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Real Dirt: An Ex-Industrial Farmer's Guide to Sustainable Eating
Real Dirt is a groundbreaking book for any reader interested in learning more about where food comes from. Harry Stoddart shares years of experience and knowledge in his quirky dissection of agriculture and what we eat. Among his many achievements, he has developed a farming system he believes is the starting point for genuinely sustainable agriculture. A sixth-generation farmer, Harry bought his parent’s swine confinement animal feeding operation two decades ago. He converted the farm to be a certified organic system and then to a new one he feels will transform the way we raise and grow our food. He shares this story and more with readers in Real Dirt: An Ex-industrial Farmer’s Guide to Sustainable Eating.
Harry tackles the major food industry problems, delving into the science and economic issues surrounding sustainable farming. He navigates the “whys” and “hows” of GMOs, resistance-building doses of antibiotics, pesticides, and confinement animal housing, while elaborating on how he damaged the environment more in his first years as an organic farmer than as a conventional farmer.
Harry skillfully educates eaters about how they can individually participate in and demand sustainable agriculture. Real Dirt challenges consumers to choose a better future for food production.
“I found it very persuasive on many points. Also well written and clear and funny. Congratulations-- it's an important contribution to the conversation.”
- Michael Pollan, Author of Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation (2013) and New York Times bestseller Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual (2010)
“The most important person to read the message contained in these pages is every consumer, and that's you! Your life will be better for it….You may be shocked but you won't be disappointed.”
— Elwood Quinn, La Ferme Quinn, Rare Breeds Canada
“[Real Dirt] provides the casual reader with a thoughtful and deeper understanding as to how society can have an impact on the way our food is produced…. Read it – you will be informed, entertained and find a personal role for your involvement in our food production practices.”
— Dr. Frank Ingratta, Retired Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ontario
“Real Dirt is a thoughtful and well researched look at our agriculture and food system…Real Dirt is a must read for anyone who is actually interested in learning about and discussing how to improve our food system for the long term.”
— Rob Hannam, Owner, Synthesis Agri-Food Network
Harry tackles the major food industry problems, delving into the science and economic issues surrounding sustainable farming. He navigates the “whys” and “hows” of GMOs, resistance-building doses of antibiotics, pesticides, and confinement animal housing, while elaborating on how he damaged the environment more in his first years as an organic farmer than as a conventional farmer.
Harry skillfully educates eaters about how they can individually participate in and demand sustainable agriculture. Real Dirt challenges consumers to choose a better future for food production.
“I found it very persuasive on many points. Also well written and clear and funny. Congratulations-- it's an important contribution to the conversation.”
- Michael Pollan, Author of Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation (2013) and New York Times bestseller Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual (2010)
“The most important person to read the message contained in these pages is every consumer, and that's you! Your life will be better for it….You may be shocked but you won't be disappointed.”
— Elwood Quinn, La Ferme Quinn, Rare Breeds Canada
“[Real Dirt] provides the casual reader with a thoughtful and deeper understanding as to how society can have an impact on the way our food is produced…. Read it – you will be informed, entertained and find a personal role for your involvement in our food production practices.”
— Dr. Frank Ingratta, Retired Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ontario
“Real Dirt is a thoughtful and well researched look at our agriculture and food system…Real Dirt is a must read for anyone who is actually interested in learning about and discussing how to improve our food system for the long term.”
— Rob Hannam, Owner, Synthesis Agri-Food Network
220 pages, Paperback
First published September 17, 2013
6 people are currently reading
284 people want to read
About the author
Harry Stoddart
3 books9 followersHarry Stoddart is a former management consultant, farmer, sustainability strategist, and author. He grew up on a farm in rural Canada, where his mother sparked his love of nature by helping him catch tadpoles and butterflies—and his love of reading by making sure he was always surrounded by books. That early blend of curiosity and connection to the land laid the foundation for a career at the intersection of science, systems, and storytelling.
Harry has worked for a Fortune 10 tech company, a Big Four accounting firm, advised governments on agricultural policy, and managed thousands of acres as an organic and regenerative farmer. His first nonfiction book, Real Dirt: An Ex-Industrial Farmer’s Guide to Sustainable Eating, offered an unflinching look at modern agriculture and its alternatives.
