New book by islanders offers a ‘Bounty’ of hope
Published 1:30 am Thursday, October 20, 2016
Submitted by Iris Graville
Special to The Weekly
In recent weeks, as Lopez Island farmers have worked dawn to dusk – or later – harvesting produce and tending flocks and herds, a number of other people have been peering at computer screens. Their focus resulted in a different kind of yield, the publication of “Bounty: Lopez Island Farmers, Food, and Community.”
The book, to be launched at an event at Lopez Center for Community and the Arts on Friday, Oct. 21 from 5–7 p.m., concludes Phase III of a community-funded project of the Lopez Community Land Trust and Lopez Locavores to celebrate the island’s legacy of local food and farming.
It all began about three years ago when Lopezian Sue Roundy envisioned art photography as a way to promote the island’s farms.
“I value so much the type of farming here on Lopez,” said Roundy. “And I wanted to do something to encourage people to eat local and buy local.”
When the LCLT and Lopez Locavores signed on, Roundy, with a background in design, became the project manager and started fundraising. She also guided a team of photographers, Robert S. Harrison, Steve Horn and Summer Moon Scriver; a writer, Iris Graville; a chef, Kim Bast; a food stylist, Rachel Graville; a book designer, Jane Jeszeck; and at least half a dozen volunteers as well as generous funders, to create a website, a slide show, a food experiment, a photography exhibit, and now, the BOUNTY book. “Each person had a role and played it brilliantly,” Roundy said.
The 124-page book combines color photographs, profiles and recipes from 28 Lopez Island farms and farmers to present an intimate, behind-the-scenes view of what it takes to bring food from earth to table on Lopez Island.
The book, and in fact the entire “Bounty” project, was a good fit for the LCLT and the Lopez Locavores.
“Being a Lopez Locavore means supporting and celebrating local food and community,” said Locavore member Marney Reynolds. “What could be more appropriate than to lend our support to the BOUNTY project? The book is a beautiful treatise about the people who work so hard to bring us an incredible array of sustenance.”
Sandy Bishop, LCLT Executive Director, explains that since 1989, sustainable agriculture programs have been a key part of the mission of the LCLT. “‘Bounty’ is a natural and exciting outcome of over twenty years of the organization producing the Lopez Farm Products Guide,” she said.
The “Bounty” team has offered portions of this feast of local, healthy food and those who produce it throughout the three-year project. In 2014, the “Bounty” slide show premiered at the LCLT’s annual Harvest Dinner. Last fall, the team developed a photography exhibit that included brief profiles of each of the participating farmers. The exhibit has been well received at shows at Lopez Center and Lopez Library.
Advance praise for “Bounty” suggests the book will delight readers.
“Like growing, preparing, and serving good food, this book is a work of beauty and generosity,” said Ana Maria Spagna, author of “Potluck: Community on the Edge of Wilderness.”
Michael Ableman, farmer and author of “Street Farm: Growing Food, Jobs, and Hope on the Urban Frontier,” had this to say about “Bounty”: “This book is well titled; it is bountiful in food, it is bountiful in the energy and spirit of those producing that food, and its bounty is reflected in the faces of every farmer so beautifully photographed.”
Following the book’s release on Oct. 21, it also will be available for purchase at the LCLT Annual Harvest Dinner Oct. 22 and at Lopez Bookshop. For more information visit lopezbounty.org.
