powerHouse Books Launch: Organic by Francesco Mastalia

Photographer Francesco Mastalia launches a beautiful new collection celebrating the epicenter for the local, organic, sustainable food movement: the Hudson Valley. He’ll be joined by Ken Greene of the Hudson Valley Seed Library, Jacob Diaz of Slow Roots Farm, and the Executive Chef of the Omega Institute Robert Turner for a conversation about the growth of the organic movement.

About Organic: 

The Hudson Valley, New York has become an epicenter for the local, organic, sustainable food movement. With its rich agricultural land, the awareness for sustainable living, and the growing demand for local, organic food, the farm-to-table, locavore movement has become a way of life. Organic: Farmers & Chefs of the Hudson Valley spotlights the region at the forefront of this movement. The book features the dedicated farmers who are committed to growing and producing food using sustainable methods, and the chefs who echo their beliefs and pay homage to the food they produce, including such notables as:

• Amy Hepworth of Hepworth Farms, works on a 7th generation family-owned farm

• Dan Barber, chef and co-owner of Blue Hill at Stone Barns was named one of the world’s most influential people in 2009 in Time’s annual “Time 100”

• Zakary Pelaccio, owner of Fish & Game, is famous for building Brooklyn’s first gastropub and pioneering NYC’s nose-to-tail culinary movement

• Ken Greene at the Hudson Valley Seed Library provides many local producers with heirloom and open-pollinated garden seeds and protects 15,000 years of agricultural history!

• Steffen Schneider at the 400-acre biodynamic Hawthorne Valley Farm has helped educate over 13,000 kids since 1972 as part of the farm’s Visiting Students Program

The over 100 portraits of the farmers and chefs of the Hudson Valley were photographed using the wet-plate collodion process, a technique developed in the 1850s when the art of photography was in its infancy. With the use of a large format wooden camera and brass lens, glass plates are hand coated to produce one-of-a-kind ambrotype images. The amber toned images remind us of a time when the cultivation of land was a manual process that linked the farmer directly to the soil. “Organic” is one of the most misunderstood and often misused words describing food today. In narrating their own stories, the farmers and chefs share their philosophy about what it means to grow and live organically and sustainably. “Organic” is not just about growing and producing food, it is about the life of the planet. It is about preserving an agricultural tradition that will safeguard farmland for future generations.

About the Author: 

Francesco Mastalia has traveled the world, photographing tribal, religious, spiritual, and indigenous peoples. His book Dreads, published by Workman Artisan, is a photo documentary on the history of dreadlocks. The book is now in its seventh printing, sold worldwide, and includes an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker.