Book Review: Food Not Lawns

Note: I read this book earlier this summer, and am now just getting around to writing a review. Good timing because it ends up this is the Crunchy Chicken Book Club book this month!

I can't tell you how many times I almost bought Food Not Lawns by H.C. Flores (Chelsea Green, 2007). I would pick it up in a bookstore expecting to find it to be a "how-to" book, and be confused when I saw no pictures of lawns and shovels but instead seemingly random information had had little do with gardening. I didn't realize that the title, Food Not Lawns, is a play on the group named Food Not Bombs, a community activist group that feeds people with donations and fallen fruit-esque practices. And this little fact makes a world of sense – the book is more of a book about activism, starting with the front lawn.

Chelsea Green sent me a copy to review, and I finally sat down with the book earlier this summer, and was somewhat surprised. I ended up having to read it end to end twice to get everything out of it - there is a lot of information to absorb and it tends to jump around quite a bit. My head is still spinning and I can’t really say I like the book, I just kind of like it. It’s good, but some of the information is a little hard for someone who works an 8-5 job to assimilate into their life. [For example: I can’t go out a get arrested (nor would I want to), as the chain of events that would occur from that simple act would leave me financially devastated. I can’t live on $8,000 per year, nor would I want to in this country].

Before I totally turn you off of the book, I did like the discussions around gray water, guerrilla gardening (this was excellent!), and community gardening (even if this was overly optimistic in a suburban neighborhood like mine).

Bottom line – this book is NOT for everyone, since it chronicles the life of an activist and her related gardening adventures, but is an interesting read none the less. The activism kind of turned me off of the book a little bit, and from the many reviews I’ve read people tend to feel similarly. I’m a huge proponent of cohousing, community gardening, and permaculture – however I do not feel the need to live on $8,000 per year or take my activism to another level and live that lifestyle.

While I may not agree with everything the author talks about, but I enjoy stretching my boundaries and opinions, and reading things that make me think.
This is one of those books.

Grade: B-