Shannon Hayes - Radical Homemakers

RADICAL

HOMEMAKERS

Also available from Shannon Hayes

The Farmer and the Grill

The Grassfed Gourmet

Available at WWW.GRASSFEDCOOKING.COM

Forthcoming from Shannon Hayes:

Long Way on a Little: An Earth Lovers
Companion for Enjoying Meat, Pinching
Pennies and Living Deliciously

RADICAL

HOMEMAKERS

Reclaiming Domesticity From a Consumer Culture

SHANNON HAYES

Left to Write Press

RICHMONDVILLE, NEW YORK

Copyright 2010 by Shannon Hayes

Printed in the USA on recycled paper

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

eBook ISBN: 978-1-6035826-9-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009911766

Book cover and interior design and production: Jill Shaffer
Proofreading and indexing: Steve Hoare

LEFT TO WRITE PRESS
270 Rossman Valley road
Richmondville, NY 12149
www.radicalhomemakers.com
518.827.7595

Left to Write Press is distributed by
Chelsea Green Publishing Company

QUANTITY SALES: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases for groups and individuals. Please visit www.radicalhomemakers.com for details, or call Left to Write Press directly.

U.S. TRADE BOOKSTORES and WHOLESALERS:
Please contact Chelsea Green Publishing, 85 North Main Street, Suite 120, White River Jct., Vermont 05001.
Orders: 800.639.4099; offices: 802.295.6300.

About Left to Write Press:
Left to Write Press is an initiative of Shannon Hayes and Bob Hooper, who wanted to publish books completely on their own terms, so they could earn a decent return on Shannons writing without selling their souls. We are now on our second book, and weve managed to stick to our guns to keep it written, published, edited and designed locally and regionally. And we even managed to do it on recycled paper. Left to Write Press expresses our agenda for an ecologically sound, socially just world, where everyone is well-fed and happy. Now stop reading this small print, and start enjoying our book!

DEDICATION

To C.M., as promised.

In memory of Arthur Frederick Horr and Evelyn
Horr, who kept their family well on 300 jars of
canned fruit each year from the backyard...
and who taught me that buttercups truly are the
best-flavored squash.

In memory of Auguste Magdalena Hilde Hayes,
who showed me what kind of power can come
from a kitchen.

In memory of Dr. Thomas A. Lyson, who, despite
my low GRE scores and perfunctory rejections
from various selection committees, felt I
deserved a shot at a graduate-level education.
Thank you for opening the door for me.

In memory of Ruth and Sanford, whose quiet
hidden lives have transformed so many others.

CONTENTS

I always wonder if anybody actually reads this section... but at least it gives me an opportunity to get a few things off my chest. I have a lot of people to thank for bringing this book to fruition. Lets hope I dont forget anyone...

First, thanks to Arthur Butch Wilson and Deb Trumbull from Cornell Universitys Department of Education. I used every trick you taught me to get through this book. I hope that doesnt embarrass you. Deb, you gave me the tools to answer my questions, and Butch, you gave me the confidence and power to keep it pragmatic.

Next, thanks are owed to the crew at the Middleburgh Library. You greeted my family warmly each time I staggered in with blazed computer eyes from doing the research and writing. You didnt yell at me when my kids rearranged the childrens section, nor did you shush Ula when she paraded around the library dancing and singing Its a Hard-Knock Life! for everyone to hear, incriminating her mother in more ways than I care to explain... especially since it was on a day when we forgot her undies... You never asked any questions about all the weird titles I had you hunt down for me, and you never publicly chastised me for a late return. Can a library get any better than that?

And for all those needs that couldnt be met by the Library, there was Catnap Books in Cobleskill. You thoughtfully kept an answering machine running so that, when I decided I urgently needed a book at 4 am, I could just call down and leave you a message. Roberta and Jim patiently hunted down any titles I was having a hard time locating, and helped to keep my research budget under control. Your business is a gift to our community.

Thanks to Jane, David, Cress and Rocky, who always opened their door to me whenever I tottered down the road in need of a break from my writing. Depending on the time of day, there was either coffee or a cocktail to revive me... Now thats good neighboring!!

I am deeply grateful to Mary Jo Forbord, Registered Dietician and Executive Director for the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota, who first laid out those critical questions to me when she asked me to speak at the national American Dietetic Association conference. As the introduction will show, it was answering Mary Jos questions that led to this book. Thanks also to the members of the Hunger and Environmental Nutrition practice group for all your support and encouragement with this project.

A super-huge I-Owe-You is due to the hundreds of men and women who never even met me, but who sent e-mails telling me about their lives, pushing me to keep going with the Radical Homemaker research. It can be very hard to get up in the predawn hours in the dark of winter to finish a book. A note of encouragement from a fellow Radical Homemaker goes a long way toward fueling the fire. Special thanks in particular are due to Denis and Alicia Stoltzfus, who opened their home and hearts to me in honest conversation as I sought to gain deeper insights into all the different ways Radical Homemaking could manifest itself.

A very deep and special thanks are owed to the twenty individuals and families across the country who welcomed me into their lives, opened themselves up to me on tape, and allowed me to explore the workings of their minds. You fed my mind, gave my family and I food and soft pillows as we traveled, and filled us with hope and inspiration. Some of you have now become very dear friends. I wish I could name each of you, since you are the stars of this book, but I dont want to infringe on your privacy. You know who you are, and I am indebted to you. Special thanks go out to Dennis Olmstead and Julie Gleason who, when they learned of our traveling research project, insisted that we use their home as a resting place.

Another round of thanks are owed to the Radical Homemakers whove been great friends, book reviewers, and emotional support over the years. Holly Hickman happened to call me on the first day I thought of the book and pushed me to keep going with the idea. Dr. Kristen Case kept me talking about the research process, which kept me from feeling lost and overwhelmed. Nancy Kelly gave me free massage therapy and energy sessions to help me decompress and stay focused. All of you gave me faces to be accountable to as I wrote the book, reviewed my work, and filled me with confidence.

Thanks are also owed to my meat customers at The Round Barn Farmers Market, whose generous patronage supported the printing and production costs of this book; to Linda McFall, who lent her professional editorial expertise and bought chickens; to those of you who helped critique cover images, tracked my progress, and challenged my ideas. You make every Saturday feel like a celebration of life.

Thank you to Fran McManus, who has steadily fed my mind and ideas from our first meeting over lunch six years ago. Fran organized the first public reading of Radical Homemakers, did a helluva job promoting it, and single-handedly told me how to fix the introduction before she even