His debut novel, Catalyst for Chaos, fuses cutting-edge climate science, AI ethics, and geopolitical intrigue into a gripping speculative thriller.
Harry now divides his time between consulting, writing, and his lakefront property, which serves as both sanctuary and creative retreat, nestled among oak trees, deer, curious chipmunks, and a cacophony of songbirds.
Harry has worked for a Fortune 10 tech company, a Big Four accounting firm, advised governments on agricultural policy, and managed thousands of acres as an organic and regenerative farmer. His first nonfiction book, Real Dirt: An Ex-Industrial Farmer’s Guide to Sustainable Eating, offered an unflinching look at modern agriculture and its alternatives.
His debut novel, Catalyst for Chaos, fuses cutting-edge climate science, AI ethics, and geopolitical intrigue into a gripping speculative thriller.
Harry now divides his time between consulting, writing, and his lakefront property, which serves as both sanctuary and creative retreat, nestled among oak trees, deer, curious chipmunks, and a cacophony of songbirds.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 24, 2013
I've just finished reading Harry Stoddart's book, Real Dirt, published by Iguana Press.
It's a clear book, but I won't say it's uncomplicated. Uncomplicated would have been the easy way out, choosing from the current binary of organic farming vs industrial farming, in terms of prescribing where we should be pointing for the future.
He doesn't take the easy way out, but provides good food for thought about GMOs, peak phosphorus ( bet you didn't know about that), the omnivorousness of chickens and pigs, and above all else, what we need to do to ensure the earth can sustain us for generations to come.
Because, in the long run (and its all about the long run) we're talking about our grand children's future, and the future of their grandchildren, and what we can only hope will be uncountable generations beyond them.
His book can impact all of us; our choices in what we eat, what we grow, and how we grow it.
Add Harry Stoddart's voice to those you might already be familiar with: Joel Salatin, Michael Pollan, and Wendell Berry.
A good and important read. It will be a gift for some friends and relatives this year.
It's a clear book, but I won't say it's uncomplicated. Uncomplicated would have been the easy way out, choosing from the current binary of organic farming vs industrial farming, in terms of prescribing where we should be pointing for the future.
He doesn't take the easy way out, but provides good food for thought about GMOs, peak phosphorus ( bet you didn't know about that), the omnivorousness of chickens and pigs, and above all else, what we need to do to ensure the earth can sustain us for generations to come.
Because, in the long run (and its all about the long run) we're talking about our grand children's future, and the future of their grandchildren, and what we can only hope will be uncountable generations beyond them.
His book can impact all of us; our choices in what we eat, what we grow, and how we grow it.
Add Harry Stoddart's voice to those you might already be familiar with: Joel Salatin, Michael Pollan, and Wendell Berry.
A good and important read. It will be a gift for some friends and relatives this year.
September 24, 2019
Supports all that I've been reading to move closer to eating nutritiously. Also toward making choices that move us in the direction of a healthy world.
November 4, 2013
status Update
By Glen Lalond
Harry Stoddart’s Real Dirt book launch made me very excited.
Written by Glen Lalond on October 21, 2013
Before the presentation I had a chance to greet most of Harry’s family. I have known Harry for a few years now. When I saw him, it was like meeting a brother. I agree with so much of what he says. In many ways Harry personifies what the people in the Paleo movement call the ‘right type of farmer’.
To answer the question “what is the right type of farmer” requires some knowledge of what farming is, what’s good and bad about what a farmer does, and being able to state correct assumptions required to pronounce yourself on the sustainable future for agriculture. Who better to take on these important questions than an agricultural economist, with two university degrees, years of farming under his belt, and sustainability as a primary focus?
Consumers in Canada spend upwards of 110 billion dollars on food. Most of them wouldn’t know the difference between tilling and no-till farming, or that monoculture is the antithesis of grazing. What the customer needs to realize is that “in almost every terrestrial system you will find a large herbivore. We have to understand that they play an incredibly important and pivotal role in moistening, nourishing and enriching the life of our soils.
