Joan Dye Gussow (born 1928) is a professor, author,

food policy Food policy is the area of public policy concerning how food is produced, processed, distributed, purchased, or provided. Food policies are designed to influence the operation of the food and agriculture system balanced with ensuring human health ...

expert,

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

and gardener. The ''

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'' has called her the "matriarch of the eat-locally-think-globally food movement."

Biography

Born in 1928 in

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from " Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains t ...

, Gussow grew up in a California landscape dominated by clear skies, orange groves, peach orchards and lines of eucalyptus trees. She graduated from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...

in Claremont, California in 1950, with a BA (pre-medical) and moved east to New York City. In 1956, she married

Alan Gussow Alan Gussow (May 8, 1931 – May 5, 1997) was an Americans, American artist, teacher, author and conservationist devoted to and inspired by the natural environment. Life and education Gussow was born May 8, 1931, in New York City but grew up in ...

(1931–1997). Gussow spent seven years as a researcher at

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and five years as a suburban wife and mother. After becoming a researcher at

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

’s Graduate School of Education, she returned to school in 1969 to earn an

M.Ed The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

and an Ed. D. in Nutrition Education from Columbia’s Teachers College. Shortly after graduating, she was hired by Teachers College to become the chair of the nutrition department, creating the legendary course, Nutritional Ecology. In 1971, she testified in front of a

Congressional Committee A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress). Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the ...

about the poor quality of the foods advertised to children on television. Her testimony was also published in the Journal of Nutrition Education scandalizing significant portions of her chosen profession. She has served in a number of capacities for various public, private, and governmental organizations, including chairing the Boards of the

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, the Society for Nutrition Education, the Jesse Smith Noyes Foundation, Rockland Farm Alliance and

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, serving two terms on the Food and Nutrition Board of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

, a term on the FDA's Food Advisory Committee and a term on the

National Organic Standards Board The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is an advisory board that makes recommendations to the United States Secretary of Agriculture on organic food and products. Members are appointed by the Secretary and these make recommendations, one of th ...

. Joan Dye Gussow, EdD, is the first Mary Swartz Rose Professor emerita and former chair of the Nutrition Education Program at

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

, where she has been a long-time analyst and critic of the U.S.

food system The term food system describes the interconnected systems and processes that influence nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients ...

. In her classic 1978 book ''The Feeding Web: Issues in Nutritional Ecology'', which tracked the environmental hazards of an increasingly globalizing food system, she foreshadowed by several decades the current interest in relocalizing the food supply. This manifesto has also made her one of the most influential people in food thinking. She has influenced the likes of

Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the Univers ...

Michael Pollan Michael Kevin Pollan (; born February 6, 1955) is an American author and journalist, who is currently Professor of the Practice Non-Fiction and the first Lewis K. Chan Arts Lecturer at Harvard University. Concurrently, he is the Knight Professo ...

, and

Marion Nestle Marion Nestle (born 1936) is an American molecular biologist, nutritionist, and public health advocate. She is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health Emerita at New York University. Her research examines s ...

. Her subsequent books include ''The Nutrition Debate'' (1986), ''Chicken Little, Tomato Sauce and Agriculture'' (1991), and ''This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader'' (2001), the latter based on the lessons learned from transitioning to growing virtually all of her own food at the home she shared with her husband in Piermont, New York; her husband, Alan, died while she was writing the book. Her 2010 book, ''Growing, Older'', is as its subtitle suggests, a garden-based collection of “reflections on death, life and vegetables”. In addition to her books, she has also produced a variety of articles on food-related topics. Gussow currently lives, writes, and grows organic vegetables on the west bank of the Hudson River. She is at work on a new book based on the complete destruction and miraculous resurrection of her beloved garden. Her tentative title: “Starting Over at 81”.

Bibliography

Books

* ''The Feeding Web: Issues in Nutritional Ecology.'' Berkley: Bull Pub Co. June 1978. . * ''The Nutrition Debate: Sorting Out Some Answers.'' Berkley: Bull Publishing Company. 1986. * ''Chicken Little, Tomato Sauce and Agriculture: Who Will Produce Tomorrow's Food?'' Bootstrap Press. 1991. * ''This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader.'' Chelsea Green Publishing. 2002. . * ''Growing, Older: A Chronicle of Death, Life, and Vegetables.'' Chelsea Green Publishing. 2010. .

Essays

* Gussow, Joan (May 1980)
“Nutrition education in a world of limits.”
50th ANZAAS Congress, Adelaide. * Gussow, Joan (Summer 1980)
"Who Pays the Piper"
''Teachers College Record''. * Gussow, Joan (November/December 1980).
Some Impractical Thoughts on Television & Nutritional Education.”
''Food Monitor.'' * Gussow, Joan (October/December 1980)
“The Science and Politics of Nutrition Education.”
''Journal of Nutrition Education''. * Gussow, Joan (March 1981)
“Growth, Truth, and Responsibility: Food is the Bottom Line”
''The Institute of Nutrition of the University of North Carolina''. * Gussow, Joan (May/June 1982)
"PCB’s for Breakfast & Other Problems of a Food System Gone Awry
. ''Food Monitor''. * Gussow, Joan (July/August 1983)
“Food: Wanting & Needing & Providing.”
''Food Monitor''. * Gussow, Joan (February 1985)
“Women and Food.”
''Country Journal''. * Gussow, Joan (June 29, 2009)
"The Many Wonders of Plants"
''Ecoliteracy''.

Biography

Bibliography

Books

Essays

References

External links