Agribusiness and primary industries Books

Book SynopsisIncluding information on cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep, and goats, and exotics like bison, rabbits, elk, and deer How can anyone from a backyard hobbyist to a large-scale rancher go about raising and selling ethically produced meats directly to consumers, restaurants, and butcher shops? With the rising consumer interest in grass-fed, pasture-raised, and antibiotic-free meats, how can farmers most effectively tap into those markets and become more profitable? The regulations and logistics can be daunting enough to turn away most would-be livestock farmers, and finding and keeping their customers challenges the rest. Farmer, consultant, and author Rebecca Thistlethwaite (Farms with a Future) and her husband and coauthor, Jim Dunlop, both have extensive experience raising a variety of pastured livestock in California and now on their homestead farm in Oregon. The New Livestock Farmer provides pasture-based production essentials for a wide range of animals, from common farm animals (cattle, poultry, pigs, sheep, and goats) to more exotic species (bison, rabbits, elk, and deer). Each species chapter discusses the unique requirements of that animal, then delves into the steps it takes to prepare and get them to market. Profiles of more than fifteen meat producers highlight some of the creative ways these innovative farmers are raising animals and direct-marketing superior-quality meats. In addition, the book contains information on a variety of vital topics: • Governmental regulations and how they differ from state to state; • Slaughtering and butchering logistics, including on-farm and mobile processing options and sample cutting sheets; • Packaging, labeling, and cold-storage considerations; • Principled marketing practices; and • Financial management, pricing, and other business essentials. This book is must reading for anyone who is serious about raising meat animals ethically, outside of the current consolidated, unsustainable CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) system. It offers a clear, thorough, well-organized guide to a subject that will become increasingly important as the market demand for pasture-raised meat grows stronger.Trade Review“If you’ve ever wanted to know what it takes to raise, market, and sell animal products, The New Livestock Farmer is the book for you. Rebecca Thistlethwaite and Jim Dunlop have put together a complete guide for raising everything from poultry to goats and rabbits to beef. The book provides a wealth of information about breeds, animal husbandry, processing, and the business side of livestock farming. It’s a valuable resource for anyone new to farming or curious about how to start.”--Carrie Balkcom, executive director, American Grassfed Association“The real question for the reform of livestock agriculture in the US is whether we can move from a media saturated with images of what we can’t stomach—digestively or culturally—to a more sophisticated understanding of practical and ethical alternatives that make ecological and economic sense. As a farmer and a teacher, I have yet to find a guiding text that does it so well or so comprehensively. Thistlethwaite and Dunlop take us step by step from the open-ended question of breed selection to the finality of slaughter options, providing clear pathways of decision-making for farmers, students, consumers, and advocates.”--Philip Ackerman-Leist, professor, Green Mountain College, and author, Rebuilding the Foodshed"The livestock farmer of today must master not only the vast skills necessary to be an ethical rancher but also marketing, sales, processing, packaging and so many others. Rebecca and Jim’s book is a humble and deeply informative guide from a couple that has been deep in the metaphorical and literal weeds of this challenging work. Without thriving agricultural-based communities, resources like this book are invaluable substitutes, creating a network of like-minded land stewards. Rebecca and Jim have done a good turn in sharing their knowledge in this straightforward and honest primer."-- Marissa Guggiana, co-founder, The Butcher’s Guild, and author, Primal Cuts: Cooking with America’s Best Butchers“My husband and I have farmed for a living all of our adult lives, and farmed with our parents before that. So we had the good fortune of being surrounded by people with deep generational knowledge when we started out. I can’t imagine how new farmers are making it today without that kind of support. Recently we added Large Black hogs to our small farm in north-central Kentucky. The New Livestock Farmer came to us just when we needed it. It is what my father Wendell Berry would call the best of books because it is a tool. It fills a cultural need, and will give beginning farmers just the information they need, just the way they need it.”--Mary Berry, executive director, The Berry Center“Great practical advice on choosing the species to raise, humane treatment, and marketing. Informative chapters on processing, regulations, and starting a business.”--Temple Grandin, author of Humane Livestock Handling and Improving Animal Welfare: A Practical Approach“When it comes to raising healthy livestock in harmony with the land and the local community, this book shows why the old ways are new again… and why they work better than the industrial methods that are all too popular today. The detailed instructions in these pages are all you need to start raising livestock ethically and sustainably. In fact, I’d say it’s a better investment than an agricultural degree from a land grant university.”--Mike Callicrate, owner, Callicrate Cattle Co. and Ranch Foods Direct“Responsible and healthful meat consumption starts on the farm, literally from the ground up, with solid and ethical animal husbandry practices. The New Livestock Farmer provides a clear understanding of how to achieve fulfilling and delicious results. The authors share their proven wisdom to help small-scale, grass-based farmers avoid the pitfalls of an often confusing and intimidating agricultural landscape.”--Adam Danforth, author of Butchering Beef and Butchering Poultry, Rabbit, Lamb, Goat, and Pork

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Book SynopsisThe Guardian’s "Best Books on Drink” Pick Most people know that wine is created by fermenting pressed grape juice and cider by pressing apples. But although it’s the most popular alcoholic drink on the planet, few people know what beer is made of. In lively and witty fashion, Miracle Brew dives into traditional beer’s four natural ingredients: malted barley, hops, yeast, and water, each of which has an incredible story to tell. From the Lambic breweries of Belgium, where beer is fermented with wild yeasts drawn down from the air around the brewery, to the aquifers below Burton-on-Trent, where the brewing water is rumored to contain life-giving qualities, Miracle Brew tells the full story behind the amazing role each of these fantastic four—a grass, a weed, a fungus, and water—has to play. Celebrated U.K. beer writer Pete Brown travels from the surreal madness of drink-sodden hop-blessings in the Czech Republic to Bamberg in the heart of Bavaria, where malt smoked over an open flame creates beer that tastes like liquid bacon. He explores the origins of fermentation, the lost age of hallucinogenic gruit beers, and the evolution of modern hop varieties that now challenge wine grapes in the extent to which they are discussed and revered. Along the way, readers will meet and drink with a cast of characters who reveal the magic of beer and celebrate the joy of drinking it. And almost without noticing we’ll learn the naked truth about the world’s greatest beverage.Trade ReviewChoice Reviews, Outstanding Academic Title— "Veteran beer writer Pete Brown takes the reader on a journey to discover the story behind the four ingredients essential to the production of modern beer: malted barley, water, hops, and yeast. With a chapter dedicated to each ingredient—and an additional chapter about Reinheitsgebot ('German Beer Purity Law'), the 16th-century German regulation governing the ingredients in beer—Brown chronicles his research and travels around the world with an approachable, informative, entertaining style. Along the way, he explores the origins of beer-making and demystifies the science of fermentation in terms the average reader can understand. This is not a how-to manual, recipe book, chemistry textbook, or history book, yet elements of each are incorporated in this incredibly engaging narrative. Those interested in further study will appreciate Brown's curated bibliography. Both the casual beer fan and the master brewer will enjoy Brown’s skillful storytelling while learning about the origins of beer’s ingredients and the forces—natural, social, and chemical—that shaped their development." The New York Times Book Review— "[Brown] leavens his magisterial tour of fearsome science and vast brewery history with cheery anecdotes, humor, vivid you-are-there prose and a clever eye for personality . . . His rhapsodies about the meaning of life and the meaning of beer are stirring. . . .His expertise and insight will leave you with a glimmer of infinity every time you hold a bottle of it in your hand.” Foreword Reviews, Starred Review— "Civilization befell humanity in spurts of luck and cleverness: managing fire, sharing food, affection communicated in the gift of a flower, speech, discovering that a bunch of ripe grapes left in the hollow of a boulder or grain soaked in water would convert into intoxicating alcohol, written language, and so on. If you flinched at seeing wine and beer make the list, ask yourself what trigger might have led to free-ranging fireside chats, feasting, artistic expression, romance, and other aspects of a thriving civilization, and inebriation jumps to the fore. Moreover, scholars have great reason to believe that Neolithic humans cultivated grains for beer before bread, based on archaeological finds in the Eastern Mediterranean, Mexico, and other places. So we’ve been drinking beer for 10,000 years or so, but did you realize that, in spite of its lowbrow reputation, beer is one of the most complex and difficult to make beverages of all? Pete Brown’s Miracle Brew: Hops, Barley, Water, Yeast and the Nature of Beer makes the case that beer is also beautiful, fascinating, and worthy of your full attention—even if you’re a wine drinker. Brown profiles each of beer’s ingredients and explains the precise, not-completely-understood role they play in brewing. An extraordinary storyteller, historian, and drinking companion, he may play a crucial role in establishing beer as the world’s greatest beverage."