Elizabeth R. (esjro) -
Helpful Score: 3
Farm City chronicles one woman's attempt to grow and raise healthy food for herself in an Oakland ghetto. She begins her "squat farming" in an abandoned lot with a vegetable bed and some fruit trees. Chickens, ducks, and turkeys are quickly added. The former two present a challenge to the carnivorous author - can she raise and later slaughter her own food? Apparently the answer is "yes," because rabbits and pigs later join her menagerie.
This is definitely a foodie book in that the author espouses the values of fresh food that has been locally grown. There is lots of talk of the disconnect between living animals and the packaged meats available at the grocery store, etc., but coming from Carpenter these ideas do not come across as pretentious or inaccessible. It is hard to accuse a woman who works three jobs, lives in the ghetto, and shares her harvests with her neighbors of being a food snob, and that is why this book works so well - Carpenter shows that you don't have to be a member of the white upper-middle class or shop at Whole Foods to eat healthy, sustainable foods. She serves as an ambassador for farming in her own neighborhood, where the kids take an interest in gardening and especially her animals.
As a narrator Carpenter is honest, occasionally self-deprecating, and very, very funny. The tales she tells of her animals (dumpster diving to find enough food to feed two growing pigs) and her neighbors (a local African American woman runs an underground restaurant serving fish she caught herself) are hilarious and will warm your heart. Particularly moving are the sections dealing with animal slaughter - the respect and love she has for the animals she has raised for food are obvious, and she conveys well the conflicting emotions that many of us omnivores share regarding meat.
I highly recommend this book to any foodie, especially those who find Michael Pollan a tad too pretentious.
This is definitely a foodie book in that the author espouses the values of fresh food that has been locally grown. There is lots of talk of the disconnect between living animals and the packaged meats available at the grocery store, etc., but coming from Carpenter these ideas do not come across as pretentious or inaccessible. It is hard to accuse a woman who works three jobs, lives in the ghetto, and shares her harvests with her neighbors of being a food snob, and that is why this book works so well - Carpenter shows that you don't have to be a member of the white upper-middle class or shop at Whole Foods to eat healthy, sustainable foods. She serves as an ambassador for farming in her own neighborhood, where the kids take an interest in gardening and especially her animals.
As a narrator Carpenter is honest, occasionally self-deprecating, and very, very funny. The tales she tells of her animals (dumpster diving to find enough food to feed two growing pigs) and her neighbors (a local African American woman runs an underground restaurant serving fish she caught herself) are hilarious and will warm your heart. Particularly moving are the sections dealing with animal slaughter - the respect and love she has for the animals she has raised for food are obvious, and she conveys well the conflicting emotions that many of us omnivores share regarding meat.
I highly recommend this book to any foodie, especially those who find Michael Pollan a tad too pretentious.
Vivian Q. (bellasgranny) -
Helpful Score: 1
I admire the life that the author created on her urban farm, her relationship with food, family and community. Many parts of the book were tough to read but I plowed through and was richly rewarded. Ms. Carpenter, who has a wonderful sense of humor and can write really well, doesn't take herself too seriously, and as a result the reader falls hopelessly in love with her. Very highly recommend.
Matte R. (fixedschwinn) reviewed Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer on + 10 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I picked this book up once or twice before and was never really that taken with it. For some reason it just didnt pull me in right away. It might be the writing style, or maybe its because when I dream of a farm, I dream of the country, not raising animals in the ghetto. But Jodi read it and really enjoyed it, so I thought Id give it another shot.
Novella and her partner live in a shady part of Oakland, CA. Not just marginally shady, but so shady that a homeless man lived un-accosted in multiple abandoned vehicles on their dead end street. Bad enough that they watched a man shoot up from their window. At one point she had a gun pulled on her while biking home. It was not a pleasant neighborhood and not one I would have chosen for an urban farm. However, it came with two things that are very helpful for an urban farm. An empty lot next door, and freedom. When the cops dont bother to show up until somebody gets killed, theyre surely not going to bother with someone farming in their yard. So they were basically able to do whatever they wanted with the space they had. So they planted a garden, then brought in some chickens, turkeys and geese. They got some bees, and fostered some rabbits. They sort of learned about each one as they were doing it, oftentimes through relationships they made with folks in the neighborhood. I think they took it a bit too far though when it went from poultry, bees and rabbits to pigs. I like that theyre willing to be a bit crazy and give something different a shot, but when the neighbors are complaining that their daughter is on the verge of vomiting from the smell, it seems like theyre taking advantage of the situation. They HAD to know how bad it smelled and for someone who is SO concerned about how her animals are treated when they are killed and dressed, she doesnt seem to have much concern about how her lifestyle affects those around her. At times shes sharing the bounty of her garden with her neighbors and the Black Panthers, other times shes overloading a borrowed truck with manure or having her neighbors help her coral her escaped pigs before they make it out to the busy street and cause havoc.
One thing I like about the book is that Novella shows herself to be pretty real, and the sort of person I would probably find myself hanging around. She drinks, she cusses, she gets angry, she makes bad decisions at times, and sometimes shes a bit self-absorbed and judgmental of people who arent like her. (Arent we all to some extent?) But shes passionate about whats she doing. She may not know exactly what shes doing, but she throws her whole heart into it and does it to the best of her knowledge and ability.
Novella and her partner live in a shady part of Oakland, CA. Not just marginally shady, but so shady that a homeless man lived un-accosted in multiple abandoned vehicles on their dead end street. Bad enough that they watched a man shoot up from their window. At one point she had a gun pulled on her while biking home. It was not a pleasant neighborhood and not one I would have chosen for an urban farm. However, it came with two things that are very helpful for an urban farm. An empty lot next door, and freedom. When the cops dont bother to show up until somebody gets killed, theyre surely not going to bother with someone farming in their yard. So they were basically able to do whatever they wanted with the space they had. So they planted a garden, then brought in some chickens, turkeys and geese. They got some bees, and fostered some rabbits. They sort of learned about each one as they were doing it, oftentimes through relationships they made with folks in the neighborhood. I think they took it a bit too far though when it went from poultry, bees and rabbits to pigs. I like that theyre willing to be a bit crazy and give something different a shot, but when the neighbors are complaining that their daughter is on the verge of vomiting from the smell, it seems like theyre taking advantage of the situation. They HAD to know how bad it smelled and for someone who is SO concerned about how her animals are treated when they are killed and dressed, she doesnt seem to have much concern about how her lifestyle affects those around her. At times shes sharing the bounty of her garden with her neighbors and the Black Panthers, other times shes overloading a borrowed truck with manure or having her neighbors help her coral her escaped pigs before they make it out to the busy street and cause havoc.
One thing I like about the book is that Novella shows herself to be pretty real, and the sort of person I would probably find myself hanging around. She drinks, she cusses, she gets angry, she makes bad decisions at times, and sometimes shes a bit self-absorbed and judgmental of people who arent like her. (Arent we all to some extent?) But shes passionate about whats she doing. She may not know exactly what shes doing, but she throws her whole heart into it and does it to the best of her knowledge and ability.
