
The Town That Food Saved
How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food
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Narrated by:
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Arthur Morey
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By:
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Ben Hewitt
About this listen
Over the past several years, Hardwick, Vermont, a typical hardscrabble farming community of three thousand residents, has jump-started its economy and redefined its self-image through a local, self-sustaining food system unlike anything else in America. Even as the recent financial downturn threatens to cripple small businesses and privately owned farms, a stunning number of food-based businesses have grown in the region — Vermont Soy, Jasper Hill Farm, Pete’s Greens, Patchwork Farm & Bakery, Applecheek Farm, Claire’s Restaurant and Bar, and Bonnieview Farm, to name only a few.
The mostly young entrepreneurs have created a network of community support, meeting regularly to share advice, equipment, and business plans and to loan each other capital. Hardwick is fast becoming a model for other communities hoping to replicate its success. The captivating story of a small town coming back to life, The Town That Food Saved is narrative nonfiction at its best, full of colorful characters and grounded in an idea that will revolutionize the way we eat.
©2009 Ben Hewitt (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Brent Preston and his wife were die-hard city dwellers. But when their second child arrived, the shine came off urban living. In 2003 they bought a hundred acres and a rundown farmhouse and set out to build a real farm, one that would sustain their family, nourish their community, heal their environment, and turn a profit. The New Farm is Preston’s memoir of a decade of grinding toil and perseverance. But as they learned how to grow food, and to succeed at the business of farming, they also found that a small, sustainable, organic farm could be an engine for change, a path to a more just and sustainable food system.
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Thank you!
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A work of immersive journalism steeped in a distinctively American social history and sparked by a personal quest, The Unsettlers traces the search for the simple life through the stories of new pioneers and what inspired each of them to look for - or create - a better existence. Captivating and clear-eyed, it dares us to imagine what a sustainable, ethical, authentic future might actually look like.
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A seriously wonderful book
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Start Your Farm
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
More than a practical guide, Start Your Farm is a hopeful call to action for anyone who aspires to grow wholesome, environmentally sustainable food for a living. Take it from Forrest Pritchard and Ellen Polishuk: Making this dream a reality is not for the faint of heart, but it's well within reach - and there's no greater satisfaction under the sun.
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More of an inspirational novel
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Critic reviews
“A pleasurable, almost gossipy read.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
“The literary tone and humor make this book more accessible and entertaining.” (School Library Journal)
“Adroitly balancing professional neutrality with personal commitment, Hewitt engagingly examines this paradigm shift in the way a community feeds its citizens.” (Booklist)
What listeners say about The Town That Food Saved
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Debbie
- 12-14-20
Good Info, But Too Long for Me
I am old school and very much for growing one's own food, having grown up on a farm myself. I agree with much the author has to say. However, nearly eight hours is too long for the subject in my opinion.
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- James
- 11-12-22
Interesting story
Enjoyed the anecdotes, stories, and lessons. The insights into the numbers was helpful. And the reading was very relaxing
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- Jared Kerst
- 01-18-21
Must read!
Perhaps lacking the swagger of Omnivore’s Dilemma, or the art of Wendell Berry, I will argue that this unassuming work is as good and just as important. With a humility at once intentional and genuine (no small feat!) Hewitt guides us through an amazingly clear view of one community’s efforts and struggles to redefine the “local” food system. How did I not find this book for over a decade?!
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- Belinda Baxter
- 05-11-21
Thoughtful analysis
Examines the wider problems of food security. I'm already aware but this added answers.
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- Richard
- 10-09-12
Trepidation turned to intruige
I started listening to this book and for the first hour or so, wasn't sure what I had gotten myself in for. It seemed (and maybe still seems, I'm not sure) a big advert for this town. However, Ben really does explore some really interesting and worthwhile questions about the whole local food economy idea that other books (including Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle) simply don't cover. Its very much an in depth view and discussion of what local food really means, what impact that has and what it means to this one small town. And Arthur (whose accent I didn't at first like and then it grew on me over time, really fitting the words from the mouths of some of the locals) really added character to each of the different people in the story, making them very distinct and separate from each other. All in all, a very good (and different book), well orated and well written.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Laurie Ann Kriegh
- 09-16-22
This was not something I would listen to again
This book was not something that I had a real desire to listen too. some of the concepts were interesting, but not a real interesting book overall
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1 person found this helpful
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- Laurie Casebier
- 09-26-22
Before you travel there
This is a fun story if you're familiar with the north country, aka the North East. The story doesn't really get started until after chapter 4, and there's a lot of repetition with philosophies of small farms etc. Overall, I enjoyed it and will visit soon.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-27-20
Good material, well read
I thought I would listen to some then move on to the next book. Enjoyed the whole thing. Good material, well read.
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