Have you read the classics? I’m not talking Plato and Socrates or even Proust, but the classics of green and sustainable living. One of the most beautiful classics of the organic, local and Slow Food movement is the award-winning Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on my Family Farm, by the eloquent David Mas Masumoto. Published in 1995, it’s the story of one farmer trying to save his land in a culture that was increasingly valuing tasteless but transportable fruits over his fragile, delicious Sun Crest peaches.
Masumoto has written more books to treasure since then; his newest, Heirlooms: Letters from a Peach Farmer, was published this year. He still grows certified organic Elberta peaches and grapes on his third-generation family farm in California’s Central Valley, and has become a celebrated speaker and advocate for small farms.
For this summer’s reading list, be delighted, educated and guided by environmentalists, farmers, scientists, chefs, gardeners and poets who also happen to be tremendously gifted writers.Look for more suggestions for your green bookshelf in weeks to come here at EcoSalon.
Image: tanaka_juuyoh