About the author: Renee Brooks Catacalos is the author of The Chesapeake Table: Your Guide to Eating Local. Formerly the publisher of Edible Chesapeake Magazine and a food journalist, she is currently Director of Strategic Investments at FRESHFARM, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that builds a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient food system in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Renee teaches “Introduction to Regional Food Systems” in the Global Food Institute (GFI) at George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, DC. She is also a nonfiction book coach (Book Coaching Services for Aspiring Authors) and aspiring cozy mystery author. Her articles have appeared in a variety of publications, including: Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development; The Washington Post; Black Enterprise; Edible Chesapeake; Tea: A Magazine; and Mother Earth News.

Previously, she spent five years working in national food systems philanthropy with Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF), where she was Vice President for Strategy and Impact. She has worked for or served on the boards of several DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area food/agriculture organizations, including twice serving on the FRESHFARM board.

Learn more: reneebrookscatacalos.com

About Renee’s book: The Chesapeake Table — Your Guide to Eating Local

For consumers of all income levels, an extensive guide to participating in the local food movement in the Chesapeake region.

There was a time when most food was local. Exotic foods like olives, spices, and chocolate shipped in from other parts of the world were considered luxuries. Now, most food that Americans eat is shipped from elsewhere, and many consider eating local to be a luxury. Renee Brooks Catacalos is here to remind us that eating local is easier?and more rewarding?than we may think. There is an abundance of food all around us, found all over the Chesapeake region.

In The Chesapeake Table, Catacalos examines the powerful effect of eating local in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Hooked on the local food movement from its early days, Catacalos opens the book by revisiting a personal challenge to buy, prepare, and eat only food grown within a 150-mile radius of her home near Washington, DC. From her in-depth study of food systems in the region, Catacalos offers practical advice for adopting a locavore diet and getting involved in various entry points to food pathways, from your local farmers market to community-supported agriculture (CSA). She also includes recipes that show how to make more environmentally conscious food choices.

Introducing readers to the vast edible resources of the Chesapeake region, Catacalos focuses on the challenges of environmental and economic sustainability, equity and diversity in the farming and food professions, and access and inclusion for local consumers of all income levels, ethnicities, and geographies. Touching on everything from farm-based breweries and distilleries to urban hoop house farms to grass-fed beef, The Chesapeake Table celebrates the people working hard to put great local food on our plates.