In the short time Harry had to speak, he emphasized the critical importance of building organic matter in the soil. Organic matter is difficult to build up after it has been lost, especially in a system that involves continuous cropping with annual crops. The soil shouldn’t be disturbed, as this destroys, depletes and erodes the very soil we need to grow food.
Harry Stoddart is one of the first certified organic farmers in Canada to experiment with no-till production. He alluded to the various lessons he learnt along the way.
He told us to imagine the type of scenery we would be comfortable in. It doesn’t involve tillage, erosion, pesticides and herbicides spread by all kinds of gas guzzling farm equipment and tools, no matter how technically advanced they are.
The scenery would instead be lush and green, and pretty much undisturbed. He explained the sobering fact that it takes “about two centuries of undisturbed soil building by natural processes to rebuild the soil lost during the career of one farmer.” We are losing about two million acres of arable land to today’s conventional and organic tilling. We are also losing much of our top soil. In southern Ontario we have about six inches of topsoil. We are losing four inches of it every century with the present agricultural and mainly conventional farming and fertilizing methods, yet “sustainability must be erosion-free”. For sustainability we need a “living undisturbed cover crop.” this involves having perennial crops, not seeing bare soil for half of the year, nor erosion cuts across fields.
Harry explained in wonderful imagery that the before-and-after of healing soils includes going back to cooking at home, and knowing the farmer and the farm that sells you the food, He added that the transformation which must occur has to include eating perennials as a way of effectively reducing tillage. He pointed out that soil is disturbed in ‘no-till’ farming. It is severely affected by tilling.
Fence rows around portioned fields should be combined in the biodynamic of soil rebuilding. The fence lines should include fruit and nut trees (not peanuts), and they should not be monoculture or rows upon rows of mono-cropping either.
What underscored his whole presentation is that you cannot have healthy farm lands without ruminants. He insisted that as consumers we have to be particular about the meat we eat. Grass-fed and pastured animals are critical pieces of the puzzle. “2/3 of the agricultural land is brittle. It cannot be tilled”. This whole transition process eventually makes carbon capture efficient.
In the past few weeks we have seen the leadership of our indigenous peoples in the protests against fracking. Harry says fracking contaminates, destroys, and renders water and soils unusable at a time when agriculture is unsustainable. He says that proprietary info on the chemicals used for fracking makes things untenable.
Before Harry spoke I commended him on the time and effort he put into writing this very important book. I told him that this will put added pressure on him and his family moving forward, as he will be on a speaking circuit. He said that he wrote the book because things have to change. He said he wrote the book because someone has to get this message out.
Harry Stoddart is a friend in deeds
By Glen Lalond
Harry Stoddart’s Real Dirt book launch made me very excited.
Written by Glen Lalond on October 21, 2013
Before the presentation I had a chance to greet most of Harry’s family. I have known Harry for a few years now. When I saw him, it was like meeting a brother. I agree with so much of what he says. In many ways Harry personifies what the people in the Paleo movement call the ‘right type of farmer’.
To answer the question “what is the right type of farmer” requires some knowledge of what farming is, what’s good and bad about what a farmer does, and being able to state correct assumptions required to pronounce yourself on the sustainable future for agriculture. Who better to take on these important questions than an agricultural economist, with two university degrees, years of farming under his belt, and sustainability as a primary focus?
Consumers in Canada spend upwards of 110 billion dollars on food. Most of them wouldn’t know the difference between tilling and no-till farming, or that monoculture is the antithesis of grazing. What the customer needs to realize is that “in almost every terrestrial system you will find a large herbivore. We have to understand that they play an incredibly important and pivotal role in moistening, nourishing and enriching the life of our soils.
In the short time Harry had to speak, he emphasized the critical importance of building organic matter in the soil. Organic matter is difficult to build up after it has been lost, especially in a system that involves continuous cropping with annual crops. The soil shouldn’t be disturbed, as this destroys, depletes and erodes the very soil we need to grow food.
Harry Stoddart is one of the first certified organic farmers in Canada to experiment with no-till production. He alluded to the various lessons he learnt along the way.
He told us to imagine the type of scenery we would be comfortable in. It doesn’t involve tillage, erosion, pesticides and herbicides spread by all kinds of gas guzzling farm equipment and tools, no matter how technically advanced they are.
