Learning to Eat Locally: Berkshire Recipes for All Seasons is a vegetarian cookbook based on the local produce available in each season. It was created with the support of the Center for Environmental Studies at Williams College and Caretaker Farm in Williamstown. By highlighting local agriculture and offering practical instructions for participation (i.e., recipes), this non-profit, community-based project aims to promote awareness of the connection between community and landscape in the Berkshires. The 152-page paperback book contains 85 recipes, an introduction, a short pantry guide, basic produce storage techniques and dates of local availability, a comprehensive list relevant community organizations and sources for local produce (farms, farm stands, and markets), bibliographic information, and an index.

Farms to Forest: A Naturalist's Guide to the Ecology and Human History of the Hopkins Memorial Forest, a book conceived by students in early 1994, was published in the summer of 1995. The students, members of the Williams Naturalists, asked CES for support for a field guide to be used by those interested in learning about the landscape of the Williamstown area, including a guided tour through the Hopkins Forest.

The writing group registered for an independent study course in the fall of 1994, and drafted the book with help from faculty in the departments of Biology, Geology, Chemistry, and English. CES then brought the manuscript to a typographer teaching a Winter Study course in January 1995, who agreed to use the design of the book as a case study for his course. A visiting professional magazine writer read the manuscript and suggested editorial changes. The book design was completed by a Williams student who took the winter study course. CES advanced funds for the project, primarily the printing.

Farms to Forest includes a map of the Hopkins Forest, compiled from a detailed survey of the Forest boundaries in 1992-94. That map is drawn from an electronic database that forms the foundation of a geographic information system now under construction, which will bring together six decades of observations of the Forest.

To order a copy of Learning to Eat Locally by mail, please send $12.00 ($9 + $3 shipping); to order a copy of Farms to Forest, please send $11.00 ($8.95 + $2.05 shipping) with your address to:

CES/Williams College
Kellogg House
P.O. Box 632
Williamstown MA, 01267

If you have any questions please call Sandy Zepka at 413-597- 2346, fax: 413-597-3489, or email szepka@williams.edu