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Growing Tomorrow: A Farm-to-Table Journey in Photos and Recipes—Behind the Scenes with 18 Extraordinary Sustainable Farmers Who Are Changing the Way We Eat
A beautiful, photo- and story-driven showcase of America’s pioneering eco-friendly farmers, with 50+ recipes!
Interest in local, sustainable food is at an all-time high. Farmers’ market and CSA devotees, backyard homesteaders and community gardeners all want to know more—much more—about how our food is raised. Now, seventh-generation farmer and author Forrest Pritchard introduces us to 18 heroes of the sustainable food movement.
Pritchard and photographer Peterson travel all across America to meet these visionary farmers and learn about their struggles and triumphs, whether rejuvenating a generations-old farm or just putting down roots. A rich and varied group portrait emerges, including: suburban vegetable farmers and free-range livestock ranchers urban honey gathering on top of Dallas skyscrapers the unique connection between a Colorado penitentiary and a dairy goat farm a citrus grove in California, a sustainable fishery on Cape Cod, and beyond! With more than 100 engaging photos and 50 mouthwatering recipes, Growing Tomorrow is both a farm-inspired cookbook and an enlightening homage to the people who provide us with delicious, fresh food—and ensure that it will be there tomorrow, too.
Pritchard and photographer Peterson travel all across America to meet these visionary farmers and learn about their struggles and triumphs, whether rejuvenating a generations-old farm or just putting down roots. A rich and varied group portrait emerges, including: suburban vegetable farmers and free-range livestock ranchers urban honey gathering on top of Dallas skyscrapers the unique connection between a Colorado penitentiary and a dairy goat farm a citrus grove in California, a sustainable fishery on Cape Cod, and beyond! With more than 100 engaging photos and 50 mouthwatering recipes, Growing Tomorrow is both a farm-inspired cookbook and an enlightening homage to the people who provide us with delicious, fresh food—and ensure that it will be there tomorrow, too.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published September 22, 2015
15 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 27, 2016
This was an wonderful follow-on from Gaining Ground, with an excellent concept. He included a great range of farms/farmers and their stories (I found D-Town Farm particularly inspirational -- I'd kinda like to work there). He does a great job capturing the personalities involved on each farm, the specifics of that farm's geology and history, its place in a larger market, all with Forrest's gorgeous writing (e.g., "Picture a single blueberry...plump and round and dark as indigo, dusted with a fairy breath of azure...Sweet with sincerity, robed in pleated skirts, blueberries are our annual summer crush...each berry is a fleeting affair, like a day at the beach where we fall in love ten times in an afternoon"), beautiful photos, and recipes often from the farmers themselves.
January 15, 2018
Pritchard highlights 18 enterprises (farmers/ranchers/fishers/beekeepers) who are sustaining a living outside of big agriculture by growing organically and selling directly to customers.
My thoughts:
One reason organic food is more expensive is that much of the work is done by people instead of chemicals. Payroll is more costly than chemicals. Another reason is that the yields are about half of what one can get with chemical fertilizer.
Many of the people Forrest interviewed converted to organic farming, underlining the need for patience and long-term expectations in the process.
The accompanying photos and recipes are a bonus.
The average age of today's farmer is 59. A question repeated in the book was "Who is going to grow the food we need tomorrow?" I have one answer: my 13-year-old grandson is a first-generation sheep herder (with the support and help of his folks). May his tribe increase!
Pritchard's prose is probably the predominant joy in this book! He and James Rebanks are in a beautiful subcategory of literary farmer-writers. Of course, the dean of this group is Wendell Berry!
My thoughts:
One reason organic food is more expensive is that much of the work is done by people instead of chemicals. Payroll is more costly than chemicals. Another reason is that the yields are about half of what one can get with chemical fertilizer.
Many of the people Forrest interviewed converted to organic farming, underlining the need for patience and long-term expectations in the process.
The accompanying photos and recipes are a bonus.
The average age of today's farmer is 59. A question repeated in the book was "Who is going to grow the food we need tomorrow?" I have one answer: my 13-year-old grandson is a first-generation sheep herder (with the support and help of his folks). May his tribe increase!
Pritchard's prose is probably the predominant joy in this book! He and James Rebanks are in a beautiful subcategory of literary farmer-writers. Of course, the dean of this group is Wendell Berry!
