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Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty

Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty
By Mark Winne

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Product Description

From the War on Poverty to new farmers' markets, a food expert tackles America's dangerous dietary split
 
With a new Foreword
 
Closing the Food Gap exposes America's dangerous dietary split: from patrons of food pantries, bodegas, and convenience stores to the more comfortable classes who increasingly seek out organic and local products. Calling largely on his own experience in food activism, and mixing in surprisingly witty observations, Mark Winne ultimately envisions realistic partnerships in which family farms and impoverished communities come together to get healthy, locally produced food onto everyone's table.

 

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #16089 in Books
  • Published on: 2009-01-01
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 199 pages

Features

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Having been a part of the movement since the 1970s, serving as (among other positions) the executive director of the Hartford Food System, Winne has an insider's view on what it's like to feed our country's hungry citizens. Through the lens of Hartford, Conn.—a quintessential inner city bereft of decent food options apart from bodegas and fast food chains—he explains the successes he witnessed and helped to create: community gardens, inner city farmers' markets and youth-run urban farms. Winne concludes his tale in our present food-crazed era, giving voice to low-income shoppers and exploring where they fit in with such foodie discussions as local vs. organic. In this articulate and comprehensive book, Winne points out that the greatest successes have been an informal alliance between sustainable agriculture and food security advocates... that shows promise for helping both the poor and small and medium-size farmers. For the most part it is a calm, well-reasoned and soft-spoken call to arms to fight for policy reform, rather than fill in, with community-based projects and privately funded programs, the gaps left by our city and state legislators. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“articulate and comprehensive…a calm, well-reasoned and soft-spoken call to arms” Publishers Weekly

“Worthy fare.” Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

For 25 years Mark Winne was the Executive Director of the Hartford Food System, a private non-profit agency that works on food and hunger issues in the Hartford, Connecticut area. During his tenure with HFS, Mark organized community self-help food projects that assisted the city's lower income and elderly residents. Mark's work with the Food System included the development of a commercial hydroponic greenhouse, Connecticut's Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, several farmers' markets, a 20-acre community supported agriculture farm, food and nutrition education programs, and a neighborhood supermarket.

Winne now writes, speaks, and consults extensively on community food system topics including hunger and food insecurity, local and regional agriculture, community assessment, and food policy. He also does policy communication work for the Community Food Security Coalition. His essays and opinion pieces have appeared in The Nation, Hartford Courant, Boston Globe, In These Times, Sierra, Orion, Successful Farming and numerous organizational and professional newsletters and journals across the country. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Customer Reviews

A fresh and engaging perspective on food justice5
Having read almost every book out there on food policy (and having written my own), I can safely say that Closing the Food Gap has something unique and important to offer. The author has been in the trenches and speaks from first-hand experience, which is rare to find among writers on this topic. Even though I am familiar with the many of book's issues, I thoroughly enjoyed the personal, accessible style and poignant story-telling. If you are looking for an introduction to food justice issues in the U.S., then this is the perfect doorway in. Winne takes us into a world where there are no easy solutions. But by the end, we are convinced that we must find a way to fix the deep injustices in our food system. What makes this book a critical contribution is its elegant argument for access to affordable and sustainable food for everyone. Even if you think you've read other books like it, you really haven't. Read this book and then pass it on.

Michele Simon, author, Appetite for Profit: How the food industry undermines our health and how to fight back

Clarion call for sane, systemic changes5
Mark Winne's book is a must read for those concerned about the growing poverty, hunger, and income inequality in America today. The personalized account of his journey from a comfortable, middle-class upbringing in New Jersey to community organizing in the gritty, underserved neighborhoods of Hartford, Connecticut is witty and informative, demonstrating why he has become a leader in this nation's food security movement.

Winne's claim that our current "food system is racist, classist, and sexist" is supported by his well-documented experience in Hartford. He doesn't let any of the powers that be off the hook, from "the mean-spirited ideologues" who have, at times, dammed the federal assistance pipeline to corporate junk food purveyors who he says should be tried and sentenced "to eat nothing but their own food for twenty-five years to life" and even to food bankers who "will do virtually anything to appease [their corporate] donors." His clarion call for bolstering sane, systemic changes in local food structures - like farmers' markets, community gardens, and community supported agriculture - rings true.

Read this Book!5
The other two reviewers who give Mr. Winne a five star rating are telling the truth. He has written a truly readable and practical book that is accessible, and yet is is not a simpleton's introduction to the world of hunger and food insecurity in America. We are presented the challenge of preventing hunger from existing in this rich nation and Mark Winne, from years of experience in the field, shows us some of the steps we need to take.

Read this book.