Women in agriculture are sprouting up in record numbers, but they face a host of distinct challenges and opportunities. Blending What Color is Your Parachute -style career advice with sustainable agriculture practices viewed through a gender lens, Soil Sisters provides a wealth of invaluable information for fledging female farming entrepreneurs. The first manual of its kind, this authoritative and comprehensive blueprint presents practical considerations from a woman's perspective, covering everything from business planning to tool use and ergonomics to integrating children and family in farm and field operations. Key topics Finding your mid-life encore careers, young and beginning, Boomerangs, and more From concept to diversified farm start-up basics Resources, grants, and loans available especially for women farmers. Soil Sisters also contains case studies, inspirational ideas, and savvy advice nuggets from over one hundred successful women farmers and advocates. Targeted specifically to members of the fastest-growing demographic in local agriculture, this highly readable guide is practical and pragmatic "Chick Lit" for today's food scene. Lisa Kivirist is Senior Fellow, Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems at the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and a national advocate for women in sustainable agriculture. She founded and directs the Rural Women's Project of the Midwest Organic Sustainable Education Service, an award-winning initiative championing female farmers and food-based entrepreneurs. Together with her husband, John Ivanko, Lisa is co-author of Homemade for Sale, Farmstead Chef, ECOpreneuring, and Rural Renaissance . Lisa and her family run Inn Serendipity Farm and Bed & Breakfast, completely powered by the wind and sun in the rolling green hills of southern Wisconsin.
Author
As a pioneer in the cottage food industry, both covering the national movement for publications as well as championing for the passage of a “Cookie Bill” in Wisconsin, Lisa Kivirist is on the cusp of the latest trends. Lisa and her husband and co-author, John D. Ivanko, are food-loving entrepreneurs. Together, they’ve authored Homemade for Sale, Farmstead Chef, ECOpreneuring and Rural Renaissance. Lisa is a regular presenter at numerous national conferences and library, university and community events. She is a recognized spokesperson for the national sustainable agriculture and farm-to-table movement, featured in the New York Times, USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, MSNBC and on various radio programs across the country, including Martha Stewart Radio, the Sirius Satellite network and “Good Food” on KCRW. Lisa is a distinguished Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow and a national advocate and leader for women in sustainable agriculture. She initiated and directs the Rural Women’s Project of the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (mosesorganic.org/projects/rural-women...), an award-winning initiative providing resources and networking for women farmers and food-based entrepreneurs. As a freelance journalist, she has contributed to Mother Earth News, Urban Farm, Mother Earth Living, Hobby Farms and Natural Awakenings. Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko are innkeepers of the award-winning Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, completely powered by renewable energy. Their B&B features local, seasonal vegetarian cuisine prepared with ingredients harvested from the Inn’s organic gardens. For more, see innserendipity.com. They also write and speak about culinary travel and ecotourism trends. Lisa and John share their organic farm in Browntown, Wisconsin, with their son, a ten-kilowatt Bergey wind turbine and millions of ladybugs.
