Fair Food - Autographed Copy Giveaway!

One of the perks of working at Google is the Authors@Google program. It's a program where authors (or other notable figures, like Lady Gaga) come to the company for a brief talk and Q&A.

Today, Oran B. Hesterman was the guest speaker in NYC. He's the founder of the Fair Food Network and author of the book above, Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All.

The premise of this book is pretty simple: the food system in the U.S. is broken, and it's one of the most important things that need to be fixed. He gave some interesting and startling statistics. For one, according to some studies, by 2018 the cost of treating obesity and diabetes caused by the American diet will have grown so high that it will essentially bankrupt insurers.

Dr. Hesterman's message today at Google was that what we all need to do is move from being conscious consumers to engaged citizens. It's important to make decisions that promote a better food system, like buying local sustainable food. Without demand for the products of a sustainable system, there would be no incentive for farmers to create one. But he also emphasized the need to go one step further, because this is an issue that goes beyond our kitchen tables and affects the whole nation.

YiRan and I do our best to make decisions in our food preparation that promote a sustainable system. Last summer, we joined a CSA. This season, we've been sourcing our food as much as possible from local producers and farmer's markets. We've made some pretty good meals from these efforts too!

              

His book lays out a number of things that we can do, both at the individual level, as well as at the community and policy level, to improve the food system for everyone. So far, it seems to be an interesting read. For those of you who have enjoyed Michael Pollan's works, you'll likely find this a very enjoyable read. 

The Contest

I snagged a copy of the book and got Dr. Hesterman to autograph it for this blog's readers! So over the next week or so, you'll have a chance to win it for yourself! 

Just tweet @HerbieSpaghetti on Twitter, telling us about how you help promote a sustainable, healthy food system. It can be anything, big or small, from shopping at a farmer's market, to proposing legislation! We'll pick our favorite answers and post the winner here, and send the winner the autographed copy of the book! (Note: you'll have to live in the continental U.S. to receive the prize). 

And if you can't wait for the chance at a freebie, you can purchase the book from our Amazon referral link below. 

Good luck!