“In a spirited, engaging romp through the confines of the Reinheitsgebot, the German Beer Purity Law of 1516, Pete Brown pulls apart and examines the four essential ingredients of late-medieval Bavarian lager beer: barley, water, hops, and yeast, which was first observed in the seventeenth century. Earlier European medieval ales, flavored with gruit herbs such as bog myrtle, yarrow, and meadowsweet, stepped aside to make way for the hop invasion. To the delight of modern craft brewers, Pete then deftly puts these seemingly simple constituents back together again to produce a thirst-quenching finished product.”—Patrick E. McGovern, author of Ancient Brews and Uncorking the Past“Pete Brown is my favorite kind of person—an intellectual hedonist. In this exceptionally engaging and informative book, he lays bare his gleeful pursuit of knowledge into what makes us humans vigorously pursue our passions for the good things in life. I’ve read a lot of beer books; this one tops them all for the sheer thoroughness in which the art, history, science, and plain old enjoyment of this most complex of beverages is explored.”—Jereme Zimmerman, author of Make Mead Like a Viking“Entertaining, engaging, and simply fun, Miracle Brew offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of beer through the prisms of hops, barley, water, and yeast. Pete Brown takes us on an experiential romp through the world of beer, full of topsy-turvy adventures. Put down your scientific journals and remind yourself what beer is really all about.”—Charlie Papazian, author of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing; founder, Great American Beer Festival“Pete has an enthusiasm for his subject matter that is both hugely entertaining and highly infectious, particularly when—true story!—he climbs behind the wheel of a combine to harvest a field of malting barley! You may think that you ‘get’ beer, all its ingredients and processes, but by the end of Miracle Brew he will have you marveling at how little you fully understood.”—Stephen Beaumont, coauthor with Tim Webb of Best Beers and The World Atlas of Beer“When Pete Brown describes something, you feel you’ve explored it yourself. Whether it is an investigation of Maris Otter barley or a visit to Carnivale Brettanomyces, he conveys the feel, the facts, and the findings in a way that’s concise yet satisfyingly complete. Miracle Brew enlivens the exploration of beer’s foundational ingredients with colorful details drawn from diverse experiences. Brown’s take will certainly nurture fascination among those new to the territory, but veteran beer fans will also find plenty of new information and insights. For both, Brown’s thoughtful writing makes any dip into this work rewarding.”—Ray Daniels, founder and director, Cicerone Certification Program“We all know the story of how beer is made and what it tastes like once it’s finished, but Pete Brown takes you back a step in that journey, and describes how each of the four main ingredients—water, barley, hops, and yeast—were grown, harvested, and prepared to arrive at the brewery, ready to be used to brew the miracle in your glass.”—Jay R. Brooks, syndicated beer writer and columnist

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Book Synopsis"The Organic Grain Grower is the best resource we’ve seen for small-scale grain growers everywhere. . . . [Lazor's] passion comes alive in this fine guidebook’s depth of detail."—Mother Earth News The ultimate guide to growing organic grains on a small and ecological scale The Organic Grain Grower is invaluable for both home-scale and commercial producers interested in expanding their resiliency and crop diversity through growing their own grains. Longtime farmer and organic pioneer Jack Lazor covers how to grow and store wheat, barley, oats, corn, dry beans, soybeans, pulse crops, oilseeds, grasses, nutrient-dense forages, and lesser-known cereals. In addition to detailed cultivation and processing information, Lazor argues the importance of integrating grains on the organic farm (not to mention for the local-food system) for reasons of biodiversity and whole farm management. Including extensive information on: The history of grain growing and consumption in North America The twenty-first century and the birth of the local-food movement Considering your farm's scale and climate Understanding soil fertility and structure Planting your crop (including