The once arid valleys and isolated coastal plains of California are today the center of fruit production in the United States. Steven Stoll explains how a class of capitalist farmers made California the nation's leading producer of fruit and created the first industrial countryside in America. This brilliant portrayal of California from 1880 to 1930 traces the origins, evolution, and implications of the fruit industry while providing a window through which to view the entire history of California. Stoll shows how California growers assembled chemicals, corporations, and political influence to bring the most perishable products from the most distant state to the great urban markets of North America. But what began as a compromise between a beneficent environment and intensive cultivation ultimately became threatening to the soil and exploitative of the people who worked it. Invoking history, economics, sociology, agriculture, and environmental studies, Stoll traces the often tragic repercussions of fruit farming and shows how central this story is to the development of the industrial countryside in the twentieth century.

More time in nature not only makes us feel better, it also enhances our quality of life and contributes to a healthier and longer life. It's the natural advantage! Busy lives mean it's harder than ever to find the space to do those things that help you enjoy a greater quality of life. This has led to what is called a 'nature deficit'. We are so hooked up to our work, our technology and the demands placed on us in our daily lives that we no longer have the time or the energy to indulge in those activities that take us away from all our stresses and concerns to relax, restore our sense of wellbeing and connect to what matters the most. This book will appeal to the reader who recognises or remembers that time in nature is helpful but is wondering how to find the time other than by disappearing on a month-long hike into the wilderness. It has been written for the busy professional juggling multiple items on their agenda, who is feeling overwhelmed and super stressed, and wishing they had even five minutes to get outside and engage in those activities they remember provide them with joy and peace. Engaging in nature-based activities is a powerful tool to create happier, healthier lives.

Harvard MBA Alan Heeks, a successful entrepreneur and founder of an organic farm, explains how to apply the seven principles of organic farming to the workplace. For example, the first principle is caring for the soil, or ground conditioning. Applied to the workplace, this means utilizing clean sources such as inspiration and appreciation and avoiding polluting sources such as stress and fear. By fostering a healthy, organic work environment, the result is a natural sustainable, renewing approach to work and life and demonstrates how it naturally leads to increase in productivity, quality, and fulfillment.

In this ambitious and provocative text, environmental historian Ted Steinberg offers a sweeping history of our nation--a history that, for the first time, places the environment at the very center of our story. Written with exceptional clarity, Down to Earth re-envisions the story of America "from the ground up." It reveals how focusing on plants, animals, climate, and other ecological factors can radically change the way that we think about the past. Examining such familiar topics as colonization, the industrial revolution, slavery, the Civil War, and the emergence of modern-day consumer culture, Steinberg recounts how the natural world influenced the course of human history. From the colonists' attempts to impose order on the land to modern efforts to sell the wilderness as a consumer good, the author reminds readers that many critical episodes in our history were, in fact, environmental events. He highlights the ways in which we have attempted to reshape and control nature, from Thomas Jefferson's surveying plan, which divided the national landscape into a grid, to the transformation of animals, crops, and even water into commodities. The text is ideal for courses in environmental history, environmental studies, urban studies, economic history, and American history. Passionately argued and thought-provoking, Down to Earth retells our nation's history with nature in the foreground--a perspective that will challenge our view of everything from Jamestown to Disney World.

This book is more than just a 'palliative care' guide for the planet - it is about innovation, solutions, competitiveness and profitability. At work, at home and as members of society, our generation has an opportunity - to be part of the obligation - and an exciting solution in restoring the balance. The authors present a bold vision for the future and demonstrate how we can get there, drawing on lessons of competitive advantage theory and the latest in sustainability, economics, innovation, business and governance theory and practice. The result is nothing less than the most authoritative and comprehensive guide to date, to building the new ecologically sustainable economy. For further information about The Natural Edge Project and to view the book's online companion, visit www.naturaledgeproject.net.

In this groundbreaking study of organic farming, Julie Guthman challenges accepted wisdom about organic food and agriculture in the Golden State. Many continue to believe that small-scale organic farming is the answer to our environmental and health problems, but Guthman refutes popular portrayals that pit "small organic" against "big organic" and offers an alternative analysis that underscores the limits of an organic label as a pathway to transforming agriculture. This second edition includes a thorough investigation of the federal organic program, a discussion of how the certification arena has continued to grow and change since its implementation, and an up-to-date guide to the structure of the organic farming sector. Agrarian Dreams delivers an indispensable examination of organic farming in California and will appeal to readers in a variety of areas, including food studies, agriculture, environmental studies, anthropology, sociology, geography, and history.