
He writes about innovators (urban gardeners, urban bakers, CSA-runners like his brother-in-law, large-scale organic farmers, etc) but never mentions Joel Salatin which is very sad, though he does mention someone with a similar farming style.
Honestly, it's more like a Who's Who of Jewish food system innovators and Groups Who Are Changing Stuff, which gets tedious and full of alphabet soup after awhile. And even though he cites a few specific examples, a lot of the things he writes about in a very abstract sense, which makes them hard to follow.
Suggestions for improving food system are to vote with your food dollar and know where your food comes from, buy local, form community gardens and community buying clubs and community kitchens. Improve public school lunches, food sourcing for colleges/universities, and hospitals. Give money to food policy council lobbying groups to push for fairer food systems, using land preservation legislation and the omnibus Farm Bill, as well as more local policies and ordinances.
April 11, 2013
Despite the author's enthusiasm for the subject, I found the writing dry and hard to get through, amounting mostly to summaries of the work of relevant fair food activist groups and without comprehensive analysis of how the diverse strategies pursued by these groups may fit together to ultimately fail or succeed in resolving the challenges of modern agriculture set out at the beginning of the book. In particular, I would have liked the book to include some discussion of how the local movement fits into global agriculture, trade, and poverty. Can and does the U.S.' local food movement's emphasis on investment in and revitalization of local communities go hand-in-hand with environmentally-sound economic development and poverty alleviation in other countries and what policy changes need to happen to ensure that it does? Despite some of my disappointment with the book, it does cover a broad range of hot topics in 'fair food' and I am more educated because of it.
December 31, 2021
I read this for my nutrition class. Some info I knew but lots I didn’t. It gave me some good ideas on how to be a more conscientious consumer.
September 13, 2011
So many activists are so one-note that you come away from their books feeling both guilty and resentful for the moral bludgeoning you've received. Hesterman, on the other hand, has a very positive start-where-you-are attitude that leaves you feeling encouraged rather than depressed.
There is no doubt that our nation's food system is in trouble. The beginning of this book gives a very useful summary of these problems in a clear and concise way. The middle of the book offers examples of various solutions already operating on a small scale, and how these could be expanded. I found this section very interesting. Finally, Hesterman offers ways that you can get involved and make a difference, beyond the basic advice to buy local.
I recommend this book to anyone, but especially if you just have a vague understanding of what the fair food movement is, this book is a great primer.
There is no doubt that our nation's food system is in trouble. The beginning of this book gives a very useful summary of these problems in a clear and concise way. The middle of the book offers examples of various solutions already operating on a small scale, and how these could be expanded. I found this section very interesting. Finally, Hesterman offers ways that you can get involved and make a difference, beyond the basic advice to buy local.
I recommend this book to anyone, but especially if you just have a vague understanding of what the fair food movement is, this book is a great primer.
November 10, 2014
Excellent book discussing not only he problems in our current food system, but providing practical information about how to effect positive change on both the personal and political levels. I only wish I'd read the book when it came out, because it's political focus is out of date even three years later. I plan on doing some more research to see if he has updated information anywhere online. Despite being slightly out of date, I still found it extremely useful to have an academic agronomist's take on the food system. As Hesterman makes clear, while journalists like Michael Pollan are doing great work to raise awareness about these issues, they don't have an agronomist's knowledge of the practical policy change that need to be made.
October 16, 2011
I had pretty high expectations for the author and sad to say I did not really learn anything new. I agree with his premise that the food system is broken, but disagree with his proposals to fix it. While the Farm Bill is important, too much attention is paid to tinkering with a flawed model. The reforms proposed are vague. The policy recommendations are weak and watered down. This important subject deserves a more rigorous treatment. A fair food system cannot come from an unfair economic system.
April 25, 2013
Get your food system insights from the real people doing the real work. AKA not this book.
Functional and thorough but reads like, well, a program officer's white paper on food systems as opposed to a well-considered narrative going somewhere.
Functional and thorough but reads like, well, a program officer's white paper on food systems as opposed to a well-considered narrative going somewhere.
May 11, 2014
Good overview of the issues facing our food supply, with a variety of suggestions for individuals to make changes in their daily lives. At times it felt too bogged down in specific policy issues, instead of practical ways to make everyday changes.
April 20, 2011
Targeted toward people who are already convinced that food systems need to be overhauled, some interesting policy recommendations on the Farm Bill and on how large corps can still act sustainably
February 12, 2020
Fair Food is an excellent written tool to continue changing the unfair food system we have in the world. The experiences, recommendations, and examples detailed are anchored in four principles that according to the author are crucial for a functional and sustainable redesign of our food system: equity, diversity, ecological integrity, and economic viability. It is comforting to know how many places in the United States make daily efforts to make the food system a healthy one for individuals, families, communities, the economy, and the environment. El Dr. Hesterman shares in the last chapter "a fraction of the literally hundreds of organizations that are working in the food systems world" with the purpose of redesign it. As a scholar in nutrition-dietetics and food insecurity-hunger, I recommend reading this book. I am sure that all the initiatives discussed by the author can be adapted to the context in which they will be implemented (e.g., culture, urban or rural area, available human and fiscal resources, economic-political environment, etc.) with the same or greater success than what is reported in this book. I give it 5 stars out of 5.
