By Charlie Sahner
Organic gardening superstar Maria Rodale will visit the Stockton Farmers Market in Stockton, N.J., on Dec. 3 to promote her new cookbook “Scratch.” Co-hosted by Farley’s Bookshop of New Hope, Rodale will be signing copies of the book.
Simply put, Rodale is a big deal. She represents the third generation of a family that helped lead the “real food” movement long before it was a trend, and runs the world’s largest independent publisher of health, wellness, and environmental content.
Rodale is also the author of numerous books, most notably 2010’s “Organic Manifesto: How Organic Farming Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe.” Her newest work, “Scratch: Home Cooking for Everyone Made Simple, Fun and Totally Delicious,” is also her first cookbook.
“It’s based on the delicious recipes and remembrances that shaped her life and her food journey—including her farm-to-table roots and her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage,” say promoters. “Written in her warm, signature style, Rodale encourages readers to roll up their sleeves and see the kitchen as a place to ‘experiment, learn, make a mess, and laugh about it.’”
Her father, Jerome Irving Rodale, grew up on New York City’s Lower East Side, changing his name from “Cohen,” as was typical among immigrant families. Rodale was a Renaissance man and visionary.
He founded Rodale Press in 1930 to sell books and magazines, and began promoting a healthy and active lifestyle centered around organically grown foods, and founded the Rodale Organic Gardening Experimental Farm in 1940. Rodale Press began publishing Organic Farming and Gardening magazine in 1942. He also created Prevention Magazine in 1950, which emphasized preventing disease rather than curing it, along with the dietary return to whole grains, unrefined carbohydrates, eating less meat, using herbal medicines and dietary supplements, and breastfeeding.
Maria Rodale will be signing copies of “Scratch” from 11-2 on Dec. 3 at Stockton Farmers Market at 19 Bridge St. in Stockton. Seems like a neat gift for the healthy eater in your life, or yourself.
