It’s a Long Road to a Tomato: Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not So) Simple Life
- ISBN13: 9781615190232
- Condition: New
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A new edition of longtime farmer Keith Stewart’s deeply personal and highly acclaimed book on the hows and whys of running a small organic farm in 21st century Americaupdated with five new essays, a foreword by Deborah Madison, and gorgeous new woodcuts by Flavia BacarellaKeith Stewart, already in his early forties and discontent with New York’s corporate grind, moved upstate and started a one-man organic farm in 1986. Today, having surmounted the seemingly endless challenges to succeeding
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(out of 27 reviews)
List Price: $ 18.95
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Review by Nonfiction Addict for It’s a Long Road to a Tomato: Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not So) Simple Life
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Just looking at the cover of this book makes me wish it was summer, and I could find a homegrown, red, ripe, juicy tomato.
I’m a cold-weather gal, so wishing for summer is not something I do often. But there is something very earthy and very appealing about Stewart’s memoir of his organic farming life. (The fact that it is illustrated with woodcuts done by Stewart’s wife, Flavia Bacarella, doesn’t hurt-I love woodcuts. And how about that name? Seems like I could be earthy and appealing, too, if my name were “Flavia.”)
It’s an interesting book, with each chapter/essay offering a short perspective on the challenges facing small farmers of all types, as well as different aspects of rural life and farm marketing in New York City’s Union Square Greenmarket. On my mental “gardening/rural life books” continuum, I liked it better than William Alexander’s horrible The $64 Tomato, in which the author told about trying to kill an opossum in the most bungling and painful way possible; but did not like it as much as Michael Ableman’s On Good Land, which seemed to be a bit more personable, or humorous, or something. But in the end I still enjoyed this one very much. I particularly liked its opening:
“Twenty years ago, a little past the age of forty, I was living in a small apartment in New York City, working as a project manager for a consulting firm, wearing a jacket and tie to the office every day. It didn’t feel good. I had never aspired to be a member of the corporate world, but somehow that’s where I had ended up. I had little affection for the work I was doing and seldom experienced any feelings of pride or fulfillment. Rather, I felt like an impostor, obliged to feign interest and enthusiasm much of the time…Today I am a farmer, a grower of organic vegetables and herbs, and can honestly say that I am a happier man.” (pps. 1-2.)
Kind of gives one hope, doesn’t it?
Review by B J Bosman for It’s a Long Road to a Tomato: Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not So) Simple Life
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Americans have a taste for nature writing that stretches back in a proud lineage, but less so in agricultural writing. Books about farming are too often of the “green acres” school– as glossy and unreal as the seed catalog’s miracle-grown wheelbarrow size tomatoes. What Keith Stewart, and his gifted illustrator-wife Flavia Bacaralla, have given us is not this; it’s a rare, genuine memoir of a life bound up, even unexpectedly captured by the rocky and recalcitrant soil of a slatey upstate New York farm. A Long Way to a Tomato is part and equal to John Hersey, carefully grounded with details in sometimes painfully sharp focus, and part Wendell Berry, suddenly breaking from the mundane into the open sky. It is a brave, open and moving account of a place, man, a marriage, and community– an American farm and farmer at a cross-roads. It could stand for the story of thousands of farms and farmers across the country who do the hard work, make a living, and keep the soul of our land alive.
Review by Brenda Halkias for It’s a Long Road to a Tomato: Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not So) Simple Life
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A truly delightful read. Written with great care and concern for the world in which we live, Mr. Stewart has given all of us, and not only New Yorkers, a real taste for a different way of life and not necessarily a simpler one.
There is alot of information here about issues that affect us all; our food, the small farmer, the importance of eating local, genetic engineering, but most importantly, you have a real taste for the hard work and dedication that it takes to be a farmer and the long, arduous road that they travel to bring food to market. You will never look at a tomato in the same way again.
His stories are touching and heartfelt. I found myself crying for his dear friend, Kuri, a story that will stay with me for a long time. The messages are honest and thought-provoking. A primer for a more compassionate planet, this book is a must-read for people who ever wonder if they can make a difference.
Review by H. C. Clark for It’s a Long Road to a Tomato: Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not So) Simple Life
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We have a farmers’ market here in Houston. We are a relatively new market with an unending quest for new growers, and two copies of Long Road are the staple of our “lending library”. It is comprehensive, realistic and inspirational.
Review by Reinerlaw for It’s a Long Road to a Tomato: Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not So) Simple Life
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Keith Stewart gently prods us, especially those of us who live in urban areas, to become acutely aware of every bit of food we choose to eat: how it is grown, where, by whom, at what heavy physical and financial cost to the farmer and to society. The book is an engrossing essay about the author’s difficult journey from being an unfulfilled middle aged city-dweller to becoming someone in touch with the acres he feels privileged to tend. Woven into the narrative is much wisdom about the choices we as consumers and as a nation have made (hugh subsidies to agribusiness that encourage production of unhealthy food heavily reliant on petrochemical fertilizers).
This book will be enjoyed by readers of all ages but should be required reading for teens, most of whom are unaware of the choices they may make when it comes to putting food into their young mouths.
As a bonus, the author suggests that that an informed electorate might still make it possible that our offspring will enjoy reasonably healthy ways to nourish their bodies and their souls.