Foodtopia - by Margot Anne Kelley Paperback

About the Book

"Ever wonder if there's a better way to live, work, and eat? You're not alone. Here is the story of five back-to-the-land movements, from 1840 to present day, when large numbers of utopian-minded people in the United States took action to establish small-scale farming as an alternative to mainstream agriculture. Then and now, it's the story of people striving to live freely and fight injustice, to make the food on their table a little healthier, and to leave the planet less scarred than they found it"--

Book Synopsis

What if growing food could also grow a better world?

Foodtopia is a food history book that explores how five generations of American dreamers--from Transcendentalists to modern-day farmers--sought peace, equality, and sustainability through small-scale farming. Author Margot Anne Kelley weaves history, personal reflection, and interviews to reveal the enduring belief that food can transform society.

From Brook Farm to today's young farmers fighting for food justice, this book shows how each movement responded to its era's crises with a return to the land--not as escape, but as action.

Winner of the Readable Feast Book Award for Socially Conscious Writing, Foodtopia is essential reading for anyone curious about sustainable living, food justice, or the power of community.

What Readers Will Learn:

--The deep connection between food, freedom, and social justice across generations.

--How past utopian movements shaped today's sustainable agriculture and local food systems.

--Inspiring stories of resilience, from 19th-century homesteaders to BIPOC and queer farmers leading today's Good Food Movement.

--Practical and philosophical insights into living more intentionally and sustainably.

Perfect for anyone wondering if there's a better way to live--and eat.

Review Quotes

"Insightful...empathetic...a thoughtful consideration of a topic that will have a substantial impact on our future."
--Booklist

"A blend of history book and crystal ball...Foodtopia's tapestry of food history refreshingly amplifies people and communities outside of the mainstream."

--Civil Eats' Food and Farming Book Picks for Summer 2022

"Foodtopia glides gracefully through the increasingly complex world of food, pandemic and all. An important contemporary book."
--Mark Kurlansky, author of Salt: A World History

"Essential reading on the state of local and organic growing and eating, and a useful addition to the history of American utopianism."
--Library Journal

"Explores historic back-to-the-land movements and how they helped today's young breakaway farmers succeed."
--Maine Sunday Telegram

"Kelley puts a human face on the back-to-the-land movement with fascinating profiles of the 'renegades' behind the centuries-old phenomenon...she excels at drawing the big picture around human relationships to food, resulting in a satisfyingly substantive work. Farmers and foodies will savor every delectable insight."
--Publishers Weekly

"Margot Anne Kelley elegantly unearths the deep roots of today's back-to-the-land movement, linking Henry David Thoreau's 19th-century essays to the 21st-century struggle for food justice. Foodtopia shows that the desire to leave the city, grow one's own food, and live more simply is almost as American an impulse as building highways and skyscrapers."

--Jonathan Kauffman, author of Hippie Food: How Back-to-the-Landers, Longhairs, and Revolutionaries Changed the Way We Eat

"This book tastes so good--I ate the whole thing raw."

--Mark Sundeen, author of The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life In Today's America