Paul F. Starrs, and Peter Goin
Field Guide to California Agriculture
$60.00, £41.95 hardcover
9780520247642
NYP--Due 7/10
$24.95, £16.95 paperback
9780520265431
NYP--Due 7/10
448 pages, 4-1/2 x 7-1/4 inches, 125 color illustrations, 4 line illustrations, 18 maps, 1 table
July 2010, Available worldwide
July 2010, Available worldwide
Anyone who travels California's byways sees the many faces of agriculture. A huge entwined business, farming and ranching are the state's dominant land use. Yet few Californians understand what animals and crops are raised or how agriculture reflects our relationship with nature. This fascinating and gorgeously illustrated field guide gathers essential information about agriculture and its environmental context, and answers the perennial question posed by California travelers: "What is that, and why is it growing here?" Paul F. Starrs's lively text explores the full range of the state's agriculture, deftly balancing agribusiness triumphalism with the pride of boutique producers, sketching meanwhile the darker shadows that can envelop California farming. Documented with diverse maps and Peter Goin's insightful photographs, A Field Guide to California Agriculture captures the industry's energy and ingenuity and its wildly diverse iconography, from the mysteries of forbidden crops (like marijuana) to the majesties of scale in food production.
"No understanding of this state is possible without an understanding of its agriculture; that's how important this subject is."—Gerald Haslam, author of Workin' Man Blues: Country Music in California
"The publication of this fascinating, intriguing, and sometimes even humorous exploration of California's agriculture—from broccoli to marijuana and beyond—means that at long last there's a book everyday people can read to understand the state's biggest industry. With this picture of agricultural triumph and the troubling questions it brings, Starrs and Goin have taken the Natural History Guide Series to a new level."—Louis Warren, University of California, Davis
"This book has captured it all. The writing and images go beyond the dry expectation of most things 'field guide', bringing to life one of the most creative (and necessary) human endeavors and making understandable the incredible complexity of California agriculture; one of the world's most daring experiments in feeding itself. Paul Starrs and Peter Goin have provided us with a valuable resource, one that should be read by everyone, not just those of us who farm, but all of us who depend on farms."—Michael Ableman, author of From The Good Earth
"The publication of this fascinating, intriguing, and sometimes even humorous exploration of California's agriculture—from broccoli to marijuana and beyond—means that at long last there's a book everyday people can read to understand the state's biggest industry. With this picture of agricultural triumph and the troubling questions it brings, Starrs and Goin have taken the Natural History Guide Series to a new level."—Louis Warren, University of California, Davis
"This book has captured it all. The writing and images go beyond the dry expectation of most things 'field guide', bringing to life one of the most creative (and necessary) human endeavors and making understandable the incredible complexity of California agriculture; one of the world's most daring experiments in feeding itself. Paul Starrs and Peter Goin have provided us with a valuable resource, one that should be read by everyone, not just those of us who farm, but all of us who depend on farms."—Michael Ableman, author of From The Good Earth
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