Author Event:
Farming with the Wild
A movement to
restore wild habitats and biodiversity of the wetlands, grasslands,
forests, and deserts bordering farms and ranches across the U.S. is
documented in a new book by Daniel Imhoff titled Farming with the
Wild: Enhancing Biodiversity on Farms and Ranches (Watershed
Media/Sierra Club Books, 2003). In his visit to Madison on Thursday
evening October 9, Imhoff will speak and show slides from his work
which spanned three years and 21 states, and includes several
midwestern profiles, such as Coon Valley, the nation’s first
watershed restoration project, and Community Harvest CSA in Osceola.
Following Imhoff’s impressive visual presentation and talk on
the emerging conservation-based agriculture movement, an open dialog
will discuss regional efforts to restore wildness in our surrounding
agricultural areas. If you are interested in the future of food,
farming, and wildness, please plan to attend. A resident of
Healdsburg, California, Imhoff is a small noncommercial farmer and
the author of numerous articles and books, including Building with
Vision: Optimizing and Finding Alternatives to Wood (2001). He
is also a founding member of the Wild Farm Alliance. The event begins
at 7 p.m. at the Pyle Center on the University of Wisconsin campus. A
reception will precede the event and books will be available for
purchase and signing. Attendance is free. For more details, please
call Michelle Miller, 608-262-7135 or email at mmmille6@wisc.edu.
Intent for the
event
Dan Imhoff, author
of the recently published Farming with the Wild and co-founder
of the Wild Farm Alliance will be speaking in Madison on Thursday,
October 9 at 7 p.m. at the Pyle Center on the University of Wisconsin
Campus. He is presently touring the country, offering a national
perspective on the emerging conservation-based agriculture movement,
and learning from audiences about regional efforts to promote and
restore wildness to agricultural areas. In addition to promoting this
visually stunning and important new book, Imhoff hopes his Madison
appearance will serve as an opportunity for local and regional
conservation and sustainable agriculture groups, funders, businesses,
consumers, and others to celebrate and further integrate efforts to
farm with, rather than against wild Nature.
PRESS RELEASE
Appearing at the Pyle
Center
Thursday, October 9, 7 PM
(free)
An important new book
about Food, Farming, and the Wild
featuring slides and
stories from 21 states,
including exemplary
Wisconsin farmers and restoration projects.
Farming with the Wild
Enhancing Biodiversity
on Farms and Ranches
by Daniel Imhoff
Farming with the Wild expresses
a beautiful and harmonious new vision for sustainable agriculture. By
incorporating the voices of the most important ranchers, farmers, and
environmentalists in this country, Dan Imhoff is able to bring
together the power and creativity of this emerging movement.
Alice Waters
Author and Founder of Chez Panisse
Restaurant
Farming with the Wild is an
inspiring and very moving book—essential reading for anyone
interested in the future of food in the 21st century. It is also a
very hopeful book, as Dan Imhoff demonstrates how the terrible wouds
of our industrial food system can be healed through a new
relationship between agriculture and wilderness conservation.
Finally, it is also an eminently practical book, as the many case
studies provide a primer on how to skillfully marry the agrarian and
wilderness ethics to create a sustainable and more beautiful food
future.
Andrew Kimbrell
Author and editor of Fatal Harvest:
The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture
June 16, 2003 — Though it is not
widely recognized, modern industrial agriculture plays a major role
in the rampant decline in biodiversity in the United States. Habitat
destruction and fragmentation, displacement of native species and the
introduction of exotic species, persecution of predators, and
pollution of all kinds are just a few of its damaging ecological
consequences.
Fortunately, a new vision for a more
environmentally beneficial and sustainable agriculture is emerging.
Such a vision begins with farms that gracefully meld within
landscapes, pulsing with a wide range of native species. It combines
implementation of landscape-level restoration efforts, natural
systems farming research, and the community spirit of farmers’
markets and local watershed stakeholders groups.
Presenting an inspiring look at this
new conservation-based agriculture, Farming with the Wild offers
vivid profiles of more than 40 farms, ranches, and organizations in
the U.S. together with more than 200 revealing full-color
photographs. The result is an on-the-ground picture of a new agrarian
movement that aims to provide healthier food to Americans while
restoring healthy ecosystems across the country.
Dan Imhoff is the author of numerous
articles and essays as well as Building with Vision: Optimizing
and Finding Alternatives to Wood (Watershed Media 2001); The
Guide to Tree-free, Recycled, and Certified Papers (SimpleLife
Books 1999); and co-author and editor of Fat Tire: A Celebration
of the Mountain Bike (Chronicle Books 1999).
Farming
with the Wild: Enhancing Biodiversity on Farms and Ranches
Written by Daniel Imhoff
Designed by Roberto Carra
Foreword by Fred Kirschenmann
A Watershed Media Book/Published by
Sierra Club Books
184 pages, 8-1/2” x 12”,
Over 200 full-color photographs
$29.95 paper
ISBN 1-507805-092-8
Press Contact: Amy Torack, University
of California Press, 510.642.4562
Available on-line at
www.watershedmedia.org or in bookstores throughout the
country.