spring vs. fall cereals and preparing your soil) The growing and ripening process (reproductive, milk, hard-and-soft dough stages) The grain harvest Preparing grain for sale, storage, or end use (drying, cleaning seed, grain handling) Seed breeding and saving Machinery, infrastructure, and processing (both home-scale tools and larger farm equipment) Grinding grains for livestock rations (including how to put together a ration based on protein content) and sample rations for dairy cows, pigs, and chickens Processing grains for human consumption Additional resources and information for new grain farmers, and more... Beginners will learn how to grow enough wheat for a year's supply of bread flour for their homestead, and farmers will learn how to become part of a grain co-op, working alongside artisan bakers and mills. Never before has there been a guide to growing organic grains applicable both for the home-scale and professional farming scale. This will be a classic for decades to come and a crucial addition to any farmer's, homesteader's, gardener's, agronomist's, or seed-saver's library.Trade ReviewMother Earth News- "The Organic Grain Grower is the best resource we’ve seen for small-scale grain growers everywhere. The book covers necessary equipment and cultivation techniques for many types of crops: corn, wheat, barley, oats, rye, spelt and triticale, buckwheat, soy, dry beans, and oilseeds. Lazor describes himself as 'a grain-processing nut,' and his passion comes alive in this fine guidebook’s depth of detail.""Jack Lazor writes about grain growing with passion and experience. With this wealth of background and insight, readers will want to do it themselves, and with the lode of detailed information Jack provides, they will be able to do so. Although his focus is on medium-scale commercial production, many of the tips he shares are applicable to the backyard grain-grower as well."--Will Bonsall, Khadighar Farm; director, Scatterseed ProjectForeWord Reviews- "Longtime farming pioneer Jack Lazor has progressed from a back-to-the-land idealist to the co-manager, with his wife, of a profitable dairy and grain business, Butterworks Farm in Westfield, Vermont. In The Organic Grain Grower, he shares his considerable experience and expertise with new generations of holistic home and market grain producers. Lazor’s book starts with the history of grain production in his local region; early settlers found that northern New England offered a good climate for wheat, vital for animal fodder and bread making. Today, “the rebirth of grain growing” is not just common sense, but fun, Lazor enthusiastically reports. He takes readers through soil fertility and tillage, to the crucial matter of storage (“mice … have an uncanny ability to … burrow into bags that you can’t see from the outside of the pile”), drying, screening, grinding, and grading. He recommends equipment, including less expensive “retired” machinery. Grains covered are corn, wheat, barley, oats, rye, spelt, triticale, buckwheat, and flax, plus soybeans and other legumes. The book is very well organized, including a large section of clear, helpful photos. Though he is not averse to employing newfangled machinery if it does the job well, Lazor takes pride in using older farming equipment that is less complicated than modern counterparts, and some examples of these are illustrated. The Organic Grain Grower is more than 500 pages, with a colorful, informative cover. Anyone seriously considering growing grain for animal feed, human consumption, or sale will find value in this manual. It would also be beneficial for those interested in any aspect of organic farming, since the sound advice given for grains could apply to any crop. The foreword by author Eliot Coleman (The Winter Harvest Handbook) praises Lazor as the person “who inspired the movement” back to the “small farm’s grain heritage.” Lazor is as handy with a pen as with a plow, making even grain diseases sound interesting (“there is nothing like a mid-June thunderstorm to set up wheat plants for an invasion of … rust”). His flowing style demonstrates both hard knowledge and old world graces, as he modestly expresses the hope that the book “will help people avoid some of the mistakes that I have made.” Another outstanding offering from Chelsea Green Publishing, Lazor’s guide will doubtless plant the seeds of inspiration among beginners and old hands alike as they tackle the complexities of grain growing and organic agriculture, and will do its part to propagate more general interest in the subject."“The Organic Grain Grower is quite possibly the most complete and extensive text ever written on grain production in the Northeast. Jack Lazor’s deep passion and knowledge creates an astounding story, and he shares his wisdom and experience generously. If you have ever wanted to grow grain, this is a book to own and cherish.”