The scenery would instead be lush and green, and pretty much undisturbed. He explained the sobering fact that it takes “about two centuries of undisturbed soil building by natural processes to rebuild the soil lost during the career of one farmer.” We are losing about two million acres of arable land to today’s conventional and organic tilling. We are also losing much of our top soil. In southern Ontario we have about six inches of topsoil. We are losing four inches of it every century with the present agricultural and mainly conventional farming and fertilizing methods, yet “sustainability must be erosion-free”. For sustainability we need a “living undisturbed cover crop.” this involves having perennial crops, not seeing bare soil for half of the year, nor erosion cuts across fields.
Harry explained in wonderful imagery that the before-and-after of healing soils includes going back to cooking at home, and knowing the farmer and the farm that sells you the food, He added that the transformation which must occur has to include eating perennials as a way of effectively reducing tillage. He pointed out that soil is disturbed in ‘no-till’ farming. It is severely affected by tilling.
Fence rows around portioned fields should be combined in the biodynamic of soil rebuilding. The fence lines should include fruit and nut trees (not peanuts), and they should not be monoculture or rows upon rows of mono-cropping either.
What underscored his whole presentation is that you cannot have healthy farm lands without ruminants. He insisted that as consumers we have to be particular about the meat we eat. Grass-fed and pastured animals are critical pieces of the puzzle. “2/3 of the agricultural land is brittle. It cannot be tilled”. This whole transition process eventually makes carbon capture efficient.
In the past few weeks we have seen the leadership of our indigenous peoples in the protests against fracking. Harry says fracking contaminates, destroys, and renders water and soils unusable at a time when agriculture is unsustainable. He says that proprietary info on the chemicals used for fracking makes things untenable.
Before Harry spoke I commended him on the time and effort he put into writing this very important book. I told him that this will put added pressure on him and his family moving forward, as he will be on a speaking circuit. He said that he wrote the book because things have to change. He said he wrote the book because someone has to get this message out.
Harry Stoddart is a friend in deeds
January 14, 2014
Real Dirt does an excellent job of explaining the issues of industrial agriculture and opportunities for fixing the system. The book is a good introduction for those new to the subject, and the personal stories make it relatable and easy to follow. It also provides new information and ideas, as well as courses of action, for those who are already informed and passionate on the subject.
Stoddart takes a holistic approach that demonstrates how widespread the issues stemming from conventional agriculture are, and the devastating impact on the planet. Looking at the issue with a long time scale, Stoddart makes it clear that continuing on the same path will lead to destruction. Without preaching, Stoddart explains the problems from multiple perspectives and offers solutions for consumers and farmers. His passion is evident throughout the book. The blend of personal stories with extensive research make it an informative and entertaining read on an important subject.
[Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway but this has not influenced my opinion.]
Stoddart takes a holistic approach that demonstrates how widespread the issues stemming from conventional agriculture are, and the devastating impact on the planet. Looking at the issue with a long time scale, Stoddart makes it clear that continuing on the same path will lead to destruction. Without preaching, Stoddart explains the problems from multiple perspectives and offers solutions for consumers and farmers. His passion is evident throughout the book. The blend of personal stories with extensive research make it an informative and entertaining read on an important subject.
[Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway but this has not influenced my opinion.]
September 5, 2014
I got this book because the author is relatively local. But I figured since I've read a lot of Joel Salatin and others like him, there wouldn't really be any new information in it.
I actually learned quite a lot of new information from the book. Stoddart has a very balanced, pragmatic approach, with clear -- and persuasive -- explanations of his reasons.
That said, I found the intros to a number of his chapters kind of clunky. His anecdotes were sometimes weakly connected to the topic or concept he was trying to convey, and just didn't work for me. But they were relatively short and his style is so personable and smart that I forgive him.
I definitely recommend the book.
I actually learned quite a lot of new information from the book. Stoddart has a very balanced, pragmatic approach, with clear -- and persuasive -- explanations of his reasons.
That said, I found the intros to a number of his chapters kind of clunky. His anecdotes were sometimes weakly connected to the topic or concept he was trying to convey, and just didn't work for me. But they were relatively short and his style is so personable and smart that I forgive him.
I definitely recommend the book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews