The Chesapeake Table: Your Guide to Eating Local

by Renee Brooks Catacalos

Overview

For consumers of all income levels, an extensive guide to participating in the local food movement in the Chesapeake region.

There was a time when most food was local. Exotic foods like olives, spices, and chocolate shipped in from other parts of the world were considered luxuries. Now, most food that Americans eat is shipped from elsewhere, and many consider eating local to be a luxury. Renee Brooks Catacalos is here to remind us that eating local is easier, and more rewarding?than we may think. There is an abundance of food all around us, found all over the Chesapeake region.

In The Chesapeake Table, Catacalos examines the powerful effect of eating local in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Hooked on the local food movement from its early days, Catacalos opens the book by revisiting a personal challenge to buy, prepare, and eat only food grown within a 150-mile radius of her home near Washington, DC. From her in-depth study of food systems in the region, Catacalos offers practical advice for adopting a locavore diet and getting involved in various entry points to food pathways, from your local farmers market to community-supported agriculture (CSA). She also includes recipes that show how to make more environmentally conscious food choices.

Introducing readers to the vast edible resources of the Chesapeake region, Catacalos focuses on the challenges of environmental and economic sustainability, equity and diversity in the farming and food professions, and access and inclusion for local consumers of all income levels, ethnicities, and geographies. Touching on everything from farm-based breweries and distilleries to urban hoop house farms to grass-fed beef, The Chesapeake Table celebrates the people working hard to put great local food on our plates.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421426907
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	04/27/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	233
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Renee Brooks Catacalos, the former publisher of Edible Chesapeake magazine, served as deputy director for Future HarvestChesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture. She is currently a member of the Steering Team for the Chesapeake Foodshed Network, a regional food system initiative working to catalyze connections and collaborations that build a sustainable, resilient, inclusive, and equitable regional food system in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction. Foraging in Maryland: Two Families Eat Local
1. Why Local, Why Now?
2. Tastes of the Region
3. Farms
4. Waters
5. To Market
6. Liquid Harvests
7. Building a Local Food System
8. Make Your Choices Count
First Steps
Acknowledgements
Recommended Reading
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Forrest Pritchard

Fascinating and delectable. If you live in the mid-Atlantic—and you eat—then read this wonderful book.

David Kline

Reading this book was an absolute delight. Renee Brooks Catacalos shows not only that eating local is possible but that it is pleasurable, too, as you go foraging locally to savor the 'tastes of the region.' Read it and then seek and find local food.

Bernadine Prince

There is so much to admire and discover in Renee Catacalos's quest for the best local foods and small-scale producers in the Chesapeake foodshed. She is the Chesapeake locavore food maven who informs your food choices to sustain the Chesapeake.

Michael Twitty

Renee Catacalos has long been a champion of the edible resources and character of the Chesapeake watershed. Her book beautifully ties cultural, historical, and natural resources into a poetic volume that ennobles the people of the greater Chesapeake, giving an appreciation for the sustainable and local in one of America's most ancient and proud foodscapes.

Todd Kliman

Renee Catacalos has done a great service to the cause of local foodways in the mid-Atlantic by writing this book, a thorough, informative, and wide-ranging look at how we eat now—and how, with more support, more food hubs, and continued awareness of the ecological and social issues that affect our ever-widening food stream, we might eat in the future.

John Shields

Renee Brooks Catacalos has been, and continues to be, a tireless advocate for the local food traditions of the Chesapeake Bay region. She is also a brilliant writer with a razor-sharp focus and the ability to bring to life disparate aspects of the Chesapeake, including the simple joys of home-cooked local food. This book is a welcome addition to the body of work on our magnificent Bay.

Todd and Ellen Kassoff Gray

The Chesapeake Table is a delightful guide full of vital tips for those committed to cherishing and conserving the local bounty of our prized mid-Atlantic region. Renee Catacalos reveals a substantial understanding of heritage, politics, and advocates from the perspective only a true local could offer to her readers.

From the Publisher

Renee Brooks Catacalos has been, and continues to be, a tireless advocate for the local food traditions of the Chesapeake Bay region. She is also a brilliant writer with a razor-sharp focus and the ability to bring to life disparate aspects of the Chesapeake, including the simple joys of home-cooked local food. This book is a welcome addition to the body of work on our magnificent Bay.
—John Shields, Gertrude's Restaurant

After many years of walking the walk and sharing her passion for local and sustainable food practices in various outlets, Renee Catacalos brings all of this knowledge together in one beautiful package. The Chesapeake Table is a must-have resource, complete with delicious recipes, showing how eating locally and sustainably is possible.
—Carla Hall, co-host of The Chew

A delectable love poem to locally grown food and the people who produce it, Renee Brooks Catacalos's book makes a compelling argument for strengthening the local economy and community health by eating primarily what's grown in the Chesapeake Bay foodshed. Buy this book and digest its message that 'all our daily choices count.'
—Margaret Morgan-Hubbard, ECO City Farms

