“I have known Oran Hesterman for over 25 years. Oran is an important ant thoughtful voice, in Michigan and in Washington, when it comes to discussions of agriculture and food policy.”
—Senator Debbie Stabenow | Chair, Senate Agriculture Committee

“The only way we are going to provide a healthy environment for future generations is through redesigning the food system. Nobody has worked harder or thought more deeply about these issues than Dr. Hesterman. His book, Fair Food, is a must read.”
—Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. | Founder and Chairman, Waterkeeper Alliance

THE BACKGROUND

Our food system is failing us. Once designed to bring us abundant food at low cost, it now nourishes us by destroying some of what we hold most precious—our environment, our health, and our future. Consider:

• In 2008, more than 50% of all U.S. harvested cropland grew only two crops (corn and soybeans), and more than 40% of the food calories consumed worldwide came from just 3 crops: wheat, corn, and rice.
• While 30% of all Detroit residents receive food stamps, 92% of Detroit's food stamp retailers offer few or no fresh fruit or vegetables.
• Agriculture is the leading source of pollution in 48% of river miles and 41% of lake acres that are water-quality impaired.
• In 2008, large commercial farms (those with annual sales greater than $250,000) composed 12.4% of all U.S. farms, yet received 62.4 percent of government payments.

• There are now 8,000 farm-to-school programs across the United States. Eight years ago there were only 4.
• There are now over 6,000 farmers’ markets in communities across the country, a three-fold increase since 1995.
• The Real Food Challenge is working successfully to shift $1 billion of university and college food spending to locally and sustainably-grown food.
• In the U.S. and Canada, 330 hospitals have pledged to purchase food that is grown with “fair food” principles.
• “Solutionaries” in every city across the country are working on innovative models that can lead to a redesign of our food system.

A host of books and films in recent years have documented in great detail the dangers of our current food system, but advice on what to do about it largely begins and ends with the admonition to “eat local” or “eat organic.” This advice is not helpful if, as Chicago Congressman Bobby Rush once pointed out, you can buy ketchup where you live, but no fresh tomatoes. Just as you can’t impact the course of climate change by simply switching to CFL bulbs, you can’t fix the broken food system by simply growing a backyard garden. It requires redesigning our food system.

THE BOOK AND LECTURE

Enter FAIR FOOD: Growing A Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All, an inspiring guide to changing not only what we eat, but how our food is grown, packaged, delivered, marketed and sold.
In his book FAIR FOOD, and now in his lecture, the author and renowned food pioneer Oran B. Hesterman:

• Introduces our current food system, how and why it evolved as it did, and the ways in which it no long er serves us well.
• Describes four key principles a redesigned food system should embody and offers examples of how various individuals and organizations have started to integrate these principles into their enterprises, providing inspiring new models for producers and consumers, businesses and communities.
• Offers practical suggestions as to how you can participate in collective action to precipitate big changes in our food system, from your kitchen to your community to your state house and the White House.

Dr. Hesterman’s menu for change offers the questions to ask at farmers’ markets, tools for starting buy-fresh/buy-local campaigns; advice for forming buyer’s clubs that purchase food directly from farmers and fishermen, and guidance about the legislation to support at the local, state, and federal levels. The time for systemic, practical, and widespread action is at hand, and Dr. Hesterman’s FAIR FOOD book and lecture are the ideal resources for readers and audiences who want to be a part of the fair food revolution.

ABOUT ORAN B. HESTERMAN, Ph.D.

Dr. Hesterman is the inaugural president and chief executive officer of Fair Food Network (www.fairfoodnetwork.org), a nonprofit that works in partnership with other organizations to design a food system that upholds the fundamental right to healthy, fresh and sustainably-grown food, especially in historically-excluded communities.

A national leader in sustainable agriculture and food systems, Dr. Hesterman has published more than 400 reports and articles. Prior to starting the Fair Food Network, Dr. Hesterman was the inaugural President of Fair Food Foundation. His considerable experience in the philanthropic sector also includes working for the Kellogg Foundation for over 15 years. Leading their Integrated Farming Systems and Food And Society Programs his foundation efforts resulted in giving away over $200 million of grants.

Dr. Hesterman has also made significant contributions to the funding of healthy food and farming via his leadership of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders, serving for many years as national co-chair and steering committee member. He is currently working with several foundations, including Woodcock Foundation, to deepen their efforts in sustainable agriculture and food systems.

