Learn By DoingFood InitiativeFeed Your Mind
   

    Feed Your Mind

    We explore diverse perspectives to create a wide context for understanding our relationship with food and the environment.

    Top Staff Picks

    Beekeeping

    The Food Initiative manages apiaries at the Campus Garden and River and Field Campus, and trains students to become beekeepers in an annual spring course.

    Books
    • Attracting Native Pollinators
    • The Beekeeper's Handbook
    • A Book of Bees
    • Dancing with Bees
    • Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping
    • Honeybee Democracy
    • Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper
    • Natural Beekeeping
    Films

    Composting and Soil Health

    Organics recycling is a pillar of our zero waste commitment and advocacy.

    Books
    • Community-Scale Composting Systems
    • Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations
    • The Hidden Half of Nature
    • The Humanure Handbook
    • The Rodale Book of Composting
    • Worms Eat My Garbage
    Films

    Culture

    We explore how our culture evolved as we seek a new paradigm for food.

    Books
    • A Language Older Than Words
    • A Small Place
    • An Island Out of Time
    • Collapse
    • The Culture of Make Believe
    • Deep Green Resistance
    • The Dorito Effect
    • The End of Nature
    • Endgame, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
    • Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal
    • Food of a Younger Land
    • Founding Gardeners
    • The Good Life
    • Guns, Germs, and Steel
    • Ishmael
    • Kitchen Literacy
    • The McDonaldization of Society
    • The Monkey Wrench Gang
    • Nickel and Dimed
    • Reindeer Moon
    • Robert Cole’s World
    • Project Animal Farm
    • Sapiens
    • Secrets of the Talking Jaguar
    • The Story of B
    • The Town That Food Saved
    • The Unsettling of America
    • Upstream
    • Walden and Civil Disobedience
    • Working in the Shadows
    Films
    • The Atomic Cafe
    • Baraka
    • The Corporation
    • Earth 2100
    • Everything’s Cool
    • The End of the Line
    • The End of Poverty?
    • Home
    • Human Footprint
    • Just Eat It
    • Koyaanisqatsi
    • Life and Debt
    • Manufacturing Consent
    • Merchants of Doubt
    • Planet in Peril
    • Radiant City
    • Samsara
    • Trashed
    • The Unforeseen
    • Waste Land
    • What a Way to Go
    • The Yes Men Fix the World

    Ecology

    Books
    • A Sand County Almanac
    • Anthill: A Novel
    • Braiding Sweetgrass
    • Cows Save the Planet
    • Desert Solitaire
    • Eaarth
    • The Ecology of Commerce
    • Kinship with All Life
    • The Lost Language of Plants
    • The Myth of Progress
    • Nature Wars
    • Oceans
    • Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
    • Sacred Cow
    • Silent Spring
    • The Spell of the Sensuous
    • The Tracker
    • Tree: A Life Story
    • The Weather Makers
    • The World Without Us
    • What We Leave Behind
    • Where the Wild Things Were
    Films
    • Blue Gold: World Water Wars
    • Chasing Coral
    • Chasing Ice
    • Dirt! The Movie
    • Fantastic Fungi
    • Flow
    • Life After People
    • Sacred Cow
    • Sacred Planet
    • Sharkwater
    • Tapped
    • Years of Living Dangerously

    Education and Learning

    Books
    • The Biology of Belief
    • Dumbing Us Down
    • The Earth Has a Soul
    • The Hero with a Thousand Faces
    • Into the Forest: A Novel
    • Into the Wild
    • Last Child in the Woods
    • Listening to the Land
    • My Ishmael
    • The Nature Principle
    • Rewild or Die
    • Unlearn, Rewild
    • The Unschooling Unmanual
    • Walking on Water
    • The Writer’s Journey
    Films

    Energy and Technology

    Technology makes us human, and our focus in the Food Initiative is using appropriate modern technology to support human and environmental health.

