Mark Winne

August 28th, 2008 by Mark Winne

American society has never been as fair as we might think. Though a land of opportunity and great fortune for some, we have never been a nation able to fully confront, let alone resolve, our social and economic inequalities and disparities. Food, like air and water, is a basic necessity, but stands as a glaring example of how the gap between this country’s “haves” and “have-nots” remains deep and wide. No matter what aspect of the subject we consider — hunger, obesity, or the latest food trends like local and organic — food is emblematic of a promise fulfilled for some but falling ever so short for many.

Like thousands of food activists throughout North America, Mark Winne has worked for 35 years to close the food gap. From organizing breakfast programs for low-income children in Maine to developing innovative national food policies in Washington, DC, Winne has dedicated his professional life and writing to finding local, state, and federal solutions to America’s food disparities. To this end, and to those whose passion for this purpose is no less than his own, he has dedicated his first book “Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty.”

Closing the Food Gap tells the story of how we get our food: from poor people at food pantries or bodegas and convenience stores to the more comfortable classes, who increasingly seek out organic and local products. Winne’s exploration starts in the 1960s, when domestic poverty was “rediscovered,” and shows how communities since that time have responded to malnutrition with a slew of strategies and methods. But the story is also about doing that work against a backdrop of ever-growing American food affluence and gastronomical expectations.

“Closing the Food Gap reveals the chasm between the two food systems of America-the one for the poor and the one for everyone else. Mark Winne offers compelling solutions for making local, organic, and highly nutritious food available to everyone.”
- Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace

From the War on Poverty to new farmers’ markets, a food expert tackles America’s dangerous dietary split.

Closing the Food Gap tells the story of how we get our food: from poor people at food pantries or bodegas and convenience stores to the more comfortable classes, who increasingly seek out organic and local products. Winne’s exploration starts in the 1960s, when domestic poverty was “rediscovered,” and shows how communities since that time have responded to malnutrition with a slew of strategies and methods. But the story is also about doing that work against a backdrop of ever-growing American food affluence and gastronomical expectations.

Calling largely on his own experience in this field, mixing in surprisingly witty observations on our evolving relationships with food, Winne ultimately envisions realistic partnerships in which family farms and impoverished communities come together to address their continuing struggles.

For twenty-five years Mark Winne was the executive director of the Hartford Food System in Hartford, Connecticut. He now writes, speaks, and consults extensively on community food system topics. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“‘Closing the Food Gap’ is a deeply moving account of Mark Winne’s long career as an advocate for policies that will ensure adequate nutrition for the poor. Reading this book should make everyone want to advocate for food systems that will feed the hungry, support local farmers, and promote community democracy-all at the same time. I want all my students to read this beautifully written and important book.” – Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, and author of Food Politics and What to Eat

BUY THIS BOOK
Individuals can purchase Closing the Food Gap and other Beacon books from a local bookstore, an online bookseller such as Amazon, or our website at www.Beacon.com. Bookstores and other resellers can order books through our distributor, Houghton Mifflin, at 1-800-225-3362.

SPECIAL SALES
Orders of 10 or more copies are eligible for discounts. For more information about special sales discounts or affiliate programs please call Katie Spencer, Beacon Press, at 617-948-6573.

PUBLICITY
For publicity inquiries please call 617-948-6583 or click here to email Gina Frey. You can also click here to contact Mark Winne.

Get this page as a PDF

If you don’t have Adobe Reader,

“‘Closing the Food Gap’ is a deeply moving account of Mark Winne’s long career as an advocate for policies that will ensure adequate nutrition for the poor. Reading this book should make everyone want to advocate for food systems that will feed the hungry, support local farmers, and promote community democracy-all at the same time. I want all my students to read this beautifully written and important book.”
-Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, and author of Food Politics and What to Eat

“Mark Winne tackles the world of food deserts, hunger relief and the disparities of the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ from both a personal and professional viewpoint that at once educates on and illuminates these very complicated issues. Winne makes these issues and their interrelationships not only understandable but also compelling for all those who care about social justice in our country.”
-Chef Ann Cooper, author of Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children

“An engaging, candid, and sometimes funny look at how ordinary people-and extraordinary ones like the author-have struggled over three plus decades to create a fair food system, in the absence of public sector compassion. Winne has done it all-food coops, emergency feeding, farmers’ markets, community gardening, Community Supported Agriculture, public policy. He tells us why and how, weaving into his own experiences stories from other cities across the country to create an essential picture of how people like him are struggling to reset the country’s table for everyone.”
-Joan Dye Gussow, author of This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader

“‘Closing the Food Gap’ reveals the chasm between the two food systems of America-the one for the poor and the one for everyone else. Speaking from his decades of political activism, Mark Winne offers compelling solutions for making local, organic, and highly nutritious food available to everyone. It’s heartening to find a book that successfully blends a passion for sustainable living with compassion for the poor.”
-Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder-the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace

“Winne’s passion for justice and commitment to sustainability make this book essential reading for those who want to help make the vision of healthy abundance for all an American dream come true. I look forward to sharing this book with my students – and giving it as a gift to my friends.”
-Janet Poppendieck, author of Sweet Charity?

“By combining stories of his deep personal experience as an activist with keen insight into strategies for addressing food injustice, Winne himself fills a gap in the growing literature on good food, why it matters, and how to ensure everyone everywhere has access to it. Plus, the book is a fun read. Winne’s stories made me want to meet him down at the local farmer’s market, and then join him afterward for a cold beer.”
-Anna Lappé, co-founder of the Small Planet Institute and author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen

“Having been a part of the movement since the 1970s, serving as (among other positions) the executive director of the Hartford Food System, Winne has an insider’s view on what it’s like to feed our country’s hungry citizens. Through the lens of Hartford, Conn. -a quintessential ‘inner city’ bereft of decent food options apart from bodegas and fast food chains-he explains the successes he witnessed and helped to create: community gardens, inner city farmers’ markets and youth-run urban farms. Winne concludes his tale in our present food-crazed era, giving voice to low-income shoppers and exploring where they fit in with such foodie discussions as local vs. organic. In this articulate and comprehensive book, Winne points out that the greatest successes have been ‘an informal alliance between sustainable agriculture and food security advocates… that shows promise for helping both the poor and small and medium-size farmers.’ For the most part it is a calm, well-reasoned and soft-spoken call to arms to fight for policy reform, rather than fill in, with community-based projects and privately funded programs, the gaps left by our city and state legislators.”
-Publishers Weekly

“Fearless, intelligent, and surprisingly funny.”

-Gwyneth Doland, Santa Fe Reporter