At the turn of the year, The Food Systems Network NYC assembled a panel of 10 professionals to pool their knowledge and assess their favorite food system developments of 2009.

Their ‘Best of…” list was intended to identify what the panel found most memorable, and also worthy of further development in 2010. They identified the most significant films, books, and policy developments related to food, nutrition, public health, public policy and art.

They named The Call of the Land: An Agrarian Primer for the 21st Century as ranking among the Best Books of 2009.

Their choice of The Call of the Land arrives just two months after the book was published, and just as reviews and endorsements are beginning to arrive.  Here is a sample of what reviewers have to say:

Courtney White

Endorsement by Courtney White, Executive Director of The Quivira Coalition and author of “Revolution on the Range: The Rise of a New Ranch in the American West” and other works.

“The Call of the Land is an important and timely primer on a resurgent agrarianism taking place around the nation. As the challenges of the 21st century begin to bear down, we can take solace, and find pragmatic solutions, in the back-to-the-land work of progressive farmers, ranchers, conservationists, and many others. Hope dwells in the grassroots. This book is a great guide on where to look.”

Larry Dossey, M.D.

Endorsement by best-selling author Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Healing Words, The Power of Premonitions, and many other books.

“Steven’s book is just terrific. I grew up agrarian, on a small farm in central Texas. I still have dirt under my nails and am proud of it. We grew our own food, a practice I still follow…Our links to the land go deep; they are primordial, archetypal, and innate, and we ignore them at our peril.  In The Call of the Land Steven McFadden explores these connections and how we can restore them at a time in history when they have become dangerously tenuous.

“If you have ever felt the urge to plant a seed or tend a garden, or heard the veggies whispering to you as you pass them in the supermarket aisle, you will love this book. McFadden is dealing with sacred science, the sort of wisdom we require for our survival.”

Woody Wodraska

Book review by Woody Wodraska, yeoman farmer, and the author of Deep Gardening

“The Call of the Land is a hopeful book…The author has been a keen observer-participant of the agricultural scene for more than 30 years and has witnessed first hand this revolution: those who grow and consume food are speedily awakening to the perils of industrialization of food production and finding new ways to make today’s backyard Victory Garden a triumphant response to corporate despotism, to make ‘food with the farmer’s face on it’ the norm. With his research and interviews McFadden presents hundreds of new ideas and resources from citizen groups, individuals, government agencies, educational institutions and his own experience–all sound and all hopeful.“