Groundbakers

By:   MacKenzie Feldman, Kathy Feldman
Imprint:   Kulani Publishing
Dimensions:   Height: 254mm,  Width: 203mm,  Spine: 19mm
Weight:   916g
ISBN:   9798986473307
Pages:   242
Publication Date:   11 October 2022
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Mackenzie Feldman is an environmental activist from Honolulu, Hawai'i. Growing up on Oahu, Mackenzie saw the effects that corporate agribusiness and the resulting pesticide exposure have had and continue to have on her community. Simultaneously, Mackenzie witnessed the power of the Hawaiian food sovereignty movement. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in Spring 2018 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Society and Environment and a minor in Food Systems. She is the Founder and Project Director of Re: wild Your Campus, a project of Re: wild that empowers the next generation of environmental leaders to create safer, more sustainable living and learning environments for all, by starting locally and advocating for organic land care on their campuses. Her campaign resulted in the entire University of California system going glyphosate-free, and Mackenzie worked with a coalition to get herbicides banned from every public school in the state of Hawai'i. Mackenzie is also a 2022 Rachel Carson Council Fellow, a Food Research Fellow for Data For Progress, and a Brower Youth Award winner. Kathy Feldman's quest for plant-based eating began early on in life. As an animal lover, she wanted to stop eating meat in the 4th grade, but had to wait until the 11th grade when she could cook for herself to begin the journey of eating vegetarian. As a teen, she got a hold of Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé, which made her more aware of the environmental impact meat consumption had on the planet. It wasn't until Kathy read the book Diet for a New America by John Robbins, did she learn about the horrific treatment of animals in factory farms, which validated her decision to not eat meat. When genetically modified papayas reached the market in Hawaii, Kathy set out to research GMOs. She was shocked to learn that corn and soy seeds are engineered to withstand the spraying of herbicides. In 2016, Kathy and Mackenzie set out to learn more about the food system, visiting 10 farms in Cuba and 20 organic farms in California and Oregon, keeping a blog about their experiences along the way. Since then, the two decided to write this book to share plant-based recipes and highlight some of the inspiring farms and food system leaders they met.