    Books
    • The Artificial Ape
    • Beyond Oil
    • Cradle to Cradle
    • EMF*D
    • Enough
    • The Home Energy Diet
    • Homeowner’s Guide to Renewable Energy
    • The Road to Wigan Pier
    • Solar Water Heating
    Films
    • The 11th Hour
    • Bag It
    • Blind Spot
    • Blood And Oil
    • Blue Vinyl
    • Crash Course
    • A Crude Awakening
    • Crude Impact
    • The End of Suburbia
    • Fuel
    • Gasland
    • The Last Mountain
    • Manufactured Landscapes
    • No Impact Man
    • Powaqqatsi – Life in Transformation

    Fermentation, Curing, and Microbes

    Books
    • The Noma Guide to Fermentation
    • Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers
    • Salumi: The Craft of Italian Dry Curing
    • Wild Fermentation

    Food Access and Social Justice

    Books
    • Closing the Food Gap
    • The Essential Gandhi
    • Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal
    • Farming While Black
    • Forces for Good
    • The Local Economy Solution
    • Locally Laid
    • Peace Is Every Step
    • Rebuilding the Foodshed
    • The Seed Underground
    • The Social Profit Handbook
    • The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved
    Films
    • Farmageddon
    • Fed Up
    • Food, Inc.
    • The Future of Food
    • Ingredients
    • King Corn
    • Our Daily Bread
    • We Feed the World

    Evolution, Health, and Nutrition

    Books
    • Adaptogens
    • Adrenal Fatigue
    • The Big Fat Surprise
    • Born to Run
    • Breath
    • The Bulletproof Diet
    • The Carnivore Diet
    • The Coconut Oil Miracle
    • Could It Be B12?
    • The Complete Guide to Fasting
    • Cure Tooth Decay
    • The Dental Diet
    • Diet and Nutrition
    • Deep Nutrition
    • The Dirt Cure
    • Eat Rich, Live Long
    • Eating on the Wild Side
    • Edible
    • Fast Food Nation
    • Grain Brain
    • Heal Your Body, Cure Your Mind
    • Human Heart, Cosmic Heart
    • The Inflammation Spectrum
    • Keto.
    • Lies My Doctor Told Me
    • Long Way on a Little
    • Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
    • The Omnivore’s Dilemma
    • The One-Straw Revolution
    • The Paleo Approach
    • The Paleo Thyroid Solution
    • The Plant Paradox
    • The Salt Fix
    • The Story of the Human Body
    • The Wahls Protocol
    • Wheat Belly
    • Why We Sleep
    Films

    Foraging

    The Food Initiative works with wild foods on a routine basis. We recommend reading multiple books and working with a mentor when learning how to forage.

    Books
    • Backyard Foraging
    • Botany in a Day
    • Edible Wild Plants
    • Invasive Plant Medicine
    • The Forager’s Harvest
    • Foraged Flavor
    • Foraging and Feasting
    • Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants
    • Incredible Wild Edibles
    • Native American Food Plants
     
    • The New Wildcrafted Cuisine
    • Stalking the Wild Asparagus
    • Stalking the Healthful Herbs
    • The Wild Wisdom of Weeds
    • Nature’s Garden
    • Northeast Foraging
    • The Quick Guide to Wild Edible Plants
    • Weeds of the Northeast
    Film
    • The Forager’s Harvest

    Horticulture

    Books
    • The Backyard Berry Book
    • The Backyard Homestead
    • Botany for Gardeners
    • Botany in a Day
    • Bringing Nature Home
    • Chesapeake Gardening and Landscaping
    • Edible Forest Gardens
    • Edible Wild Plants
    • Free-Range Chicken Gardens
    • Gardening When It Counts
    • The Holistic Orchard
    • How to Survive the End of the World
    • The Living Landscape
    • Mediterranean Vegetables
    • Noah’s Garden
    • Planting in a Post-Wild World
    • Pollinators of Native Plants
    • The Resilient Gardener
    • Seed to Seed
    • The Small-Scale Poultry Flock
    • Tending the Wild
    • Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden
    • Wicked Plants
    • Will Bonsall’s Gardening
    Films
    • The Botany of Desire
    • What Plants Talk About

