Feed Us with Trees: Nuts and the Future of Food

(Paperback)

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A new and ancient story about perennial nut trees, our ecological role as humans, and the future of food

Were thinking about agriculture all wrong. Feed Us with Trees breaks down the stories trapping us in todays ruinous food system and destroying our ecological healthand reminds us that all over the Northern Hemisphere, humans used to grow our staple foods on perennial nut trees such as oaks for acrons, chestnuts, and hazelnuts. This fascinating journey is rooted in the startling premise that our ancestors once produced their dietary mainstaysthe flours, milks, and cooking oils still essential in todays pantriesby tending food forests or forest gardens.

NPR reporter Elspeth Hay digs deep to expose the dominant narrative that keeps us stuck on industrial monocultures, and pieces together the complex history of how we arrived at todays broken food system. Through interviews with dozens of nut growers, scientists, Indigenous knowledge-keepers, researchers, and food professionals, she shines a light on those working toward a brighter, more abundant future. Its a vision that prioritizes life, redefines wealth, and above all reminds us that as humans, we have a vital role as one of Earths keystone species.

Hays hopeful manifesto offers a new way of looking at modern, grain-based, annual agriculture. It will appeal to environmentalists, regenerative farmers, permaculture enthusiasts, agroforesters, locavores, and anyone hungry for a more holistic, nutrient-dense diet rooted in wild foods and ancient knowledge.

Author Bio

Elspeth Hay is a writer, public radio host, and creator of the Local Food Report, a weekly feature that has aired on CAI, the Cape & Islands NPR Station, since 2008. Deeply immersed in her own local food system, she writes and reports for print, radio, and online media with a focus on food and the environment. Elspeths work has been featured in the Boston Globe, NPRs Kitchen Window, Heated with Mark Bittman, The Provincetown Independent, and numerous other publications. Through her conversations with growers, harvesters, processors, cooks, policy makers, Indigenous knowledge-keepers, scientists, researchers, and visionaries, she aims to rebuild our cultural store of culinary knowledgeand to reconnect us with the people, places, and ideas that feed us. Elspeth lives with her family on Cape Cod, MA.