farm city - novella carpenter

simply put...

novella is fucking awesome.

she resides in the ghetto
in oakland
and she has an urban farm

this urban farm includes
vegetables
fruits
rabbits
turkeys
chickens
and pigs

novella writes beautifully
with a hint of nostalgic humour
and she almost makes me believe
that i could farm, too

what is really cool
about novella
is that she shares with members of her hood (if you will)
bikers
sex workers
homeless peoples
gangsters
etc
etc
pick whatever they would like
(what a brilliant idea)
since
food that is the most nutritious for
people dealing with illness and malnourishment
(largely poverty-stricken peoples)
is usually the most unattainable (due to cost)
but also do the fact that resources are not
evenly distributed
(think about our city
where are the grocery stores?)
it is also not a stretch
to say that food available in stores
located near "hoods"
is marked up in price
(because, where else will they go?
a lot of them don't drive)

oh
the politics of food.

but!
just imagine if
all cities
started to create an urban farm
(who needs another concrete building anyway?)
in their "hoods"

i feel obligated to mention
that she does write about her
experiences with butchering
now.
she writes very tastefully (no pun intended)
and yet,
i encountered a rumbling argument
between my eyes and my tummy
(it really didn't help
that i was EWR (eating while reading) )
needless to say
i ended up flustered,
fevered and
slightly tear stained
gagging over a toilet

but.
i would do it again.

read this book
if only for the mental picture of
two turkeys wandering down the hood with
gangsters on one side
and a homeless man on the other