    Permaculture and Regenerative Living

    Books
    • 5 Acres & A Dream
    • Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
    • Build Your Own Earth Oven
    • The Carbon-Free Home
    • Dirt to Soil
    • The Dirty Life
    • Introduction to Permaculture
    • Farming on the Wild Side
    • Farming the Woods
    • Gaia’s Garden: Home-Scale Permaculture
    • The Garden Awakening
    • Getting Food from Water
    • Goodbye, Things
    • Holistic Management
    • Integrated Forest Gardening
    • The Lean Farm
    • The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
    • Miraculous Abundance
    • Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House
    • The New Ecological Home
    • The Nourishing Homestead
    • Radical Homemakers
    • The Resilient Farm and Homestead
    • Paradise Lot
    • The Permaculture City
    • The Permaculture Handbook
    • Practical Permaculture
    • Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture
    • The Solar House
    • The Straw Bale House
    • Toolbox for Sustainable City Living
    • The Transition Handbook
    • Water Storage
    • You Can Farm
    • Your Money or Your Life
    • Zen in the Art of Permaculture Design
    Films

    Our Student Library

    We maintain a library of donated books for our students in the Alumni Office intern research room. To donate books for our students relating to food, ecology, and health, please contact Shane Brill.

    Our titles include:

    • 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
    • A Language Older Than Words
    • A Sand County Almanac  
    • A Small Place 
    • Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief
    • American Earth Environmental Writing Since Thoreau 
    • An Everlasting Meal 
    • Ann Lovejoy's Organic Garden Design School  
    • Autobiography of a Yogi
    • Basic Course in Botany 
    • Bees and Beekeeping
    • Beyond Civilization 
    • Beyond Oil
    • Biodiversity and Native America
    • Blink 
    • Blood and Oil 
    • Born to Run 
    • Botany in a Day 
    • Braiding Sweetgrass
    • Building Natural Ponds  
    • Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest 
    • Chesapeake Gardening and Landscaping
    • Collapse 
    • Common Plants of the Mid Atlantic Coast 
    • Confessions of a Sneaky Organic Cook 
    • Conversations on Collapse
    • Creating Sanctuary
    • Cultivating Mushrooms  
    • Cultured
    • The Dairy-Free and Gluten Free Kitchen
    • Dandelion and Quince
    • Deep Economy 
    • Deep Green Resistance
    • Deep Nutrition
    • Dirt: The Erosion of Civilization 
    • Dishing up Maryland 
    • Dreams
    • Duck Eggs Daily
    • Dumbing Us Down 
    • Eaarth 
    • Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture
    • Eating on the Wild Side
    • Ecoscaping Back to the Future 
    • Edible
    • Edible Forest Gardens 
    • Edible Wild Plants 
    • Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening 
    • Encyclopedia of Trees
    • Endgame Vols. I and II
    • Enough 
    • Farming on the Wild Side
    • Fast Food Nation 
    • Fields of Farmers 
    • Folk Medicine 
    • Folks, This Ain’t Normal
    • Food: What the Heck Should I Cook
    • For Cod and Country
    • Forces for Good
    • Founding Gardener's 
    • Four-Season Harvest
    • Free Range Chicken Gardens 
    • Full Moon Feast
    • Gaia’s Garden
    • Gardening When It Counts 
    • Gardening with Native Wildflowers 
    • Gardening without Poisons
    • Getting food from Water 
    • Ginko 
    • Gluten Free Baking Classics
    • Gluten-free Baking at Home
    • Good to Great 
    • The Good Life
    • Grain Brain
    • Grasses Identification Guide 
    • Grow More with Less 
    • Guns, Germs, and Steel 
    • Hatching and Brooding Your Own Chicks
    • Holistic Management
    • The Homemade Flour Cookbook
    • Honeybee Democracy
    • Hot, Flat, and Crowded 