Renee Catacalos has done a great service to the cause of local foodways in the mid-Atlantic by writing this book, a thorough, informative, and wide-ranging look at how we eat now—and how, with more support, more food hubs, and continued awareness of the ecological and social issues that affect our ever-widening food stream, we might eat in the future.
—Todd Kliman, author of The Perfect Chef

Renee Catacalos has long been a champion of the edible resources and character of the Chesapeake watershed. Her book beautifully ties cultural, historical, and natural resources into a poetic volume that ennobles the people of the greater Chesapeake, giving an appreciation for the sustainable and local in one of America's most ancient and proud foodscapes.
—Michael Twitty, author of The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South

There is so much to admire and discover in Renee Catacalos's quest for the best local foods and small-scale producers in the Chesapeake foodshed. She is the Chesapeake locavore food maven who informs your food choices to sustain the Chesapeake.
—Bernadine Prince, cofounder of FRESHFARM Markets

From produce to poultry to policy, The Chesapeake Table takes you on a thoroughly delicious and instructive journey through one of America's greatest and most diverse foodsheds. Fact-packed and certified to satisfy, this book has everything you'll ever need to eat local and to eat like a local.
—Mark Winne, author of Stand Together or Starve Alone: Unity and Chaos in the U.S. Food Movement

Reading this book was an absolute delight. Renee Brooks Catacalos shows not only that eating local is possible but that it is pleasurable, too, as you go foraging locally to savor the 'tastes of the region.' Read it and then seek and find local food.
—David Kline, editor of Farming Magazine

The Chesapeake Table is a delightful guide full of vital tips for those committed to cherishing and conserving the local bounty of our prized mid-Atlantic region. Renee Catacalos reveals a substantial understanding of heritage, politics, and advocates from the perspective only a true local could offer to her readers.
—Todd and Ellen Kassoff Gray, Equinox Restaurant

With her deep roots and knowledge, there is no better guide to our evolving food system than Renee Catacalos, who weaves together history, policy, and inspiring stories to create the new bible for how every person makes a difference in growing a vibrant, inclusive, and equitable food system for all.
—Tanya Denckla Cobb, author of Reclaiming Our Food: How the Grassroots Food Movement Is Changing the Way We Eat

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Rev. Dr. Heber Brown III

The Chesapeake Table is a wonderful resource of history, personal stories, and actionable information on how communities live in better harmony with their food systems and one another. Catacalos makes an invaluable contribution to the robust local food discourse while placing an important spotlight on the Chesapeake Foodshed.

Tanya Denckla Cobb

With her deep roots and knowledge, there is no better guide to our evolving food system than Renee Catacalos, who weaves together history, policy, and inspiring stories to create the new bible for how every person makes a difference in growing a vibrant, inclusive, and equitable food system for all.

Carla Hall

After many years of walking the walk and sharing her passion for local and sustainable food practices in various outlets, Renee Catacalos brings all of this knowledge together in one beautiful package. The Chesapeake Table is a must-have resource, complete with delicious recipes, showing how eating locally and sustainably is possible.

Margaret Morgan-Hubbard

A delectable love poem to locally grown food and the people who produce it, Renee Brooks Catacalos's book makes a compelling argument for strengthening the local economy and community health by eating primarily what's grown in the Chesapeake Bay foodshed. Buy this book and digest its message that 'all our daily choices count.'

Mark Winne

From produce to poultry to policy, The Chesapeake Table takes you on a thoroughly delicious and instructive journey through one of America's greatest and most diverse foodsheds. Fact-packed and certified to satisfy, this book has everything you'll ever need to eat local and to eat like a local.

Editorial Reviews

We at the Chesapeake Foodshed Network couldn't be more excited about CFN Steering Team member Renee Brooks Catacalos' book coming out this fall, "The Chesapeake Table: Your Guide to Eating Local."
—The Chesapeake Foodshed Network

Renee Brooks Catacalos knows a thing or two about local food . . . The Chesapeake Table: Your Guide to Eating Local, will be released in October and outlines why she's been hooked on the local food movement from the start, which foods you can only find in the Chesapeake region, and how you can benefit from the fruits—literally and figuratively—of local farmers' labors.
—Baltimore Magazine

From the Publisher

We at the Chesapeake Foodshed Network couldn't be more excited about CFN Steering Team member Renee Brooks Catacalos' book coming out this fall, "The Chesapeake Table: Your Guide to Eating Local."

The Chesapeake Foodshed Network

Renee Brooks Catacalos knows a thing or two about local food . . . The Chesapeake Table: Your Guide to Eating Local, will be released in October and outlines why she's been hooked on the local food movement from the start, which foods you can only find in the Chesapeake region, and how you can benefit from the fruits—literally and figuratively—of local farmers' labors.

Baltimore Magazine