Lentil Underground: Renegade Farmers and the Future of Food in America

Good books are good books, and a good read is always a rare and enjoyable time....AND every once in a long while a book comes along that is a life changer. The Lentil Underground is one of those rare books that may well change your whole outlook on a vital topic, American agriculture.My wife and I are foodies and avid vegetable gardeners and we have long known that mainstream agriculture in the United States is just not right. While we are producing a huge amount of food in our country, almost all of it is of a questionable quality. Worse than that is that our methods are generally not sustainable for a growing population in a growing world. Huge applications of soluble fertilizers, much of which run off into local streams, tilling on a grand scale that dehumanizes the farmers who feed us all. Monoculture crops rather than diversity. All of these aspects are totally dependent on fossil fuel at every step of the way. All have the profit margin as the only guiding goal. None of these methods are sustainable. We are told by the big agribusiness industries that small farming methods can never feed the world and theirs is the only way. Liz Carlisle totally explodes that fantasy with her account of the faming group that she calls "the lentil underground'. A small and steadily growing group of real, family farmers who are producing good food at good prices. And, there is no need for concern that when you buy from them you are despoiling the environment. Probably the greatest thing about the book is that it introduces you to a bunch of real people - foodies - who make their living feeding folks while improving the very land they feed us from! Get to know them a little, maybe even talk to them (yes they are reachable) and you'll find very quickly that they are a hard working and friendly bunch who will be happy to connect you with other safe and sustainable sources for the foods they don't grow. Need beans or grains, the very staples of life? Want to know where what you eat comes from and who grows and handles it? Like good tasty foods produced with love and sweat? Read this book! Good things ARE happening in American agriculture and the Lentil Underground is a great, eye opening, fun to read book.

This is a surprising and terrific book. It's surprising because not many C&W singers produce a well-written and well-researched book on an extremely important topic. Well, I'll bet none have.I loved the book - it was a genuine page-turner because I really did want to know how things would turn out. I have never been to Montana, but I did grow up on a farm (in Iowa) so I had empathy for the underdog going for me.The popular view of farmers is that they cherish their independence. That's true for most of them but that independence often comes at a cost. When the government's programs reward the farmer only for doing what she doesn't want to do, she must choose between economic comfort and proceeding along a better path. Add to the government's intransigence, entrenched consumer preferences and you have a prescription for farmer frustration. There was plenty of that throughout the book, but by having a strong sense of commitment and the help of like-minded friends, a small group of Montana farmers prevailed. They made a difference we should all be grateful to them for showing us a good idea: to respect and support the soil, can be put to use.Thanks to Ms. Carlisle and all her Montana farmer friends for this inspirational story..At difficult times like these farmers need one another, and that's this about is all about. A small handful of like-minded farmers found and gave encouragement to their wide-spread neighbors (in Montana, what isn't wide-spread?) Growing lentils was a messy, and largely unproven, form of agriculture.

This is the inspiring story of a group of dryland prairie farmers in Montana who broke the yoke of large corporate agribusiness to develop an organic way of farming where they, rather than large companies, controlled their destinies. A young farmer, Dave Oien, was the first of the group to begin experimenting with organically grown lentils that would both restore the soil and provide a healthy food to market to the public. Over the years these farmers moved from a monocropping, chemically based system dependent on large agribusiness to an organic one that ended their dependency on expensive chemical fertilizers. With little information available at the time from state universities, they developed their own methods, experimenting with crops, learning to process the lentils and creating their own markets. Under the name, “Timeless Natural Food”, they now sell on the internet and to natural food stores and popular restaurants all over the country. In addition to growing their lentils and other crops that restore fertility to the land, some have created habitat in their fields for wildlife, including bees and other pollinators so necessary for the crops. This success story is a wonderful example of what our agriculture can become in an era where small farmers are challenged to make a living, our land and climate are under assault and people have difficulty finding healthy foods to feed their families.This book is well written and easily understood by non-farmers such as myself. Lentil Underground is a great book for those interested in how our food is grown and the future of farming in this country.

Information about farming best practices does not fit my climate area, but suggests many paths to similar successes.

This is a great book that everyone should read. As meat looses its popularity for so many reasons, and is soon to become the new cigarettes in food and nutrition sciences, these farmers are at the forefront of saving humanity with nutrient dense, highly nutritious * delicious super foods.

Fully documented and very well writtenAlso an enternaining read. Very insightfull essay on producing for far away food markets.

An excellent book for anyone interested in organic agriculture.