Archive for the ‘Books You Gotta Read’ Category

Valley Empires: Hugh Glenn and Henry Miller

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

Now Available

If you ask about California history, most people are familiar with the Gold Rush,  but there’s much more to the history of America’s most populated state than just miners and gold. California is the biggest producer of agriculture products in the nation, and the state’s history is marked by entrepeneurs who built agricultural empires that seem almost unimaginable today.  

Two of those entrepeneurs, Hugh Glenn and Henry Miller, are the subject of Ann Foley Scheuring’s Valley Empires, a new book that examines two half-forgotten figures in California history who had a profound effect on the development of California’s enormous agricultural industries. Henry Miller, founder of the land and cattle empire Miller & Lux, owned more than a million acres and was the largest landowner in the U.S. at the time of his death in 1916. Hugh Glenn’s dominance of the wheat industry led to the nickname “The Wheat King” and culminated in an unsuccessful run for state governor before his untimely murder in 1883. Although the two men came from radically different backgrounds (Miller was an impoverished German immigrant, Hugh Glenn a physician from Missouri), both seized on opportunity to create empires within their lifetimes.

For those interested in California history, Valley Empires offers a glimpse into a little explored, though very important, chapter in the history of our state.

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Three Books For The Educated Eater

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

I’m still compiling the list of recommended books that you all so graciously submitted. There are a lot of them–which is reassuring given that books must now compete with so much electronic media for our precious free time.

But before I proceed with that all-inclusive list, I wanted to jump ahead to recommend three must-reads for those interested in food production (which should be everyone, since food is one of the most basic human needs). They are, in no particular order:

1) The Omnivore’s Dilemma–Michael Pollan’s 2006 bestseller is probably one of the trendiest books around. Pollan recently showed up on Oprah to discuss his latest book, Food Rules, which is a follow-up to this book. Basically, Omnivore’s Dilemma examines food production in America–the most shocking of which is the intrusion of corn into almost everything we eat, whether it’s corn-fed beef, high-fructose corn syrup, or even the chicken nuggets we love to feed our kids (which are bits of corn-fed poultry glued together with modified corn starch, covered in corn flour-containing batter, fried in corn oil…you get the picture). After reading this book, you will look at food labels a WHOLE lot closer.

2) Fast Food Nation–Eric Schlosser’s 2001 cult classic examines the social, economic, and environmental impact of fast food. The thing that will absolutely turn your stomach, however, is Schlosser’s portrayal of the meatpacking industry. You won’t eat at McDonalds for a year.

3) The Jungle– Upton Sinclair’s 1906 book about the Chicago meatpacking industry is a classic and still reads grippingly today. Exposing not just the hidden horrors of meatpacking (agh– rats in your sausage!), the book also portrays the ineluctable downward spiral of immigrants ensnared in an inhumane industry. Sinclair originally intended the book to illustrate the plight of powerless and exploited workers, but The Jungle’s lasting legacy has been better food safety laws.

The beauty of these books are that they are both eye-opening and good reads. If you’ve got any other must-read food books, please share. Transparency in food production should be a right to which we are all entitled– after all, don’t you want to know what you are really eating?

Posted in Books You Gotta Read, Nutrition and Diet | 4 Comments »

Books You Gotta Read?

Monday, January 4th, 2010

When I first started this blog back in September, I originally envisioned a blog about food, healthy lifestyles, farming, and good books. I think I’ve covered most of those topics, except where are the books? 2009 was marked by lots of action– crop-destroying freezes, new olive tree plantings, the swine flu epidemic. With so much to write about, who has time for books?

The answer is: we all do. Books are long slow drinks in a gulping internet-fed information age. When I feel barraged by all the short-clip information blasted at me by my web browser and iPhone, I stop and remember why I always return to the bound volume. In this frenetic and crazed world, books offer developed thought. Tell me how you get that in a 140-character Tweet?

So what long-form, anachronistic printed item am I reading? Don’t laugh. I’ve gone rogue and am reading Sarah Palin’s new book. There’s much to laugh about Going Rogue, from the glammy cover portrait of a smiling Sarah looking upwards and off into a shining maverick future, to the down-home plain-spoken writing style, which somewhere, somehow must have had a ghost writer’s imprint.  Yet, I cannot deny, the book is somehow very interesting to me. It’s a monstrous spin on a very conservative woman’s actions and viewpoints. I find myself putting the book down, searching the internet for another tell-all about Sarah to balance this portrayal. There isn’t one that I’ve found– I wonder where all those New York Times reporters have been?

Now, I didn’t buy this book, so I have no guilt about padding Sarah’s pockets as I read it. But I have to admit, I’m glad I’m reading it. There’s no point having a viewpoint if you can’t face exposing yourself to someone else’s. It’s the only way to understand others, and Sarah Palin, much as some of us don’t like it, represents a huge segment of the American population.

That being said, if you want to be like me and dabble in the opposition without shelling out a cent for the view, you can always get a copy at the library– or you can borrow mine.

Posted in Books You Gotta Read | 8 Comments »

Food for Thought– An Evening with Michael Pollan

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

I had the good fortune to preview the new documentary, The Botany of Desire, last night. The film is based on the book by the same name by Michael Pollan, who was on hand to discuss the making of the film and the politics of food– all over a fine meal of cage-free chicken and organic vegetables.

Michael Pollan, as you may know, is the author of several bestsellers about the food we eat: The Omnivore’s Dilemna and In Defense of Food, An Eater’s Manifesto. Since I just happened to be reading the latter book, I was particularly delighted  to be invited to hear the author speak.

And speak he did. Pollan is articulate and forceful, making a strong argument for reform of what he calls “industrial agriculture.” Throwing out statistics designed to make your eyes pop, Pollan proceeded to illuminate why our country’s agricultural practice of focusing on commondity foods, such as corn, soybean, and wheat, has threatened our ecosystem: “monoculture” requires the widespread use of petrochemical-derived fertilizers, which burns through fossil fuels; clearing fields, using massive farming equipment, and transporting and processing commodity food pumps greenhouse gases into the atmosphere; the quantity and quality of these relatively “cheap calories” threatens our national health.

The crowd was suitably awed and appreciative, although one man asked Pollan about what seemed like a dust-up in San Luis Obispo some time ago in which an academic in the beef field took Pollan to task. Pollan skated over the details of the confrontation, but did acknowledge that elevated food prices are the main argument against his proposed reforms. We grow a lot of food cheaply now, he says, so that the equivalent of one hour’s work at minimum wage can “buy you thousands of calories at a fast food restaurant.” But what, he asks, is the quality and true cost of those cheap calories?

Regardless of where your opinions fall on the food policy spectrum–and people certainly seem to have passionate, wide-ranging views–The Omnivore’s Dilemna should be required reading for all. If nothing else, Pollan will make you think about where your food comes from and the seeming ubiquity of processed food that has become of staple of the Western Diet.

Meanwhile, The Botany of Desire, a visually beautiful film about the adaptive strategies of plants, premiers on October 28 at 8 pm on KQED. Check your local public television listings to see when it’s showing near you.

Posted in Books You Gotta Read, Farming, Health, Nutrition and Diet | No Comments »