‘Why I Farm’ to be released by Tahoe publisher
On June 6, Meyers’ publisher Bona Fide Books will release “Why I Farm: Risking It All for a Life on the Land” by Sierra Valley Farms owner Gary Romano.
A book signing will be that evening from 6-7 at Campo restaurant in Reno.
In “Why I Farm,” third-generation farmer Romano speaks from experience about today’s most vital issues: how to live with purpose and how to protect our food supply. The author documents a disappearing way of life and issues a wake-up call, describing his metamorphosis from a small boy growing up on a farm to adult white-collar worker and his ultimate return to the land. He details specific issues that small farms face today, and how they will challenge our food future. This book is his attempt to educate and enlist farmers and consumers in a call to action.
Romano owns and operates the 65-acre Sierra Valley Farm in Beckwourth and hosts the state’s only certified organic on-farm farmers’ market each Friday from 10am-2:30pm from May 31 through mid-September. Romano also has “Dinners in the Barn” and can be found weekly at the Tahoe City and Truckee farmers’ markets. His next book, “July & Winter: The Growing Seasons of the Sierra for Farmers and Gardeners” is a how-to guide to growing in the challenging Sierra climate. It will by published in 2014 by Bona Fide Books.
Campo is located at 50 N. Sierra St. in downtown Reno. “Why I Farm” is available June 6 through Bona Fide Books, local bookstores and gift shops, at Romano’s farmers’ markets and on Amazon. Go online for more information about Romano’s market and other events.
As Gary was a great help when the Community Garden was being planned from the perspective of SLT’s Sustainable Action Plan, Item # 9, Healthy Food Systems, I would recommend his book, as he is one of the few that both ‘that talks the talk & ‘walks the walk’ with regards to living with the land. . .
The USDA has gone relatively ‘big time’ in encouraging local growing, as there are so many unheralded benefits: food security, nutritional value from being that much closer to the source, elimination of health problems that today’s medicinal industry “cures” with pharmaceuticals that cause as many problems as they solve, and simply way more “bang for the buck” (health $$), that perspectives like his become ever more valuable in understanding all the fuss about why this direction is paramount to any successful future.
Too bad the City cannot realize any USDA largesse in helping Tahoe’s citizenry become healthier…
I worked with some of the regions’ best in designing a better food supply for Tahoe’s citizenry, but the SLT powers-that-be are mostly not cognizant of value above and beyond “financial”, which they never have enough of anyway, the way it’s been managed. . .all of the citizens’ well-being should be a priority starting with what can be grown for them, preferably not hundreds or thousands of miles away, but as close to the plate as possible. . .
I thank Gary in advance for sharing his knowledge on such an important subject for all of us; those here who buy his book will no doubt be enlightened, not to mention greatly educated.