    • In Defense of Food 
    • Integrative Nutrition 
    • Introduction to Heritage Breeds 
    • Ishmael
    • Kinship with All Life 
    • Last Child in the Woods 
    • Life 
    • Listening to the Land
    • Living Water 
    • Mediterranean Vegetables
    • Mushrooms Demystified
    • My Awakening: A Pregnancy Guide and Memoir
    • My Ishmael
    • Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants 
    • Native American Ethnobotany
    • Native American Food Plants 
    • Natural Planting
    • Nature Wars
    • Nutrition and Physical Degeneration 
    • Organic Gardening  
    • Organic Vegetable Gardening 
    • Ospreys 
    • Permaculture Guide to Reed Beds
    • Pilgrim at Tinker Creek 
    • Plant Biology 
    • Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls 
    • Planting in a Post-Wild World
    • Plastic Free 
    • Radical Homemakers 
    • Rain Gardens 
    • Reinventing the Chicken Coop 
    • Resistance Against Empire
    • Rewild or Die 
    • Rodale's Book of Shortcuts 
    • Rodale's Organic Gardening 
    • Rodale’s Annual Garden 
    • Rodale’s Encyclopedia of Natural Home Remedies 
    • Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials 
    • Roses without Chemicals
    • Sacred Cow  
    • Sapiens
    • Say No: The New Pioneers Guide to Save Our Environment 
    • Secrets of the Talking Jaguar 
    • Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture 
    • Shanleya’s Quest
    • Solar Water Heating  
    • Stalking the Healthful Herbs
    • Stalking the Wild Asparagus
    • Stocking Up: How to Preserve the Foods You Grow Naturally 
    • Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honeybees 
    • Stream Restoration 
    • Sustainable Revolution
    • Tartine Book No. 3
    • Tending the Wild
    • The Art of Natural Cheesemaking 
    • The Backyard Beekeeper
    • The Backyard Homestead
    • The Beekeeper’s Handbook
    • The Beekeepers Bible 
    • The Best I Ever Ate  
    • The Calendar of Organic Gardening 
    • The Carnivore Diet
    • The Coconut Oil Miracle 
    • The Culture of Make Believe
    • The Dental Diet
    • The Earth Has a Soul
    • The Ecology of Commerce 
    • The End of Nature 
    • The Forest Garden Greenhouse
    • The Fresh Honey Cookbook 
    • The Gardener’s A-Z Guide of Growing Organic Food
    • The Health Evolution 
    • The Living Landscape
    • The Lost Language of Plants 
    • The McDonaldization of Society 
    • The Myth of Progress 
    • The Nature Principle
    • The New American Landscape 
    • The New American Landscape
    • The New Ecological Home 
    • The New Rules of the Roost
    • The One-Straw Revolution
    • The Permaculture City
    • The Permaculture Market Garden
    • The Road to Wigan Pier 
    • The Rodale Cookbook 
    • The Science of Skinny 
    • The Seed Underground 
    • The Solar House 
    • The Spell of the Sensuous  
    • The Story of the Human Body 
    • The Telomere Effect
    • The Third Chimpanzee
    • The Tipping Point
    • The Tracker 
    • The Unschooling Unmanual
    • The Unsettling of America 
    • The Weather Makers
    • The Well-Tended Perennial Garden
    • The Wildlife Gardeners Guide 
    • The Winter Harvest Handbook
    • The World without Us 
    • The World without Us 
    • Tomorrow’s Garden
    • Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden  
    • Unconventional Medicine
    • University of Maryland's Master Gardener Handbook 
    • Unlearn, Rewild
    • Urban Forests 
    • Walden and Civil Disobedience 
    • Walking on Water
    • What We Leave Behind 
    • What's Wrong with My Fruit Garden 
    • Wheels of Life 
    • When Breath Becomes Air 
    • Where the Wild Things Were 
    • Will Bonsall’s Essential Guide to Radical Self-Reliant Gardening
    • Winning the Organics Game 
    • Winning the Organics Game
    • Working in the Shadows 
    • Zen in the Art of Permaculture Design