FROME author Chris Smaje’s latest work, Saying no to a farm free future, will officially be launched at an event at the Rye Bakery on Thursday 22nd June from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.
At the book launch, Chris will be in conversation with the chief editor of the Farm Gate podcast and he will be introduced by Rowan Phillimore of The Gaia Foundation. The talk will be followed by a book signing courtesy of Hunting Raven Books, plus socialising and a glass of wine.
Chris has lived in Frome for 20 years, and is the co-founder of Vallis Veg, Frome’s local veg box scheme. He has written two books in recent years, both published by Chelsea Green; A Small Farm Future (2020) and now Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future (2023).
Chris’s latest work presents his defence of small-scale farming and a robust critique of The Guardian’s George Monbiot’s vision for an urban and industrialised future.
Chris explained, “The new book makes the case for local gardeners, growers, farmers and communities to rise to the challenge of meeting their own needs for food and fibre in the face of climate change, energy constraint and economic decline, and it criticises the arguments of writers like George Monbiot who suggest that we can best meet the needs of people and wildlife through factory-based processes of microbial fermentation rather than through the farmed landscape.
“It should be of interest to anyone concerned about climate change, wildlife and energy use or who grows or eats food – which covers most of us!”
You can purchase a ticket for the book launch here: https://shorturl.at/ ademW
Pictured: Chris Smaje.
