Customer Reviews

Locavore: From Farmers Fields To Rooftop Gardenshow Canadians Are Changing The Way We Eat

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I cannot say enough about this book. It should be part of high school curricula. It is that important. Sarah Elton puts a very human face on what could otherwise be glossed over as a fad. Locavore is more than a look at an interesting movement. It is a textbook for how we can and should change the way we relate to our food and how it is produced.

This book is very personable and readable. Not at all dry or preachy. It's actually something of a fun read.

There are books that you read and immediately want to give copies to everyone you know. This is one of them. It changes the way we see the world through its elegant and persuasive argument about how to create a sustainable local food economy.

So many writers in this area stick their heads in the sand and preach to the choir about pie-in-the-sky "alternative" but ultimately non-viable economies. But Sarah Elton takes a very different tack. She efficiently and ably (and charmingly) takes on those who argue that the local food movement is fringe or cannot compete with the global, industrial food complex and shows us a potential future of urban farms, greenhouses, and dedicated food producers. The potential she outlines will not necessarily sit well with all aspects of the traditional local food movement. Implicit in her argument, is that sustainable local food production must be economically viable in order to compete with the status quo. There is space for smart and responsible corporations to thrive. This is a big and exciting idea. Nor is she an impractical purist. In Elton's world, we are allowed an occasional mango or block of industrial cheese. She has a holistic and pragmatic view of the complexities of the issue.

This subtle and intelligent argument is supported by insightful and deft prose. Elton drags us along with her to farms embracing local food strategies in their struggle to survive, to ethnic grocers in Canada's biggest city, to the bustle of the Ontario Food Terminal and to chic restaurants in downtown Vancouver. Along the way, as she tells the story of the evolution of the local food movement, she paints bright and compelling pictures of the people she meets along the way. It is a joy to read - smart, passionate and engaging.

Experience the joy of connecting with the food chain, supporting urban agriculture and eating well.

We've all heard about the 100 mile diet, urban agriculture and the environmental impact of current farming techniques. Locavore, however, is on of the first books to focus on how Canadians are changing the way we eat.

This book will inspire you to grab your re-usable shopping bag, head over to the local Farmers' Market, and experience the joy of buying local and cooking a fresh from the garden meal for your family.

Almost immediately, I was struck by the calm, eloquent quality of Elton's writing. This is a book lovingly and (com)passionately penned by an author who clearly cares deeply for her subject and for the stories and lives of all those farmers across Canada (rural, urban and periurban alike) working so creatively to craft a sustainable, vibrant local food system, while carving a lasting place for themselves and their families within it.

At each stop on her journey to meet the many (mostly heretofore unsung) agrarian visionaries that populate her book, Elton's quiet prose deftly opens a window into the rich and varied character of an amazing group of food growers, cheese makers, bakers, restaurateurs, foodies, and aficionados. With the unfolding of each chapter, I felt I had stepped onto the farms and into the gardens, kitchens and dairies of a sometimes new, but often rediscovered, and always fascinating world of local food, custom and culture.

Elton's Locavore is a wonderfully optimistic, yet rigorous study of the changing nature of our food system and the power of individual actions and decisions to make a profound difference. Highly recommended.