July 11, 2021
Growing Tomorrow is like a cross between a coffee table book, cookbook, and book on farming. Forrest Pritchard travels around the country touring a wide variety of farms in the sustainable farming movement. He describes each farm's innovations in producing healthy food, keeping their business afloat, and connecting with their community in a very down-to-earth narrative style. The farms described are far from average, ranging from a goat farm operated by inmates at a Colorado prison, to a honey business that raises bees on rooftops in downtown Dallas, to a small farm in suburban Northern Virginia that has eked out a living in between subdivisions. After each of the 18 brief chapters he includes recipes using foods from each farm. The book is also full of beautiful photography, making it good even just to flip through casually.
February 3, 2017
I really enjoyed this one. It is hard for me to believe that Pritchard has a geology degree instead of one in writing... he is a gifted author. I loved the stories about the farmers... haven't yet tried any of the recipes but not much is in season right now.
November 3, 2017
This is a lovely book which tells (and shows) what others are accomplishing and the joy they find in their work, in spite of having chosen difficult paths. It is a book book which inspires hope for the future (and in the meanwhile, has some really great recipes!).
September 28, 2020
This is a fast and enjoyable read that profiles 18 small sustainable farms across the country. It includes things as diverse as beekeepers, fishermen, and mushroom growers, as well as the usual fruit and veggie farms. Each profile is accompanied by beautiful photos as well as recipes.
September 29, 2015
I would like to thank The Experiment for allowing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.
This book is hard to describe. I want to say “What a great book” but feel that would be an incredibly dull understatement.
‘Growing Tomorrow’ is like a feel good true story, a snap shot of how farming SHOULD be done and a cry for help to the younger generations to ensure these practices are kept going all in one. Yeah, that didn’t make it sound any clearer, did it?
What I can say is that I loved this book. Although a non-fiction work, it was fantastic to curl up on the couch with while having a cuppa. The only “negative” (and it isn’t one) is that I wish there was a similar book done here in Australia. After reading of all the author’s travels, all the farms seen, people met and foods tasted – I’d volunteer to do the Australian one! Pick me!
I would also like to send out a huge thank you to all the farmers and producers who took part in this book. The world needs more dedicated food heroes like you and I really do hope generations to come will learn from your ethics and keep producing foods the way they should be – in season, organically and in balance with their environment. Well done!
How can I describe this book? The brief run down is it’s a book of short stories that are true, almost like blog posts. Each one focusses on a farmer or producer from around the United States and also includes some rather yummy sounding recipes. I feel the long run down is similar, but contains a lot more heart, soul and passion in it. This isn’t just a book on farmers and what they grow, it is something that highlights an opportunity we can’t let escape. A chance to encourage we, the consumers, to choose more wisely where our foods come from and to respect our farmers and producers a lot more than most do. Thank them, rather than take them for granted. They’re the people feeding you!
Would I recommend this book to others? Yes I would. Though, when recommending it to my fellow Aussies I would be lamenting that we don’t have as good a snapshot of our farmers as the ones shown in ‘Growing Tomorrow’.
Would I buy this book for myself? Bookshelf space would be tight, but I could definitely see it finding a home in amongst my gardening and animal husbandry books. If nothing else, I would turn to it when needing to be inspired as to why we try to live the way we do from our own backyard produce as well as supporting our local farmers.
In summary: ‘Growing Tomorrow’ reminds me of how blessed I am to live in one of Australia’s ‘food bowls’ where I can talk to my farmers, as well as support them. But it is also a beacon to be held out to all consumers to help them realise why these sorts of agriculture should be supported, respected and how we all farm in the future. What an inspiring and feel good book!
This book is hard to describe. I want to say “What a great book” but feel that would be an incredibly dull understatement.
‘Growing Tomorrow’ is like a feel good true story, a snap shot of how farming SHOULD be done and a cry for help to the younger generations to ensure these practices are kept going all in one. Yeah, that didn’t make it sound any clearer, did it?
What I can say is that I loved this book. Although a non-fiction work, it was fantastic to curl up on the couch with while having a cuppa. The only “negative” (and it isn’t one) is that I wish there was a similar book done here in Australia. After reading of all the author’s travels, all the farms seen, people met and foods tasted – I’d volunteer to do the Australian one! Pick me!
I would also like to send out a huge thank you to all the farmers and producers who took part in this book. The world needs more dedicated food heroes like you and I really do hope generations to come will learn from your ethics and keep producing foods the way they should be – in season, organically and in balance with their environment. Well done!