April 13, 2020
I must admit I don't like giving a bad review, so I feel the need to give a little more context to defend the author. First of all, I read the book almost a decade after it was written. Also, sustainable food systems are one of my specialties and I read most books on the subject.
With that being said, there was nothing new for me in this work. The author states in what ways our food system is broken and gives examples of great projects that were implemented to try answering those shortcomings. All those solutions have now been known and tried in most urban settings : CSA, Farmer's markets, community gardens, etc. As it has been stated by other readers, the style is very dry and not engaging. It feels more like a bullet-point list of initiatives, rather than an essay.
If you're already familiar with the subject, I would not recommend this book.
With that being said, there was nothing new for me in this work. The author states in what ways our food system is broken and gives examples of great projects that were implemented to try answering those shortcomings. All those solutions have now been known and tried in most urban settings : CSA, Farmer's markets, community gardens, etc. As it has been stated by other readers, the style is very dry and not engaging. It feels more like a bullet-point list of initiatives, rather than an essay.
If you're already familiar with the subject, I would not recommend this book.
April 25, 2020
Sometimes one can feel the information provided by this book is a bit outdated. That being said the author is highly qualified to write such a piece. Many resources are also given at the end of the book. If you think good systems are lagging behind in terms of progress you may be surprised by what is already occurring.
January 8, 2020
good info, a lot of the stats are pretty dated at this point but well written and a good intro to the topic
October 6, 2021
Great ideas in this book. I'm going to start looking up the organizations in the resources section.
July 25, 2011
Interesting discussion of what a "fair food system" needs (sustainable environmentally and economically; workers treated fairly in fields and restaurants; food is healthy; food is available to everyone) with some good anecdotal examples of programs that work. The parts I found most interesting were the ones about bringing farmer's markets into "food deserts"--areas that have no grocery stores. Usually these are very low-income urban areas. People get their food at corner stores, which don't have much in the line of fresh whole food selection. Reverse-snobbery stereotypes aside, local, organic food does great in places like these. Whole Foods was the first grocery chain to move back into Detroit and, when a local chain in Portland finally scraped up investors in an outlet in a low-income area, it became their most profitable location.
There are also programs in place to encourage people to spend food-stamp money at farmers' markets. Those programs were fascinating to read about.
The writing is simple to understand but not gripping, at least not for me. It's largely based on Hesterman's own experience--which, to be fair, is considerable; he seems to have been in the fair-food movement from the beginning. There's a lot about the Kellogg Foundation (a food philanthropy foundation where he worked) and programs around Ann Arbor, where he lives.
Great resource section in the back.
Overall, interesting and informative in subject matter, but not terribly exciting.
There are also programs in place to encourage people to spend food-stamp money at farmers' markets. Those programs were fascinating to read about.
The writing is simple to understand but not gripping, at least not for me. It's largely based on Hesterman's own experience--which, to be fair, is considerable; he seems to have been in the fair-food movement from the beginning. There's a lot about the Kellogg Foundation (a food philanthropy foundation where he worked) and programs around Ann Arbor, where he lives.
Great resource section in the back.
Overall, interesting and informative in subject matter, but not terribly exciting.
June 9, 2011
A great up-to-date book on the state of the fair/sustainable/real food movement. It seeks to provide a comprehensive view of the problems in our current food system, the breadth of activities in the current food movement addressing those problems, and the range of initiatives individuals, businesses and communities can pursue to continue creating solutions.
The book claims to also provide a vision for a future world in which food production and consumption is "fixed". It does a far better job of this than almost any other book/author I have read. Yet it still falls short of producing a holistic vision. It also does not address a couple areas I was hoping for - the role that new technology can play and entrepreneurialism beyond food production.
The book is not preachy a is very pragmatic. I'd say this is a great read for getting fully up to date on what's going on and where we should go from here.
The book claims to also provide a vision for a future world in which food production and consumption is "fixed". It does a far better job of this than almost any other book/author I have read. Yet it still falls short of producing a holistic vision. It also does not address a couple areas I was hoping for - the role that new technology can play and entrepreneurialism beyond food production.
The book is not preachy a is very pragmatic. I'd say this is a great read for getting fully up to date on what's going on and where we should go from here.
December 31, 2012
It's very easy to get caught up in the immensity of a problem and feel helpless to make a difference. This book does just the opposite. Lots of win-win examples and success stories throughout.
