We are putting the L&T Book Club on hold due to low turn-out at our monthly meetings. But we are discussing possibly reviving it later in the year in a different format.

Our final book for now is the classic book ‘Ten Acres Enough‘ (1864) which tells the story of how the author quit the publishing business and transformed his life by moving his family onto a rural homestead and started farming ten acres of fruits and berries. One of the most influential books of it’s generation, it stands the test of time as a sign of the enduring American ideal of a self-reliant agrarian life.

Read (or listen) and come discuss it with us at our last L&T Book Club of the season on Thursday, May 2 (6:30-8pm) at the Bedford Library. Go to the Bedford Public Library System web calendar for details on where you can read and listen to this book:

WHEN: Thursday, May 2 (6:30 – 8:00pm)
WHO: Anyone! All are welcome.
WHAT TO BRING: Just yourself…and if you want: a friend!
WHERE: Bedford Central Library, 321 N Bridge Street Bedford, VA 24523

We will be meeting in the Bedford Room, a large community room with access via the side of the building by the parking lot, or via the main library entrance – walk towards the main desk and look for the door on your left (near the books for sale).

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If you are under the weather, or not feeling well, we ask that you stay home and rest 🙂

VENUE DETAILS:
Bedford Central Library: 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523

Read with us this month! We are reading James Herriot’s beloved classic ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ – the first of an eight part series from this celebrated storyteller and British veterinary surgeon.

We will be discussing the book All Creatures Great and Small at the Bedford Public Library on Thursday, April 4 (6:30-8:00 pm) in the Bedford community room. Join us! All are welcome.

Read the e-book free through the Bedford Public Library System and other participating Lynchburg area library systems.

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK
Come explore the pastoral world of James Herriot’s “All Creatures Great and Small”, and discover the profound beauty and wisdom embedded in Herriot’s tales of farm and country life in the Yorkshire Dales. Traverse the rolling hills and verdant pastures alongside Dr. James Herriot, a country veterinarian navigating the trials and tribulations of rural existence in the 1930s.

Through his keen observations and endearing anecdotes, Herriot invites us into a world where the rhythms of nature dictate daily life, and the bond between humans and animals is both sacred and indispensable. From the challenges of birthing calves to the camaraderie of local farmers, Herriot’s narratives offer a glimpse into a bygone era while illuminating timeless truths about resilience, community, and the enduring spirit of agrarian life.

WHEN: Thursday, April 4 (6:30 – 8:00pm)
COST: Free! But we ask that you RSVP.
WHO: Anyone! All are welcome.
WHAT TO BRING: Just yourself…and if you want: a friend!
WHERE: Bedford Central Library, 321 N Bridge Street Bedford, VA 24523

We will be meeting in the Bedford Room, a large community room with access via the side of the building by the parking lot, or via the main library entrance – walk towards the main desk and look for the door on your left (near the books for sale).

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If you are under the weather, or not feeling well, we ask that you stay home and rest 🙂

VENUE DETAILS:
Bedford Central Library: 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523

The Land & Table book club is now in it’s second year and we are trying out something new: reading themes!

Some months we will focus on one specific book and others will be a theme where you can choose what you read. When we come together to discuss, everyone can share highlights of what they read.

February’s theme is ‘Off-Grid & Low-Tech Living’. Read with us! Check out the Bedford Public Library System’s suggested titles (non-fiction and fiction) that you can read for FREE – or choose your own. That book list is: HERE.

Join us on Thursday, March 7 (6:30-8:00 pm) at the Bedford Library (Bedford Room) to share highlights of what you read and to hear from others. Everyone and anyone is welcome. Enter on the side of the building or to the left of the main desk.

WHEN: Thursday, March 7 (6:30 – 8:00pm)
COST: Free! But we ask that you RSVP.
WHO: Anyone! All are welcome.
WHAT TO BRING: Just yourself…and if you want: a friend!
WHERE: Bedford Central Library, 321 N Bridge Street Bedford, VA 24523

We will be meeting in the Bedford Room, a large community room with access via the side of the building by the parking lot, or via the main library entrance – walk towards the main desk and look for the door on your left (near the books for sale).

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If you are under the weather, or not feeling well, we ask that you stay home and rest 🙂

VENUE DETAILS:
Bedford Central Library: 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523

The Land & Table Book Club is a reading and discussion group that meets once a month to discuss topics related to agrarian living, self-reliance, local food, ecological agriculture, local community, homesteading, simple living, and the future of our food system.

For our February meeting we will be discussing: Planning and suggestions for 2024! Please join us this month for a planning session where we’ll be discussing direction for:

• Introducing themes for reading some months, rather than specific titles.
• Possibility of conducting hybrid meetings, with both in-person and virtual participation.
• Suggestions for titles or themes for the next 6+ months.
• Ideas for increasing reach and participation in the book club–such as changing day or time.
• Feedback from former, current, or potential participants.

Anyone is welcome! All you need is a general interest in the topics we will be discussing. So bring some of your favorite books to share, and/or a list of titles or topics you are eager to explore!

WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 1 (6:30 – 8:00pm)
COST: Free! But we ask that you RSVP.
WHO: Anyone! All are welcome.
WHAT TO BRING: Just yourself…and if you want: a friend!
WHERE: Bedford Central Library, 321 N Bridge Street Bedford, VA 24523

We will be meeting in the Bedford Room, a large community room with access via the side of the building by the parking lot, or via the main library entrance – walk towards the main desk and look for the door on your left (near the books for sale).

===============
If you are under the weather, or not feeling well, we ask that you stay home and rest 🙂

VENUE DETAILS:
Bedford Central Library: 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523

Join us (Thurs. 1/4, 6:30-8:00pm) at the Bedford Central Library for a discussion about the author David Buchanan’s book ‘Taste, Memory: Forgotten Foods, Lost Flavors, and Why They Matter’. This conversation will revolve around preserving heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables and why these historical breeds matter to the local food movement.

Didn’t read the book? Watch the video below instead and come join the conversation.

This event is free and open to the public.

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Land & Table is a non-profit organization focused on creating and sustaining a resilient food system in the Lynchburg, VA region. Our book club is focused on hosting monthly conversations, open to the public, that look at books and topics related to the local food movement, agrarian living, thriving local communities, and our ecological future.

We meet on the first Thursday of each month and our meetings are open to anyone.

WHEN: Thursday, Jan. 4 (6:30 – 8:00pm)
COST: Free! But we ask that you RSVP.
WHO: Anyone! All are welcome.
WHAT TO BRING: Just yourself…and if you want: a friend!
WHERE: Bedford Central Library, 321 N Bridge Street Bedford, VA 24523

We will be meeting in the Bedford Room, a large community room with access via the side of the building by the parking lot, or via the main library entrance – walk towards the main desk and look for the door on your left (near the books for sale).

===============
If you or your family members are under the weather, or not feeling well, we ask that you stay home and rest 🙂

VENUE DETAILS:
Bedford Central Library: 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523

The dream of self-sufficiency and personal food sovereignty has been an enduring motivation throughout modern American history. But the history of the ‘back-to-land’ movement may be more complex than you think.

Join us Thursday, Dec. 7 (6:30-8:00pm) at the Bedford Central Library for an open forum looking at the national popular interest in homesteading and a return to country life from the early 1900’s to the 1960’s and 70’s.

We’ll be using the book ‘Back to the Land: The Enduring Dream of Self-Sufficiency in Modern America’ by Dona Brown as a springboard for the discussion. You are not required to read the book to participate in the forum.

This event is free and open to the public.

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The Land & Table book club is a way to engage with the core ideas and topics that are motivating a new generation to create a more resilient food system and vibrant local community life. We’ll be reading books about: eating local, self-reliant living, agrarian culture, growing food, culinary history, community resilience, going back-to-the-land, and more. This is not a book club that will be technical in nature. And if you don’t have a green thumb, you’ll still feel at home. You don’t have to grow your own food or be a homesteader or farmer to enjoy these books. But…you do have to be curious about reviving your connection with the land, with other people, and with the food you eat. And the reality is: tending to those connections is important for all of us.

We meet on the first Thursday of each month and welcome anyone to our meetings – even if you have not read the book we will be discussing

WHEN: Thursday, Dec. 7 (6:30 – 8:00pm)
COST: Free! But we ask that you RSVP.
WHO: Anyone! All are welcome.
WHAT TO BRING: Just yourself…and if you want: a friend!
WHERE: Bedford Central Library, 321 N Bridge Street Bedford, VA 24523

We will be meeting in the Bedford Room, a large community room with access via the side of the building by the parking lot, or via the main library entrance – walk towards the main desk and look for the door on your left (near the books for sale).

===============
If you or your family members are under the weather, or not feeling well, we ask that you stay home and rest 🙂

VENUE DETAILS:
Bedford Central Library: 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523

Join the Land & Table book club on November 2 (6:30-8:00pm) for a discussion on the book ‘Blessing the Hands That Feed Us: Lessons from a 10-mile diet’* by acclaimed author Vicki Robin (Your Money or Your Life). This memoir recounts the author’s adventures in hyper-local eating on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, Washington, and what she learned about food, farming, community, and hope for the future.

Like Barbara Kingsolver’s ‘Animal, Vegetable, Miracle’ and the bestselling books of Michael Pollan, ‘Blessing the Hands That Feed Us’ is part personal narrative and part manifesto for a more resilient and sustainable future. By challenging herself to eat and buy local, Robin exposes the cause and effect of a global food system that is undermining the health of our bodies and the planet – all the while exploring what a local, more relational future could look like.

Don’t miss this important conversation on our personal food choices, modern global industrial agriculture, and the potential for reviving regional food systems.

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HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE:

(1.) Read the book for free: check it out from the Bedford Public Library system (physical copy, ebook, or audio book)

(2.) Attend the discussion: even if you do not read the book you can come and share your thoughts during the discussion. We will also present a related video featuring the author for those who do not read the book.

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*Please note: the hardcover version of the book was released as ‘Blessing the Hands That Feed Us: What Eating Closer to Home Can Teach Us About Food, Community, and Our Place on Earth’. But it is the same book as the softcover.

===================================

The Land & Table book club is a way to engage with the core ideas and topics that are motivating a new generation to create a more resilient food system and vibrant local community life. We’ll be reading books about: eating local, self-reliant living, agrarian culture, growing food, culinary history, community resilience, going back-to-the-land, and more. This is not a book club that will be technical in nature. And if you don’t have a green thumb, you’ll still feel at home. You don’t have to grow your own food or be a homesteader or farmer to enjoy these books. But…you do have to be curious about reviving your connection with the land, with other people, and with the food you eat. And the reality is: tending to those connections is important for all of us.

We meet on the first Thursday of each month and welcome anyone to our meetings – even if you have not read the book we will be discussing

WHEN: Thursday, November 2 (6:30 – 8:00pm)
COST: Free! But we ask that you RSVP.
WHO: Anyone! All are welcome – even if you did not read the book.
WHAT TO BRING: Just yourself…and if you want: a friend!
WHERE: Bedford Central Library, 321 N Bridge Street Bedford, VA 24523

We will be meeting in the Bedford Room, a large community room with access via the side of the building by the parking lot, or via the main library entrance – walk towards the main desk and look for the door on your left (near the books for sale).

===============
If you or your family members are under the weather, or not feeling well, we ask that you stay home and rest 🙂

VENUE DETAILS:
Bedford Central Library: 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523

For decades environmental activists have insisted that cattle and other livestock are destructive to the health of the planet. In Defending Beef, environmental lawyer turned rancher, Nicolette Hahn Niman, argues that cattle are not inherently bad for the earth. The impact of grazing can be either negative or positive, depending on how livestock are managed. In fact, with proper oversight, livestock can play an essential role in maintaining grassland ecosystems by performing the same functions as the natural herbivores that once roamed and grazed there.

Join us for an open discussion on this important book, hosted by the Land & Table Book Club, on October 5th (6:30-8:00pm) at the Bedford Central Library. For those who have not read the book there will be a short related video presented before the discussion. Don’t miss it!

From the publisher, about the book:

“With more public discussions and media being paid to connections between health and diet, food and climate, and climate and farming—especially cattle farming, Defending Beef has never been more timely. And in this newly revised and updated edition, the author also addresses the explosion in popularity of “fake meat” (both highly processed “plant-based foods” and meat grown from cells in a lab, rather than on the hoof).

Defending Beef is simultaneously a book about big issues and the personal journey of the author, who continues to fight for animal welfare and good science. Hahn Niman shows how dispersed, grass-based, smaller-scale farms can and should become the basis of American food production.”

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The Land & Table book club is a way to engage with the core ideas and topics that are motivating a new generation to create a more resilient food system and vibrant local community life. We’ll be reading books about: eating local, self-reliant living, agrarian culture, growing food, culinary history, community resilience, going back-to-the-land, and more. This is not a book club that will be technical in nature. And if you don’t have a green thumb, you’ll still feel at home. You don’t have to grow your own food or be a homesteader or farmer to enjoy these books. But…you do have to be curious about reviving your connection with the land, with other people, and with the food you eat. And the reality is: tending to those connections is important for all of us.

We meet on the first Thursday of each month and welcome anyone to our meetings – even if you have not read the book we will be discussing

WHEN: Thursday, September 7 (6:30 – 8pm)
WHERE: Bedford Central Library, 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523
WHO: Anyone! All are welcome – even if you did not read the book.
===============
If you or your family members are under the weather, or not feeling well, we ask that you stay home and rest 🙂

VENUE DETAILS:
Bedford Central Library: 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523

Join us on Thursday, September 7 (6:30-8:00pm) at the Bedford Central Library for the monthly Land & Table Book Club discussion. We will be discussing August’s book by English farmer and intellectual Chris Smaje: ‘A Small Farm Future: Making the Case for a Society Built Around Local Economies Self-provisioning Agricultural Diversity and a Shared Earth’

Please note: you do NOT have to read the book to attend this discussion. Everyone is welcome to be a part, no matter if you’ve read the book or not. In fact, check out this video for a summary and come join the conversation:

From the publisher, about the book: “Challenging both conventional wisdom and utopian blueprints, A Small Farm Future offers rigorous original analysis of wicked problems and hidden opportunities in a way that illuminates the path toward functional local economies, effective self-provisioning, agricultural diversity and a shared earth. Perfect for readers of both Wendell Berry and Thomas Piketty, A Small Farm Future is a refreshing, new outlook on a way forward for society—and a vital resource for activists, students, policy makers, and anyone looking to enact change.”

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The Land & Table book club is a way to engage with the core ideas and topics that are motivating a new generation to create a more resilient food system and vibrant local community life. We’ll be reading books about: eating local, self-reliant living, agrarian culture, growing food, culinary history, community resilience, going back-to-the-land, and more. This is not a book club that will be technical in nature. And if you don’t have a green thumb, you’ll still feel at home. You don’t have to grow your own food or be a homesteader or farmer to enjoy these books. But…you do have to be curious about reviving your connection with the land, with other people, and with the food you eat. And the reality is: tending to those connections is important for all of us.

We meet on the first Thursday of each month and welcome anyone to our meetings – even if you have not read the book we will be discussing

WHEN: Thursday, September 7 (6:30 – 8pm)
WHERE: Bedford Central Library, 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523
WHO: Anyone! All are welcome – even if you did not read the book.
===============
If you or your family members are under the weather, or not feeling well, we ask that you stay home and rest 🙂

VENUE DETAILS:
Bedford Central Library: 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523

Join us on Thursday, August 3 (6:30-8:00pm) at the Bedford Central Library for the monthly Land & Table Book Club discussion. We will be discussing July’s book: ‘Our Wild Farming Life: Adventures On A Scottish Highland Croft‘ by Lynn Cassells and Sandra Baer.

Please note: you do NOT have to read the book to attend this discussion. Everyone is welcome to be a part, no matter if you’ve read the book or not. This discussion will revolve around the topic of: farming in harmony with nature using a combination of rewilding and regenerative agriculture practices.

From the book:

““The question we found ourselves asking is what does farming in harmony with nature look like? And is it even possible without having some sort of negative impact somewhere down the line? We had ideas of avoiding chemical use, working with traditional and native breeds of livestock, nurturing fields full of grasses and wildflowers, planting trees and selling our produce to our local community. Our land would hum with life in all seasons as we reaped the bounty of food that our partner nature would provide. It was all so clear in our minds and sounded so perfect and idealistic but was it actually realistic?”  (P.75-76)

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The Land & Table book club is a way to engage with the core ideas and topics that are motivating a new generation to create a more resilient food system and vibrant local community life. We’ll be reading books about: eating local, self-reliant living, agrarian culture, growing food, culinary history, community resilience, going back-to-the-land, and more. This is not a book club that will be technical in nature. And if you don’t have a green thumb, you’ll still feel at home. You don’t have to grow your own food or be a homesteader or farmer to enjoy these books. But…you do have to be curious about reviving your connection with the land, with other people, and with the food you eat. And the reality is: tending to those connections is important for all of us.

We meet on the first Thursday of each month and welcome anyone to our meetings – even if you have not read the book we will be discussing

WHEN: Thursday, August 3 (6:30 – 8pm)
WHERE: Bedford Central Library, 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523
WHO: Anyone! All are welcome – even if you did not finish the book.
===============
If you or your family members are under the weather, or not feeling well, we ask that you stay home and rest 🙂

VENUE DETAILS:
Bedford Central Library: 321 N Bridge St Bedford, VA 24523