How can I describe this book? The brief run down is it’s a book of short stories that are true, almost like blog posts. Each one focusses on a farmer or producer from around the United States and also includes some rather yummy sounding recipes. I feel the long run down is similar, but contains a lot more heart, soul and passion in it. This isn’t just a book on farmers and what they grow, it is something that highlights an opportunity we can’t let escape. A chance to encourage we, the consumers, to choose more wisely where our foods come from and to respect our farmers and producers a lot more than most do. Thank them, rather than take them for granted. They’re the people feeding you!
Would I recommend this book to others? Yes I would. Though, when recommending it to my fellow Aussies I would be lamenting that we don’t have as good a snapshot of our farmers as the ones shown in ‘Growing Tomorrow’.
Would I buy this book for myself? Bookshelf space would be tight, but I could definitely see it finding a home in amongst my gardening and animal husbandry books. If nothing else, I would turn to it when needing to be inspired as to why we try to live the way we do from our own backyard produce as well as supporting our local farmers.
In summary: ‘Growing Tomorrow’ reminds me of how blessed I am to live in one of Australia’s ‘food bowls’ where I can talk to my farmers, as well as support them. But it is also a beacon to be held out to all consumers to help them realise why these sorts of agriculture should be supported, respected and how we all farm in the future. What an inspiring and feel good book!
December 28, 2015
I loved Forrest Pritchard's farm memoir Gaining Ground, so I was very excited to check out this new book by him. In the Introduction to the book Pritchard talks about the overwhelming response to his book - from farmers and non-farmers alike. He thought if his farm could generate so much interest, what if it was multiplied to include many sustainable farms and how they are changing American agriculture? And that's how Growing Tomorrow was born. Pritchard visits 18 sustainable farms across the U.S. and each chapter ends with a few recipes from that farm based on the types of food they grow/raise. All of the farms are inspiring, but I particularly liked the profile of D-Town Farm in Detroit where there are NO grocery stores, so fresh food is incredibly hard to come by, but the people running D-Town are determined to change that for their city. Overall, this is a really inspiring book that shows how all over the country farmers are changing American agriculture for the better - smaller and more sustainable will eventually win the food race.
Some quotes I really liked:
"When you work for yourself, you ruin yourself as an employee for anyone else. You realize how much you're really worth, and that no one can pay you enough." (Matt Romero pg. 116)
"If we could get more farmers' markets to stay open year-round across the country, farmers would figure out a way to supply them. Grocery stores stay open all year, and somebody's providing that food. Farmers can grow food year-round if they're given the right opportunity, and the customers show up to support them." (Matt Romero pg. 118)
Some quotes I really liked:
"When you work for yourself, you ruin yourself as an employee for anyone else. You realize how much you're really worth, and that no one can pay you enough." (Matt Romero pg. 116)
"If we could get more farmers' markets to stay open year-round across the country, farmers would figure out a way to supply them. Grocery stores stay open all year, and somebody's providing that food. Farmers can grow food year-round if they're given the right opportunity, and the customers show up to support them." (Matt Romero pg. 118)
June 11, 2025
95%
"Suddenly it occurred to me: Instead of working my way up the ladder, maybe it was time to worm my way 'down'. All the way down...to the soil, you know? To the food."
Surprisingly poetic at times, this book of interviews with sustainable farmers is inspiring and gives much-needed hope for the future.
"These all have different names, but we don't organize them like that. We just ask folks what they're going to use them for, then point them toward the right tomato. A name can't tell you much, you know? But a farmer can."
"Picture a single blueberry, held aloft between finger and thumb, plump and round and dark as indigo, dusted with a fairy breath of azure. Hold it there. Study it from different angles. Sweet with sincerity, robed in pleated skirts, blueberries are our annual summer crush, lovely little heartbreakers puckering for sugar-tart kisses. Plucked from the top of a pint, placed on the tip of the tongue, each berry is fleeting affair, like a day at the beach where we fall in love ten times in an afternoon."
"Expensive only means you bought something you don't like...If you're happy with what you're getting, then that's not expensive. It's a value."
"We stand wordlessly, surveying our circumference. The land here is old, sacrosanct, silent in the dappled shade of summer. A thousand acorns born into a thousand oaks, time surpassing all understanding. Light bends everywhere - untenable, wild."
"Suddenly it occurred to me: Instead of working my way up the ladder, maybe it was time to worm my way 'down'. All the way down...to the soil, you know? To the food."
Surprisingly poetic at times, this book of interviews with sustainable farmers is inspiring and gives much-needed hope for the future.
"These all have different names, but we don't organize them like that. We just ask folks what they're going to use them for, then point them toward the right tomato. A name can't tell you much, you know? But a farmer can."
