The Land of Milk and Uncle Honey
The Land of Milk and Uncle Honey
Alan Guebert with Mary Grace Foxwell
Published by University of Illinois Press
Available online and at booksellers nationwide:
“The river was in God’s hands, the cows in ours.” So passed the days on Indian Farm, a dairy operation on 720 acres of rich Illinois bottomland. In this collection, Alan Guebert and his daughter-editor Mary Grace Foxwell recall Guebert’s years on the land working as part of that all-consuming collaborative effort known as the family farm.
Longtime readers of Guebert’s column, The Farm and Food File, will recognize his tireless parents, measuring the year not in months but in seasons for sewing, haying, and doing the books; Jackie the farmhand, needing ninety minutes to do sixty minutes’ work and cussing the entire time; Hoard the dairyman, sore fingers wrapped in electrician’s tape, sharing wine and the prettiest Christmas tree ever; and the unflappable Uncle Honey, spreading mayhem via mistreated machinery, flipped wagons, and the careless union of diesel fuel and fire.
Guebert’s heartfelt and humorous reminiscences depict the hard labor and simple pleasures to be found in ennobling work, and show that in life, as in farming, Uncle Honey had it right with his succinct philosophy for overcoming adversity: “the secret’s not to stop.”
Since their book’s publication in June 2015, Guebert and Foxwell have held over 65 books events with readers, farmers, and eaters across the country. For a list of upcoming events, please see: http://live-farm-and-food-file.pantheonsite.io/author-events/.
PRESS & REVIEWS
Bon Appetit Magazine 20 Food Books to Read This Summer
Los Angeles Magazine Top 10 Books for Foodies
Food Tank’s Favorite Books of 2015
“Alan Guebert is one of America’s finest writers on the workings and the politics of our food system. This book eloquently describes a rural way of life that’s been lost. But the values of that world–family, community, social justice, a respect for the land–are timeless.” –Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation
“Alan Guebert, our most astute commentator on American farm and food policy, brings the same intelligence, sensitivity, and humor to his own memories. In The Land of Milk and Uncle Honey, he’s created an enduring portrait of a farm and a family.” –Dan Barber, author of The Third Plate and chef and co-owner, Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns
“Alan Guebert is the rare writer who eloquently combines his personal story and journey with where agriculture is headed. With humor and honesty Guebert tells like it is–and gives his readers the tools to fight for a food and agriculture system that is fair for farmers and workers and safe and healthy for eaters. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to hear the story of food from someone who has been following it for the last three decades.” –Danielle Nierenberg, President, Food Tank
“Alan is a rare gift to farmers and non-farmers alike since he provides down-home wisdom that helps us all make sense of the important, but often misunderstood food and farm issues. The Land of Milk and Uncle Honey is a treasure–the best of the best.” –Fred Kirschenmann, author of Cultivating an Ecological Conscience
“A wonderful piece of work. It’s authentic and highly descriptive without being smothered in adjectives. It’s also personal and reflective without being overly sentimental. A celebration of a life well lived even if some day-to-day aspects of that life were challenging and exhausting.” –Fred Myers, winner, Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Agriculture Editors’ Association