Review: Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat by Temra Costa

Gibbs Smith, May 2010

By Amy Strauss
Published: May 3rd, 2010 | 4:40pm

Bringing to the table a plethora of female farmers, chefs, activists, and educators in Farmer Jane, Temra Costa crafts an edible bible to empower all of us to embrace the delicious grace of close-to-home dining. Costa, an extreme advocate for community-based agriculture and sustainability through food, decided to scribe her first compilation just as the feminine nook in the field of farming and food finally began to achieve an impressive amount of credibility.

Costa, who hosts the radio show The Queens of Green with Deborah Koons Garcia, admits that the main reason she decided write the womanly Farmer Jane was her realization that a large number of females (over 61%) maintain executive director positions in food-themed non-profits. Taking that stat as a jumping off point, the author swims through a sea of 30 movers and shakers who, in various different ways, have ideally satisfied our stomachs. Costa profiles these motivated ladies, who together share one goal: to individually shape their local economic and agricultural landscape.

Costa argues that as males are often successful in getting loads of press, these important females are underrepresented for the great strides they're making—through better food prep and planning, advocacy of healthier food systems, and promoting environmentally conscious systems. Of her book's subjects, she writes:

“They are the heroes of today through their everyday acts of living, by becoming the fastest growing number of diversified farmers in the country, dominating nonprofits dedicated to shifting the balance from conventional to sustainable foods, and through the creation of menus and businesses that reflect their socio-environmental values."

So who are these heroes? We meet author-chefs like Judy Wick of Philadelphia's locavore haven, White Dog Cafe, and Deborah Madison of the acclaimed recap of her year spent hopping among farmers' markets Local Flavors as well as urban farmers like Novella Carpenter of Oakland's Ghost Town Farm. Other notables include Nancy Vail of Pescadero's Pie Ranch, who educates youngsters about agriculture, Claire Hope Cummings, a lawyer and indigenous land rights advocate, and, Gloria Decatur, a pioneering biodynamic farmer of a 40-acre live power community in Covelo, California.

As an easy, stimulating read, Farmer Jane digs deep into the soil of our modern day food movement, and satisfyingly assists our hungry stomachs (and minds) in appreciating the source of everything we put in our mouths.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat (Gibbs Smith)

By Temra Costa

224 pages, $15.99