--Dr. Heather Darby, University of Vermont Extension Agronomist“Jack writes from the top of a mountain—the mountain of his life. His long years of experience are longer than his very beard, and the wisdom and distillation of his farming life are written here with clarity and graceful articulation. As he says in the book, ‘people are hungry for meaning as well as food.’ In this classic book, Jack provides not only the meaning, but also the methods required to succeed as a small-scale grower of organic grains."--Jeffrey Hamelman, director, King Arthur Flour Bakery, and author of Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes"Given our industrial agriculture, most of us assume that grain can only be grown in huge monocultures devoted to producing as much as possible, unmindful of the quality. But in The Organic Grain Grower, Jack Lazor provides us with a practical and attractive alternative. As a farmer he has demonstrated that one can provide an emerging market with a diversity of superior quality grains, grown on a small scale, using heirloom varieties and modest investment. This book is (as Eliot Coleman puts it) “like acquiring hundreds of years of knowledge in one book.”--Frederick Kirschenmann, author of Cultivating an Ecological Conscience“I believe I can safely say, without losing any money, that if you know of one fact truly necessary to growing grains organically in the United States that is not in this book, I'll pay you five bucks out of my own pocket. Plus there's a whole bunch of stuff about how to process and use grains in the barn or on the table that I have not found all in one place before.”--Gene Logsdon, author of Small-Scale Grain Growing

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Book SynopsisAs seen on The Today Show!The world’s leading chocolate taster shares his wild ride to attain the most envied job, and explains his warning heard around the world: that we might soon run out of chocolate.Angus Kennedy, dubbed “the real life Willy Wonka,” has the best job of all time, tasting candy for a living. But the journey to his sweet life has followed a rocky road. In this inspiring, smile inducing memoir, he shares how despite an alcoholic mother, a father dying of cancer, and multiple brushes with death, he rose to fame and became the king of cocoa. He also gives a fascinating tour of the little-known chocolate industry and answers such questions as: what the state of the cocoa bean is and if we’re going to run out of chocolate, is chocolate good for you, and how to know if you’re eating high-quality chocolate.Doused in Kennedy’s signature humor and wit, this unforgettable memoir is a tale of dysfunction, but also redemption. It is baked to perfection for lovers of great chocolate and great stories, and reveals the secrets of the chocolate world and its king, the bitter and the sweet.Trade Review“Chocolate in any form is highly addictive, usually worth the extra calories and loved by most people on the planet. About 90 percent of Americans even say it’s their favorite flavor. But what goes into creating that delicious treat? The world’s leading chocolate taster, Angus Kennedy reveals all the details.” —Parade“The chocolate industry is fascinating, nuanced, and culturally important. And only a couple people have ever managed to stand at the center of it. Angus Kennedy is one, having literally spent his entire life dedicated to almost every aspect of chocolate. Here he compellingly shares his expertise and insights. It's a read every bit as worthwhile as the chocolate itself.” —Justin I. Miller, chocolate industry researcher, and Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of Southern California “It wasn't always easy, but Angus took lemons and made them into lemonade—no, took beans and made them into chocolate. . . . A sommelier of chocolate.”—Debbie Matenopoulos, Hallmark Home & FamilyTable of ContentsPreface Introduction Mad Dogs, Vodka, and Candy Candy to the Rescue My Father's Death Strange Visitors to Number 22 Welcome to the World of Confectionery The Candy Kid Goes Back to School Finishing School Murder? Working in a Mint Factory How to Get the Best Job in the World Goods to Congess Weight Control What You Might Not Know About Your Chocolate Bar Will We Run Out of Chocolate? The Chocolate of the Future Cohocolate Just for the Moment How to Taste Chocolate

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Book SynopsisThis volume is based on empirical case studies from Europe, Asia and Africa, and analyzes the complex power relations in the global food system. The conditions behind the production, trading and consumption of foodstuffs are central themes of modern society. "The Competitive World of Food" analyzes the complex interests and power structures that determine the global food system. This is done using a number of case examples stemming from Europe, Asia and Africa, which are embedded in global relations. This volume shows that the global food system is increasingly being determined by privately financed companies and their specific interests. This makes a public and democratic debate about the future of food all the more important.

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