Organic Food, Farming and Culture: An Introduction

This textbook provides students with a comprehensive introduction to organic food and farming. Janet Chrzan, Jacqueline A. Ricotta and contributors explain organic food and organic farming principles; the history of organics; how organic food is grown, distributed, and consumed; the nutritional benefits; and the social and cultural meanings attached to the concept “organic”. Organic Food, Farming and Culture contains a wide range of features to reinforce understanding and learning, including: - practical case studies from organic farmers, chefs, restaurateurs, students, and “concerned” consumers - exercises, discussion questions, and further reading suggestions - illustrations of farms, food, and organic processes. An engaging introduction to organic agriculture, this book is essential reading for those interested in food studies, sustainable agriculture, food security, environmental studies, nutrition and health.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations List of contributors Foreword by Jeff Moyer (Executive Director, Rodale Institute) Acknowledgments Organic Food, Farming and Culture: Introduction Janet Chrzan (University of Pennsylvania, USA) and Jacqueline Ricotta (Delaware Valley University, USA) Part I: Organic Farming: A History 1. Profile: Alex Wenger, Organic Farmer The History of the “New” Organics Joseph Heckman (Rutgers University, USA) and Mark Keating (Independent Scholar) 2. Profile: Leigh Bush, Food Anthropologist Traditional Intensive Organic Farming E.N. Anderson (University of California, Riverside, USA) 3. Profile: Chef Steven Eckerd Organics and the Environmental Movement Kathleen Delate (Iowa State University, USA) and Robert Turnbull (Iowa State University, USA) Part II: Organics in Practice 4. Profile: Alex Wenger, Organic Farmer The Agronomics of Organic Farming Jacqueline A. Ricotta (Delaware Valley University, USA) 5. Profile: Alex Wenger, Organic Farmer The Organic Dairy Industry: How Markets, Standards, and Technology Lead to Changes on the Farm and Throughout the Supply Chain Adam Diamond (American University, USA) 6. Profile: Leigh Bush, Food Anthropologist Going Organic: A Critical Analysis of the Potential for Organic Farming in Ethiopia Bernhard Freyer (The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria) and Jim Bingen (Michigan State University, USA) 7. Profile: Erika Tapp, a Concerned Consumer Organic in the Global North: A Revival of Organic Ethics for a More Sustainable Food System Milena Klimek, Valentin Fiala, Bernhard Freyer (The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria), and Jim Bingen (Michigan State University, USA) 8. Profile: Erika Tapp, Concerned Consumer Consumers, Citizens, and the Participatory Processes on Organic Food: Two Case Studies from Denmark Niels Heine Kristensen (Roskilde University , Denmark) and Mette Weinreich Hansen (Aalborg University Copenhagen, Denmark) Part III: Organic Food Values: Sustainability and Social Movements 9. Profile: Leigh Bush, Food Anthropologist Farming for Food or Farming for Profits? Paul Durrenberger (Independent Scholar) (Sustainable Iowa Land Trust, USA) and Suzan Erem (Independent Scholar) (Sustainable Iowa Land Trust, USA) 10. Profile: Erika Tapp, Concerned Consumer Health Consequences and Perceptions of Organic Foods: A Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence Preety Gadhoke (St. John's University, USA) and Barrett P. Brenton (St. John's University, USA) 11. Profile: Erika Tapp, Concerned Consumer Can Organic Farming Feed the World? Janet Chrzan (University of Pennsylvania, USA) 12. Profile: Leigh Bush, Food Anthropologist The Transcendental Meanings of Organic Food Richard H. Robbins (SUNY Plattsburgh, USA) Part IV: Organic Food Systems: Choice and Culture 13. Profile: Chef Steven Eckerd Institutionalizing Organics: A Practical Consideration of Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Foods in Noncommercial Foodservice and (note: move to end of line above) Foodservice Education Jonathan Deutsch (Drexel University, USA) and Budd Cohen (Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, USA) 14. Profile: Alex Wenger, Organic Farmer Marketing Organic Food in the United States Christina Callicott (University of Florida, USA) and Catherine M. Tucker (University of Florida, USA) 15. Profile: Chef Steven Eckerd Is There Really a Difference between Conventional, Organic, and GMO? John T. Lang (Occidental College, USA) 16. Conclusion E. N. Anderson, Jacqueline Ricotta, and Janet Chrzan Index