"Picture a single blueberry, held aloft between finger and thumb, plump and round and dark as indigo, dusted with a fairy breath of azure. Hold it there. Study it from different angles. Sweet with sincerity, robed in pleated skirts, blueberries are our annual summer crush, lovely little heartbreakers puckering for sugar-tart kisses. Plucked from the top of a pint, placed on the tip of the tongue, each berry is fleeting affair, like a day at the beach where we fall in love ten times in an afternoon."
"Expensive only means you bought something you don't like...If you're happy with what you're getting, then that's not expensive. It's a value."
"We stand wordlessly, surveying our circumference. The land here is old, sacrosanct, silent in the dappled shade of summer. A thousand acorns born into a thousand oaks, time surpassing all understanding. Light bends everywhere - untenable, wild."
May 15, 2016
Forrest Pritchard has created another wonderful and beautiful book. His writing and Molly Peterson's photography make this book amazing. His look at various organic, sustainable farms is encouraging to those who cheer for small business and their ability to find a way to deliver untainted food to a growing section who are looking for "real" food.
Several places stood out to me: Ozark Forest Mushroom in Salem, Missouri where mushrooms are grown on wood limbs scattered throughout a shadowed, humid forest, ingenious; the Kiyokawa Family Orchards in Parkdale, Oregon who grow pears, peaches and cherries because honest men saved this farm in trust for the Kiyokawa family during the Japanese internment and then returned it to them in much the same shape as they received it, heartbreaking and encouraging; and Matt Romero Farms in Dixon, New Mexico who offered this sage advice --
"Some people say food like this is expensive. 'Expensive" only means your bought something you don't like. My customers want to know, "Is it tasty? Will I like it? How was it raised?' If you're happy with what you're getting, then that's not expensive. It's a value."
Several places stood out to me: Ozark Forest Mushroom in Salem, Missouri where mushrooms are grown on wood limbs scattered throughout a shadowed, humid forest, ingenious; the Kiyokawa Family Orchards in Parkdale, Oregon who grow pears, peaches and cherries because honest men saved this farm in trust for the Kiyokawa family during the Japanese internment and then returned it to them in much the same shape as they received it, heartbreaking and encouraging; and Matt Romero Farms in Dixon, New Mexico who offered this sage advice --
"Some people say food like this is expensive. 'Expensive" only means your bought something you don't like. My customers want to know, "Is it tasty? Will I like it? How was it raised?' If you're happy with what you're getting, then that's not expensive. It's a value."
October 15, 2016
This is a high-quality book that anyone interested in sustainable agriculture will enjoy. Author Forrest Pritchard, a farmer himself, is also a master with words and tends to wax poetic — his passion for his subject cannot be understated. He visits 18 unique US farms from coast to coast, introduces readers to the farmers and their families, their history, their methods, and their philosophy, all illustrated with beautiful color photos. Each farm story concludes with 3 or 4 recipes featuring the farm’s products. Back matter includes a recipe index, the address of each farm and where its products are sold, a metric conversion chart, and a guide to blanching and canning. I especially liked Pritchard’s epilogue, in which he muses over the question, What's in it for us? “These are people who have looked skyward, earthward, and outward,” he concludes. “In doing so, they guide us to greater, more important question: What do we value? How can we participate? What more can we do? Questions like these must grow our tomorrows.”
September 22, 2015
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Sustainable farming is a huge issue in today's world of diminishing food and water supplies. The struggles of the farmers included in this book illustrate both the highs and lows of raising and selling healthy, responsibly-raised food. Photography is outstanding, along with many suggestions for cooking. A homage indeed!
Sustainable farming is a huge issue in today's world of diminishing food and water supplies. The struggles of the farmers included in this book illustrate both the highs and lows of raising and selling healthy, responsibly-raised food. Photography is outstanding, along with many suggestions for cooking. A homage indeed!
January 26, 2016
What a beautiful book. I have always loved Forrest Pritchard's work on his farm and I loved his book Gaining Ground and this one did not disappoint either. The photographs and stories were beautiful, but I think my favorite part were the recipes, they were so simple yet looked amazing!!! I can't wait to try some of them out.
October 28, 2015
A book full of beautifu pictures a real look at sustainable farming told by the farmers who are living it day to day,
December 19, 2015
A look into how 18 different farms around the country got their start and a handful of recipes from each. Beautiful photographs. I can't wait to buy a copy for myself.
May 30, 2016
A beautiful book that reinforces my love of farmers' markets.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews