Resource Pointer #380 ( California Agriculture, From Organics to Agri-business )
April 5, 2005

For copies of the following resources, please contact the appropriate publishers or organizations directly.

*Agrarian Dreams: The Paradox of Organic Farming in California, 2004* Julie Guthman. This comprehensive study considers the complexities of organic farming in California. The author refutes the popular portrayal of organic agriculture as a small-scale, family-farm endeavor in opposition to “industrial” agriculture. Argues that large-scale organic farming has replicated what it set out to oppose. 250 pages. $21.95. Contact University of California Press, California-Princeton Fulfillment Services, 1445 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing, NJ 08618; phone (800) 777-4726; fax (800) 999-1958; website http://www.ucpress.edu/; email orders@cpfsinc.com. 

*The Conquest of Bread: 150 Years of Agribusiness in California, 2004* Richard A. Walker. Offers an overview of industrial farming in California. Shows how a persistent emphasis on productivity and growth allowed California agricultural production to outpace developments elsewhere in the United States. Details how California’s landscape and Mediterranean climate have been manipulated to serve a production model that exploits an army of farm workers who live and work under dismal conditions. 380 pages. $27.95. Contact The New Press, 38 Greene Street, 4th floor, New York, NY 10013; phone (800) 233-4830; fax (212) 629-8617; website http://www.thenewpress.com/; email newpress@thenewpress.com. 

*The Organic Guide to San Francisco, 2002* Community Action Publications (CAP). Includes sources for organic food, wine, clothes, products, and services, including restaurants, health food stores, specialty stores, farmer’s markets, CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farms that supply subscribers with baskets of farm-fresh food, nurseries, “wet” (not dry) cleaners, less-toxic pest control, mail order products, and more. Also offers useful information about pesticides, organics, biodynamics, community gardens, what’s in season, and the City of San Francisco pesticide reduction program. 108 pages. $11.25. Contact Patricia Dines, Community Action Publication, 708 Gravenstein Hwy N Suite 104-WM, Sebastopol, CA 95472; phone (707) 829-2999; website http://www.healthyworld.org/; email PDines@compuserve.com.

*The Organic Guide to Sonoma, Napa, & Mendocino Counties, 2002* Community Action Publications (CAP). The first section of this Guide provides information about organics, small farms and community gardens, and effective consumer actions to support them. The second section offers the author’s favorite places to find delicious organic food, wines and more in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino. The last section brings together resources on these topics, an indexed list and map. 120 pages. $11.25. Contact Patricia Dines, Community Action Publication, 708 Gravenstein Hwy N Suite 104-W, Sebastopol, CA 95472; phone (707) 829-2999; website http://www.healthyworld.org/; email PDines@compuserve.com

*2005 Organic Directory* California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). The 2005 CCOF Organic Directory is a comprehensive listing of all CCOF Certified Clients and CCOF certified producers as well as the crops, products, services and apprenticeship opportunities they offer.136 pages. $13.00. 1115 Mission Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060; fax (831) 423-4528; website http://www.ccof.org/; email ccof@ccof.org. 

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