Urban and rural collide in this wry, inspiring memoir of a woman who turned a vacant lot in downtown Oakland into a thriving farm. Novella Carpenter loves cities—the culture, the crowds, the energy. At the same time, she can't shake the fact that she is the daughter of two back-to-the-land hippies who taught her to love nature and eat vegetables.
Ambivalent about repeating her parents' disastrous mistakes, yet drawn to the idea of backyard self-sufficiency, Carpenter decided that it might be possible to have it both ways: a homegrown vegetable plot as well as museums, bars, concerts, and a twenty-four-hour convenience mart mere minutes away. Especially when she moved to a ramshackle house in inner city Oakland and discovered a weed-choked, garbage-strewn abandoned lot next door. She closed her eyes and pictured heirloom tomatoes, a beehive, and a chicken coop.
What started out as a few egg-laying chickens led to turkeys, geese, and ducks. Soon, some rabbits joined the fun, then two three-hundred-pound pigs. And no, these charming and eccentric animals weren't pets; she was a farmer, not a zookeeper. Novella was raising these animals for dinner. Novella Carpenter's corner of downtown Oakland is populated by unforgettable characters.
Lana (anal spelled backward, she reminds us) runs a speakeasy across the street and refuses to hurt even a fly, let alone condone raising turkeys for Thanksgiving. Bobby, the homeless man who collects cars and car parts just outside the farm, is an invaluable neighborhood concierge. The turkeys, Harold and Maude, tend to escape on a daily basis to cavort with the prostitutes hanging around just off the highway nearby. Every day on this strange and beautiful farm, urban meets rural in the most surprising ways.
For anyone who has ever grown herbs on their windowsill, tomatoes on their fire escape, or obsessed over the offerings at the local farmers' market, Carpenter's story will capture your heart. And if you’ve ever considered leaving it all behind to become a farmer outside the city limits, or looked at the abandoned lot next door with a gleam in your eye, consider this both a cautionary tale and a full-throated call to action- Berkeley Arts and Letters
Bio
Novella Carpenter
Novella Carpenter grew up in rural Idaho and Washington State. She majored in biology and English at the University of Washington in Seattle. While attending Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, she studied under Michael Pollan for two years.
Her writing has appeared on Salon.com, Saveur.com, sfgate.com, and in Mother Jones.
Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan is the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, a New York Times bestseller.
His previous books include The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (2001); A Place of My Own (1997); and Second Nature (1991). A contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, Pollan is the recipient of numerous journalistic awards, including the James Beard Award for best magazine series in 2003 and the Reuters-I.U.C.N. 2000 Global Award for Environmental Journalism.
Pollan served for many years as executive editor of Harper's Magazine and is now the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley. His articles have been anthologized in Best American Science Writing 2004, Best American Essays 2003, and the Norton Book of Nature Writing.
System of crop cultivation that uses biological methods of fertilization and pest control as substitutes for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which are regarded by supporters of organic methods as harmful to health and the environment and unnecessary for successful cultivation. It was initiated as a conscious rejection of modern agri-chemical techniques in the 1930s by the British agronomist Sir Albert Howard. Miscellaneous organic materials, including animal manure, compost, grass turf, straw, and other crop residues, are applied to fields to improve both soil structure and moisture-holding capacity and to nourish soil life, which in turn nourishes plants. (Chemical fertilizers, by contrast, feed plants directly.) Biological pest control is achieved through preventive methods, including diversified farming, crop rotation, the planting of pest-deterrent species, and the use of integrated pest management techniques. Bioengineered strains are avoided. Since organic farming is time-consuming, organically grown produce tends to be expensive. Organic produce formerly accounted for a minuscule portion of total American farm output, but it has seen a huge proportional increase in sales in recent years.
I noticed when she described the ceremony she undertakes prior to killing the animal, she mentions everything but the fact that SHE is killing the animal. I eat meat, I think its a essential part of a healthy humans diet, but I think the fact that she has a ceremony to make herself feel better about the process, is kinda dumb.
So you would do it like a Big Tough Guy, and NOT make yourself feel better, right? Or are you perhaps trying to make yourself feel better by posting this otherwise pointless comment?
