Sustainability Book Club
The Office for Sustainability hosts a monthly book club to explore books that focus on the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability. Please email sustainability@richmond.edu if you are interested in joining the discussion or learning more. Please check with Boatwright Library for availability of each book. The library has arranged for the books to be available on library Kindles when possible as well. All participants are invited to bring a bag lunch. All faculty, staff, and students are welcome.
May 2013: Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System by Raj Patel
"Stuffed and Starved give an up-to-the-minute detailing of how the world has perversely come to have over a billion people starving and even more people that that who are overweight. To find out how we got to this point... Patel launched a worldwide investigation into the global food network. It took him from the colossal supermarkets of California to India's wrecked paddy-fields, to Africa's bankrupt coffee farms and... to some of the biggest issues of our day: land grabbing in Africa, spikes in diabetes rates worldwide, dramatic new Chinese food policies, climate change, and the return of the 'food riot.' ...Going beyond ethical consumerism, Patel explains... the steps to regain control of the global food economy, stop the exploitation of both farmers and consumers, and rebalance global sustenance."
Discussion Date and Location: Wednesday, May 22, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. in the Original Westhampton Deanery Building - Living Room
June 2013: Storms of my Grandchildren by James Hansen
"Hasen paints a devastating but all-to-realistic picture of what will happen in our children's and grandchildren's lifetimes if we follow the course we're on. But he is also an optimist, showing that there is still time to take the urgent, strong action that is needed—just barely.
Discussion Date and Location: Wednesday, June 19, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. in the Original Westhampton Deanery Building - Living Room
July 2013: Rebuild the Dream by Van Jones
"[G]reen economy pioneer Van Jones reflects on his journey from grassroots outsider to White House insider. Jones argues that we must make our economy respect the 99% and work for the 100%, not just the 1%."
Discussion Date and Location: Wednesday, July 17, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. in the Original Westhampton Deanery Building - Living Room
Previous Books:
May 2012: Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman
Watch this excerpt from Thomas Friedman's talk at the opening of the Carole Weinstein International Center.
June 2012: Radical Simplicity by Jim Merkel
July 2012: Love Canal Revisited: Race, Class, and Gender in Environmental Activism by Elizabeth D. Blum
August 2012: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
September 2012: Climate Cover-Up by James Hoggan
October 2012: Living Downstream: An Ecologist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment by Sandra Steingraber
November 2012: Tomatoland by Barry Estabrook
December 2012/January 2013: Strange as this Weather Has Been a novel by Ann Pancake
February 2013: Our Choice by Al Gore (This book is also available as an interactive app through iTunes.)
March 2013: The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard
April 2013: A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold