Brownlee - The local food revolution: how humanity will feed itself in uncertain times

Praise for The Local Food Revolution

Mixing history and philosophy with a hopeful yet realistic call to action, Michael Brownlees profound work demands immediate attention. One of the single most important elements of our fate as a species is the state of our global food system grid as it exists in small local equations. Brownlee gives us the perfect opportunity and the tools to once and for all solve for x. The Local Food Revolution is the blueprint for the future wellness of our planetary community.

D ANIEL A SHER , executive chef, River and Woods and co-chair, Chefs Collaborative/Colorado

Michael Brownlees book is a wide-ranging discussion from his early recognition of the changes affecting our planet and his important, ongoing identification of and engagement with ideas and models from influential leaders, thinkers, and movers (of which he is one). Rather than just observe and report, he is a leader who participates, implements, tests, and catalyzes emerging ideas and concepts. This book is an inspiration to anyone who feels our problems are too big to address and that we cant do anything; they arent, and we can.

J ACK R OUND , Transition Omaha, Lets Eat Investment Group

The multi-layered global crisis, and in particular, abrupt climate change, demand nothing less than a local food revolution that reaches far beyond farmers markets and buying local. Every human life going forward depends on a radical transformation of our relationship with food and how we provide it for our communities. Michael Brownlee maps this revolution with laser clarity. If you eat, you must read this book.

C AROLYN B AKER , PhD, author of Love In The Age of Ecological Apocalypse and Collapsing Consciously

Few evolutionary catalysts see the nexus between local food systems and deep cultural transformation with the clarity of Michael Brownlee. Want to find the connections between Thomas Paine, Christopher Alexander, and the organic farmer down the street? They are here for you in this book.

W OODY T ASCH , founder of Slow Money and author of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money

As humankind moves towards an uncertain future facing issues related to climate change, water quantity/quality, healthy soil for food production, and more food-resilient communities, The Local Food Revolution provides a road map for those brave enough to embark on its bold manifesto. An early food system pioneer who catalyzed evolutionary change and helped revolutionize the future of local food for Colorado, Michael Brownlee provides a direct and biting reflection on what it will take to revolutionize our local food system while meeting the difficult food demands forecast for our future. His insights and recommendations are well-researched, thoughtful, and brutally honest.

R USTY C OLLINS , Denver County Director, Colorado State University Extension

Michael Brownlee raises this call to farms (local of course) to inspire an urgently needed revolution in our food system. The urgency is born of declining resources and increasingly disruptive climate change. He gives this call an evolutionary context: every collapse is followed by an emergence of something completely new. He envisions foodsheds that are regional, regenerative and restorative, in stark contrast to the rapacious industrial food system. He invites us to bring food home again as a choice for life itself. Stories of pioneers revolutionizing all facets of emerging foodsheds are a real treasure. Learn from Michaels decade of experience cultivating a local food shift in Colorado to empower food localization wherever you are.

J ANAIA D ONALDSON , Peak Moment Television

This book needs to be widely read by those in the local food movement. Michael Brownlee explains the local food revolution as emerging from an evolutionary shift in ethical and cultural values occurring at the deepest levels of human consciousness, a deep revolution. He provides a wealth of philosophical insights and practical information about how to be an effective evolutionary catalyst but stresses that deep revolutions arise from within and must be nurtured rather than developed. The local food revolution can only be sustained by a spiritual reawakening to the inherent sacredness of food and farming.

J OHN I KERD , professor emeritus of agricultural economics, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO and author of The Essentials of Economic Sustainability, Sustainable Capitalism, and Crisis and Opportunity

For those of us weighed down with concern for our childrens prospects for a safe and abundant life, The Local Food Revolution provides a high-minded but thoroughly practical primer on how to get started, now, to change that doubt into hope. This book will be recognized as a classic reference that every food activist will keep near at hand for centuries to come.

A LAN L EWIS , Government Affairs and Food and Agriculture Policy, Natural Grocers

Telling a personal journey of transitioning to local food as callingintense, deep, and transformingthis book holds an important place for those currently involved in localizing foodsheds, and helps us all understand the urgency of saving and re-vitalizing our food systems locally.

N ANNA M EYER , PhD, associate professor of health sciences, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Few people in the world have thought longer and deeper about the local food revolution than Michael Brownlee. In a journey reminiscent of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Brownlee traces the evolution of his work in Colorado and the evolution of his thinking about the movements global importance. He reveals himself to be as much a philosopher as a practitioner, with provocative, invaluable, and entertaining insights for anyone who wants to reshape his or her own community.

M ICHAEL H . S HUMAN , community economist and author of The Local Economy Solution

Buckminster Fuller could have written the preface to The Local Food Revolution: You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. A deep bow to Michael Brownlee, who is serving as a lead catalyst and synthesizer of this new model. Join the emerging global awakening to beat the clock of mass extinction.

J OHN S TEINER and M ARGO K ING , transpartisan/sacred activists