I am repulsed by The background laughter and obvious approval and support for this sociopaths proposition that it is OK to befriend pamper and nurture an animal with the premeditation of murdering it and eating it. Compassion is not something nice to have around at the holidays it's our greatest strength. When we as human beings stop following the story tellers and start investigating and thinking for ourselves we will take a giant step forward in our evolution. Robert Stagemyer, Artist
Why no comments on Michael Pollan's talk. It was the best, and the most to the point. I am
a carnivore by heredity (Scotch), but I don't eat much, and I don't waste it. American servings
are way too large. The French have a better grasp of "enough". Dietetics should be started in
grammar school, and continued. Compulsive eating and all of those other aspects should
be included. M. MacLeod,MD (retired pediatrician)
Torn between laughing and understanding, oddly, when Novella recounts her death ceremony. The phrasing she used just seemed like sugar coating a pile of shit. On the other hand, her word choice aside, it is reasonable to me that in some way you would make the event 'impact' as for resonance. If one finds it their prerogative to eat animals, at least framing it in a way so you somewhat comprehend what is required to get you that food.
There is no valid science in 2009 indicating a human requirement for the consumption of meat or meat byproducts. Current science indicates just the opposite: that consumption of meat and meat byproducts leads to increased risk of coronary artery disease, a variety of cancers, obesity, diabetes, salmonella, and a host of other issues. The science of our parents' and grandparents' generations is what most people think of when they say things like "where else will you get your protein or calcium from?" That fact is that our society has a taste for meat, not a requirement for it, and once we recognize that we will be better able to control our diet and the host of associated health issues.
There are also considerable environmental issues associated with factory farming (not a factor in the subject of this video though); not many people realize that the factory farming of meat leads to the emission of more greenhouse gasses than the entire transportation industry. This led the United Nations to recently decree that turning to a vegetarian diet was their number one recommendation for addressing global climate change.
I have large ethical issues with the featured subject of the film. While I applaud the steps she has taken closer to gaining a respect for other animals, there clearly remains a wide gap in the level of respect she offers various beings. That level of respect is based on appearance: she looks and determines 1) are they human, 2) if not are their eyes on the front of their heads, or 3) if not are their eyes on the sides of their heads. If you are an animal in class one or class two above the subject of the film feels you are worthy of life. If you are an animal in class three above the subject of the film feels you are worthy of slaughter. In my own humble opinion, no animal, human or otherwise, is worthy of slaughter. The subject of the film is going to great lengths to make herself feel better about slaughtering other lives, but all people that work in slaughterhouses must do what they can to separate themselves emotionally from the horror with which they are surrounded.
Many studies of criminal behavior have shown that serial killers start with animals. It is saddening to think that persons such as the subject of this film may be considered do-it-yourself role models during a hard economy, and back yard slaughterhouses may spring up in neighborhoods across the country. I hope that the film maker, and FORA, have considered the potential implications of showing a film of this nature.
Obviously you haven't yet connected the dots between where-your-food-comes-from and your health-and-thoughts-about-our-wealth.
Here's some argumentum ad hominem towards you Steve.
Certainly you are not a savant regarding the importance of rituals in daily life. I won't suggest, but did you pay attention to how you started your day today? Seek if there's anything that looks similar to what you did the days before, and to what you'll do tomorrow. And also try to remember the last time you had a meal with your parents. Is it dumbe what your mother does with the food or how she serves it, even thought that doesn't add proteins or extra-flavor to what the food products do?
Nevertheless you kind of got the point of why she does what she does (feel better, or simply feel), although what's kind of dumb is the fact that YOU DON'T SEE the ritual on how industrial animals, I mean "meet" is being "processed", TO MAKE YOU feel better. Now... try talking to someone who actually does the killing and chops thousands of pigs per day. Ask around how they feel and how they treat not only pigs, but humans (themselves, their loved ones and others) and pets. You'll find that they are paying your bills regarding the weight of the killing-act through industrial rituals at slaughterhouses.
I noticed when she described the ceremony she undertakes prior to killing the animal, she mentions everything but the fact that SHE is killing the animal. I eat meat, I think its a essential part of a healthy humans diet, but I think the fact that she has a ceremony to make herself feel better about the process, is kinda dumb.
On getting to know and love your 'edible' pet prior to eating it, it reminds me of Ender's Game where Ender comes to love the buggers in order to figure out how to annihilate them. I am part of the overall community that consumes meat on a daily basis and I probably take it for granted. When my mother was a child, she used to have pet chickens which she killed, plucked and cooked herself. Too much food is wasted nowadays and if we were to go back to raising animals in order to feed ourselves, we would appreciate the food on our table a lot more.
member. 