I appreciated that the majority of this book was about redesigning our broken food system on the all levels. It has inspired me to think in ecosystems rather than factories and specifically about the interconnectedness of our local communities as a way to offset the unfair consolidation of money and power -- improving and diversifying our food can strengthen the local economy and also make headway in social justice issues like anti-hunger, anti-poverty, social and economic equality, environmental conservation and legacy, worker's rights and living wages.
I appreciated that the majority of this book was about redesigning our broken food system on the all levels. It has inspired me to think in ecosystems rather than factories and specifically about the interconnectedness of our local communities as a way to offset the unfair consolidation of money and power -- improving and diversifying our food can strengthen the local economy and also make headway in social justice issues like anti-hunger, anti-poverty, social and economic equality, environmental conservation and legacy, worker's rights and living wages.
March 14, 2013
This is a straightforward and informative book about the vast problems with our food system, how things got so bad, and what we can all do to fix it, beyond eating organic good to feel good about ourselves. Some readers were disappointed that it didn't offer information they didn't already know, but to people fairly new to the policies and politics behind corporate farming, it's very useful. I wanted to get up to speed on the Farm Bill, and this book helped a great deal. There's also a section on resources in your community and examples of innovative people and orgs- not an exhaustive list by a long shot, but he has a website that's updated regularly. This is a fast developing field and it's up to is to keep up and continue the momentum.
June 6, 2013
Not many people today know about our food industry. Consumers are purchasing unhealthy and not clean food. After watching Food Inc. in finance class, I decided to explore a little more on the food industry. I was so surprised after watching the movie because I have never thought about the food I bought from supermarkets. I assumed everything was clean and came from the best, but I was wrong. This book went into more specifics about how the food industry works. Quantity > quality. Yes although fast food is cheap, it can cause a lot of health issues. Everyone should think about what they are consuming and buying before actually consuming or buying it. There are consequences for not consuming healthy or clean food.
September 19, 2015
Lots of good onformation about how to change the food system, all along the food chain. Yet he thinks change will come from a focus on policy and foundation efforts. Why the focus only on non-profits and government funding? The author points out that "when foundation funding runs out, these projects have nowhere to turn and it is back to business as usual." Imagine if he had convinces Kellogg tithe company to change some portion of its ingredient sourcing or product mix. Real change will occur only when businesses see opportunities in the healthy, local food chain and change their food procurement practices.
August 6, 2013
This book is meant to inspire, not to lecture, sharing stories of food entrepreneurs across the country and offering solutions to US policy more detailed that simply, "eat local." Especially appreciated was the final chapter, a detailed list of resources and organizations for the reader to get involved with. Occasionally "meh" on the writing quality, but never "meh" on ideas. My one pet peeve: the author's tendency to focus over-much on the foundation he was involved with. That's less good journalism than self-promotion.
November 13, 2011
After reading this book a number of months ago, I still think about it's impact. The first half of the book overviews the local food movement, so if you are well-versed in this area, not a lot is new (but it is a great primer for those just jumping in). Where this book packed a wallop is how to move from personal choices to community action where only collectively can we change all that is wrong with our industrial food system -- and leverage what is done right.
August 2, 2012
This is a, well, fair portrayal of the woes facing our current food system. It offers a wealth of practical information on how to best ensure our food system is fair. And while being a conscious consumer is a good thing, the author advocates we become involved citizens as well, as just opting out of the system and tending our own backyard gardens, while admirable, will not solve ensure food equity for all.
August 21, 2017
The book is a nice collection of interesting projects around the country that demonstrate how communities, companies, people can impact the food chain, but it says little about scale and also fails to address environmental concerns that some have about increased land use for agriculture. It may be a good starter book for people new to the subject, but it was sleepy for someone who has read a few food related books.
October 12, 2012
A useful introduction into the food situation in the US today. I liked his structure and clarity. Also appreciated his references to real applications of solutions. In addition to all his in-text references, I will use his list of organizations and references in the appendix to further my exploration of the field.
June 7, 2013
Fair Food is by far the best book I've read on US food policy. He offers real stories about groups all over the country doing great things to make changes. He also has a wealth of real experience making a difference. I haven't read Foodopoly yet, which will likely be a contender for #1 best food policy book, but for right now, this is it.
June 9, 2013
Really "digging" it! (Pun TOTALLY intended.) It's the next step to take after you've read Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma. And ties in really well with all the work I've been doing focussing on local, seasonal produce, living a healthy lifestyle, appreciating the homemade, handmade and DIY.
August 29, 2016
This is one that I go back to again and again, even though, strangely, I don't own a copy of it myself. I read it first out of personal interest, then for a class in grad school, and again when I was looking for nonprofit food-related work ideas. Read all about sustainability, the flaws of our modern food system, and Hesterman's efforts to grow a fair food network for all.
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