Events

Book Club Discussion: “Bet the Farm” with Beth Hoffman

The Franklin School

Sunday, February 6 at 2pm CST

The Iowa Food Foundation (IFF) is partnering with Beaverdale Books and author Beth Hoffman for a book-club discussion of Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America.

In her late 40s, Beth Hoffman decided to upend her comfortable life as a professor and journalist to move to her husband’s family ranch in Iowa—all for the dream of becoming a farmer. There was just one problem: money. Half of America's two million farms made less than $300 in 2019, and many struggle just to stay afloat.
Bet the Farm chronicles this struggle through Beth’s eyes. She must contend with her father-in-law, who is reluctant to hand over control of the land. Growing oats is good for the environment but ends up being very bad for the wallet. And finding somewhere, in the midst of COVID-19, to slaughter grass finished beef is a nightmare.
If Beth can’t make it, how can farmers who confront racism, lack access to land, or don’t have other jobs to fall back on, hack it? Bet the Farm is a first-hand account of the perils of farming today and a personal exploration of more just and sustainable ways of producing food.

Contact Beaverdale Books to reserve your copy or drop by the store for a book at 2629 Beaver Ave in Des Moines (tell them it is for the Iowa Food Foundation book club for an additional 10% off).

From parklets and quick-build projects to its recent Slow Streets initiative, San Francisco has been a leader in experimenting with remaking its streetscapes. However, these programs and their benefits are often unequally distributed. One such example is the Tenderloin, which had fewer public street amenities than most other neighborhoods before the pandemic and was one of the last to see these types of projects unfold since. And, despite being San Francisco’s most dense neighborhood, with the highest number of unhoused residents, it suffers from a prioritization of automobile expedience over safe neighborhood streets, resulting in the highest number of incidents of traffic violence in the city. However, the efforts of grassroots organizers, advocacy groups and social enterprises are creating new models of ground-up approaches to neighborhood safety, including community policing, block safety and resident corner captains. Join a panel discussion led by Alison Sant, the author of the new book From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities, to examine the ways in which local leaders are shaping the Tenderloin and the initiatives that may provide solutions to our most difficult challenges.

Join journalist and beginning farmer Beth Hoffman for a discussion of her new non-fiction book, Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America. Hoffman will be in conversation with former Executive Director of Wasatch Community Gardens, Ashley Patterson.

Half of America's two million farms made less than $300 in 2019. Between rising land costs, ever-more expensive equipment, the growing uncertainty of the climate, and few options for health care, farming today is a risky business. For many, simply staying afloat is a constant struggle.

Bet the Farm chronicles this struggle through Beth’s eyes as a beginning farmer. She must contend with her father-in-law, who is reluctant to hand over control of the land. Growing oats is good for the environment but ends up being very bad for the wallet. And finding somewhere, in the midst of COVID-19, to slaughter grass-finished beef is a nightmare. The couple also must balance the books, hoping that farming isn’t a romantic fantasy that takes every cent of their savings.  Bet the Farm is an examination of the economics of farming today and a personal exploration of more just and sustainable ways of producing food.