THE FUTURE'S IN THE DIRT

Local Farms-Local Food hosts Ben Hewitt - author, farmer, and champion for local agriculture

Brunswick, Maine - Local Farms-Local Food, a collaborative program of the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust and the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust, has partnered with Bowdoin College to welcome nationally selling author and New England farmer Ben Hewitt on Thursday, September 27. The public is invited to join Hewitt for the talk The Future's in the Dirt at the Bowdoin College Visual Art Center's Kresge Auditorium at 7 p.m. The talk is open to the public free of charge.

Local agriculture can add strength and vibrancy to a community. With recent national attention focused on the climate woes of farmers throughout the country, the increase in food transportation costs, the rising unease of food related health concerns, and the growing need for economic sustainability in smaller communities, Hewitt's work focuses on local agriculture's benefits to public, economic, and environmental health.

"The devastating drought over our nation's heartland and the ongoing economic plight affecting us all are stark reminders of the vulnerabilities inherent to consolidated agriculture and financial systems," said Hewitt. "Localizing food production is the quickest, healthiest, tastiest, and downright most effective way to revitalize communities and the people who comprise them. The future's in the dirt, and that's a good thing."

Hewitt's talk will cover how a regionalized food-based system can be used to create economic development, how weaning Americans off their dependence on industrial food improves public health, and how communities all over New England can become sustainable food hubs similar to what has been created in his hometown.

Ben Hewitt is a farmer in Cabot, Vermont and the author of two books, The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food and Making Supper Safe: One Man's Quest to Learn the Truth About Food Safety and an upcoming book Saved: How to break the spell of money, live well, and change the world.  His writing has also appeared in numerous national publications including New York Times Magazine, National Geographic Adventure, and Outside. More information about Hewitt can be found on his website at benhewitt.net.

Said of Hewitt's work:

"Hewitt is part of a venerable tradition that includes Rachel Carson, Frances Moore Lappé, Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan: All have relentlessly questioned decisions that are made for us, often without our knowing it." — Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

To continue the conversation, Local Farms-Local Food will partner with local libraries in Bath, Brunswick, and Topsham for a regional community read in October of Hewitt's first book, The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food. Copies of the book will be available for sale at the speaking event, Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick, the Bath Book Shop, and The Bowdoin College Bookstore, or available for loan at the three libraries hosting public discussions.

Three public book discussions for the community read will occur at:

·         Patten Free Library, Bath, Wednesday, October 17 at 4 p.m. in the Community Room.
·         Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Thursday, October 18 at 7 p.m. in the Morrell Meeting Room.
·         Topsham Public Library, Topsham, Wednesday, October 24 at 1 p.m. in The Highlands Community Room.

Local Farms-Local Food is collaboration between the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust and the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust to conserve farmland and promote local food. Local Farms-Local Food is generously supported by the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation.