Equipped to Lead and Succeed

USF Author of “Farm City” Celebrated in Marin

by Ed Carpenter, Office of Marketing Communications

“Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer,” by best-selling author, blogger, and USF environmental studies instructor Novella Carpenter, has been named Marin County’s must-read book of the year.

KQED broadcast

One Book One Marin (OBOM) named Carpenter’s memoir the region’s “one book” for 2014, making it the centerpiece for dozens of book discussions, urban-farming workshops, and other events in the coming weeks. The program culminates April 30 with a discussion about urban agriculture between Carpenter and KQED-radio’s Michael Krasny at Dominican University.

The recognition places Carpenter alongside former OBOM honorees Isabel Allende, Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers, and Amy Tan.  

From Ghost Town to goats

“Farm City” chronicles Carpenter’s efforts to turn a rundown house and lot in Oakland’s blighted Ghost Town neighborhood into an urban oasis of chickens, bees, goats, and an ever-expanding community garden. This spring, she’s teaching classes on community gardening and writing about urban agriculture at USF. 

Editor’s note: Novella Carpenter is not related to the author.

Know someone with a powerful USF story? Let us know! usfnews@usfca.edu | Twitter @usfcanews