The recently released book  The Real Dirt, “Toward Food Sufficiency and Farm Sustainability in New England,” by John E. Carroll, Professor of Environmental Conservation at the University of New Hampshire argues that a whole new smaller scale agriculture is evolving to replace New England’s commodity agriculture based on selling to wholesale markets. He contends  that a “new agriculture smaller in scale, directly marketed, sometimes organic, increasingly grass-based, biodiverse, governed by biological and ecological principles and sustainable in theory and  practice is fast rising across all of New England.

Part I of The Real Dirt addresses energy issues, the emerging role of town agricultural commissions, the importance of local gardens in food security and offers Burlington, Vermont, “the capital of Localvores” as an example.  Part II focuses on the region’s land grant universities and the potential of the university farms for supporting food security and sufficiency in New England

The Real Dirt completes a trilogy and further develops themes from the first two books by John E. Carroll: The Wisdom of Small Farms and Local Food: “Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic and Sustainable Agriculture” followed by Local Foods and Pastures of Plenty: “The Future of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Conservation in New England”.

Each book is $20 including packaging and mailing and can be purchased by sending a check payable to “University of New Hampshire” and mailed  to the University of New Hampshire, ATT. John E. Carroll, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Durham, NH 03824.