Dr. Hesterman earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of California-Davis in plant science/vegetable crops and agronomy, respectively. He received his doctorate in agronomy and business administration from the University of Minnesota, in St. Paul.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE BOOK

“Oran Hesterman lays out an impressive – and achievable – roadmap to ensure this generation of children grows up healthy, happy, and truly well-fed.”
—Angela Glover Blackwell | CEO, PolicyLink

The only way we are going to provide a healthy environment for future generations is through redesigning the food system. Nobody has worked harder or thought more deeply about these issues than Dr. Hesterman. His book, Fair Food, is a must read.”
—Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. | Founder and Chairman, Waterkeeper Alliance

“Dr. Oran Hesterman has illustrated a long standing commitment to increasing the access to healthy foods for inner city residents, while also doing what he can to support our local farmers.”
—Congresswoman Barbara Lee | Former Chair, Congressional Black Caucus

“The body of work that Oran’s leadership and support enabled has set the stage for the possibility of food system change within our lifetime. While there are plenty of trend-followers scrambling to lay claim, Oran is more than the real deal—as is this book.”
—Michel Nischan | Chef, President/CEO, Wholesome Wave Foundation

“Oran Hesterman convincingly argues that reinventing our food system is crucial for improving the health of our cities and our economy – policy makers are wise to spend time considering the ideas he lays out in this book.”
—Governor Rick Snyder | State of Michigan

“Our food chain is broken, and never in the history of mankind has there been such a need to get back to basics . . . plain food, grown in a logical manner and delivered to everyone—rural and urban. In Fair Food, Oran Hesterman makes the case that this move is imperative and sustainable.”
—Nancy L. Snyderman | MD, FACS, NBC News Chief Medical Editor

“Efforts that bring new insights and inspiration to the nation’s approach to food and food systems for all – and especially for vulnerable children and families – are critical to the health and wellness of our nation. I applaud Oran Hesterman on both his new book and his lifelong dedication to improving food system policy and practice.”
—Sterling Speirn | President and CEO, W.K. Kellogg Foundation

“I have known Oran Hesterman for over 25 years. Oran is an important ant thoughtful voice, in Michigan and in Washington, when it comes to discussions of agriculture and food policy.”
—Senator Debbie Stabenow | Chair, Senate Agriculture Committee

“Oran Hesterman has been both a longtime pioneer in the movement and, at the same time, a pragmatic visionary about food systems change. Fair Food is a book that many of us have been waiting for.”
—Josh Viertel | President, SlowFoodUSA

“Fair Food not only chronicles the challenges our food system faces and the achievements already made but also illuminates a clear path toward a more sustainable, fair, and delicious future.”
—Alice Waters | Chef, Restaurateur

Q & A with Oran Hesterman, Ph.D.

Q: What is Fair Food, the concept?
A: Fair Food is food grown in a way that is environmentally friendly, food that is healthy, and food that provides for the economic well being of everybody in the system, from production to processing to distribution. Everyone should have the right to healthy food, just as they should have the right to a good education for their children and access to adequate healthcare. More than 13 percent of Americans living in cities are considered “food insecure” which means they do not have access to adequate food for their families. Many of them live in what have been termed “food deserts,” areas in which access to fast foot and marginal food outlets (such as convenience stores, drug stores, and liquor stores) is much greater than access to a full-service grocery store.

Q: What is Fair Food, the book, about?
A: Fair Food, the book, is about the symptoms of our very broken food system, but more importantly, it lays out a vision for what a future food system could look like based on principles such as diversity, ecological integrity and economic viability for everybody in the food system. I think of it as a tool book, which provides people with the tools they need to engage actively in solving the many problems and bringing about a redesign of our food system so it’s healthy for our families and kids, it’s healthy for our environment, and healthy for our communities. For example, you will learn how to join the growing number of parents who are working with their local schools to bring healthier, locally-grown food to their childrens’ school cafeteria.

Q: What makes Fair Food unique among the other books and documentaries that have come out in recent years on food issues?
A: So far in this fair food movement, we have seen a lot written about what the problems are. When people write about solutions, the suggestions are generally about eating local, eating organic. This book takes you far beyond that. It’s not that it’s unimportant to focus on what you’re doing in your kitchen, but it’s equally important to move beyond your refrigerator and engage as a fair food citizen. If we are going to redesign and shift our food system, it is going to happen not only because each of us are spending our food money differently, eating fair food at home, and supporting local farmers and regional agriculture, it’s also because we are working together to change public policy.

Visit: www.fairfoodbook.org