About this item
There is no despair in a seed. There's only life, waiting for the right conditions-sun and water, warmth and soil-to be set free. Everyday, millions upon millions of seeds lift their two green wings. At no time in our history have Americans been more obsessed with food. Options- including those for local, sustainable, and organic food-seem limitless. And yet, our food supply is profoundly at risk. Farmers and gardeners a century ago had five times the possibilities of what to plant than farmers and gardeners do today; we are losing untold numbers of plant varieties to genetically modified industrial monocultures. In her latest work of literary nonfiction, award-winning author and activist Janisse Ray argues that if we are to secure the future of food, we first must understand where it all begins: the seed.
About the Author
Janisse Ray grew up in a junkyard along U.S. Highway 1 near Baxley, Ga. She is the author of ECOLOGY OF A CRACKER CHILDHOOD, which won the American Book Award and other honors. Since ECOLOGY she has published five books. THE SEED UNDERGROUND: A GROWING REVOLUTION TO SAVE FOOD came out from Chelsea Green Publishing in 2012. Most of her work is literary nonfiction and deals with the human relationship to nature. She earned an MFA from the University of Montana and holds two honorary doctorates, one from LaGrange College in LaGrange, GA and one from Unity College in Unity, ME. In 2016 she was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame and in 2019 won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia Writers Association. She lives on an organic farm in Georgia.She writes poetry (A HOUSE OF BRANCHES) and fiction in addition to creative nonfiction.
