Page 48 RAIN Spring 1986 ACCESS: Food/Agriculture Healthy Harvest: A Directory of Sustainable Agriculture and Horticulture Organizations 1985, edited by Susan J. Sanzone, 1985, 64 pp., $5.95 from: Potomac Valley Press 1424 16th Street, NW Suite 105 Washington, DC 20036 This is currently the most extensive directory on sustainable agriculture available. The directory lists addresses for over 300 organizations and provides descriptive information for about half the entries. Two indexes, subject and geographical, help the reader locate pertinent organizations quickly. Potomac Valley Press is an arm of the National Institute for Science, Law, and Public Policy, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC. Healthy Harvest is the result of some of NISLPP's research. This is the first year of publication, and the organization questionnaire at the back implies more complete editions in the future. Healthy Harvest is an impressive compendium. It makes my heart glad to see so many organizations working toward sustainable food production. Hopefully, future editions will contain more organization descriptions and a more accurate subject index. Of course, a directory like this is only as good as the descriptions it receives. Speaking of which. I'd better fill out the form and let them know RAIN moved in 1984! —Jeff Strang Jeff Strang, former Rainmaker, now lives on a farm near the Columbia Gorge in Washington state. One Circle: How to Grow a Complete Diet in Less than 1000 Square Feet, by David Duhon, 1985, 200 pp., $9 from: Ecology Action from the Midpeninsula 5798 Ridgewood Road Willits, CA 95490 Warning: Facts from this book are unsuitable for party small-talk. Few will believe you. The subtitle is hard to believe, but inside this book lies all the supporting text and references to convince all but the most pessimistic. The secrets of minimal-space growing are biointensive cultivation, and growing weight- ■ ■ ,VVV ..IJJ From Healthy Harvest efficient and space-efficient crops. Realizing that calories, not protein, are the limiting factor in most people's diet makes this gardening plan workable. The authors assert that nutritional requirements can be safely met with lower protein levels and lower amino acid levels than are called for in the rules of combining amino acids as described in Francis Moore Lappd's Diet for a Small Planet. Two reasons for this are nutritionists' shift away from using the egg standard as the ideal pattern of amino acid intake, plus a recognition that only some of the body's protein needs, perhaps only 20 percent or less for adults, need to be met by a specific pattern of amino acids. Research reveals that the percent intake of protein remains the same in the diets of rich and poor people, but the intake of calories is greater for the rich compared with poorer people. The authors reason that the poorest countries don't necessarily need to shift to foods with higher concentrations of protein, but rather that there is need for more calories. The authors suggest, “Protein is an important aspect of diet design, but an undue emphasis on it or other isolated aspects of nutrition can be a barrier to determining the most efficient and environmentally sound path to a complete and balanced diet grown on the smallest scale.” One Circle emphasizes the carefully selected crops which optimize nutrients and the amount of food a minimal space garden may provide. “A crop that can provide all of [an essential] nutrient in six pounds or less is Weight Efficient for that nutrient...A crop that can provide all of [an essential] nutrient in 700 square feet or less is Area Efficient for that nutrient.” Tables, instructions, and sample calculations illustrate how to determine an adequate amount of nutrients and calories a particular person requires. Detailed nutritional and efficiency information is provided for a variety of crops. Biointensive cultivation techniques are suggested, but not described in detail. This book was carefully and thoughtfully written. Extensive explanations are set aside in designated parts of each chapter, or are thoroughly referenced. The authors recommend 14 crops, but also supply information so the readers may calculate which crops are most efficient for their own needs and preferences. This book is not for the casual gardener or reader, because it is about serious.
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