Hudson Valley Harvest: A Food Lover's Guide to Farms, Restaurants, and Open-Air Markets

Jan Greenberg's guide came in handy last weekend when I took my visiting family - kids, grandparents and everything in between - on a two day trip through the Hudson Valley. This is a great area but it is hard to get off the beaten track , particularly if you want to do more than just look at historic sites and state parks. Even though it was early in the season, this book got us to some beautiful farm and country sites; the restaurant recommendations were right on; and we actually learned a lot as well. Don't visit the Hudson Valley without this book.

This is THE book for anyone who lives, works, visits or is even thinking of a trip to the Hudson Valley, this bucolic but agriculturally threatened area, just an hour north of New York City. Jan Greenberg not only tells where to buy and eat these outstanding (and tasty) products but in a non-preachy way makes the reader understand why it is important to support these local farmers and producers. Her profiles and stories of the farmers who grow the fruits and vegetables and raise the livestock are truly heartfelt and gave me, and will do the same I think for anyone else who reads them, a new understanding of what is like to be a grower where everything, from weather to the economy, is out of your control. This is the high risk profession!! It makes Wall Street look safe.Above all, though, this is a book about enjoying food --buying it, serving it and tasting it. As Danny Meyer, owner of New York City's Union Square Cafe and other restaurants known for their support of local farms, writes - "This book deserves a place on the bookshelf (or in the glove compartment) of every itinerant aficionado of New York's bounty." He's right.

We bought this book before a weekend trip to the Hudson Valley and can't imagine traveling to the area without it. It has everything you would want to know about the farmers and what they are growing and producing. It tells you where and what to eat and how to use what you buy at a farmstand or local farmers market. It also made us really think about the people who grow the food. Their stories are uniformly interesting, even moving. The author has a pleasingly gentle touch when she writes about issues so much in the news today like organics, the humane treatment of animals and keeping small farms viable. Even if you aren't visiting the Hudson Valley, this is definitely a worthwhile book to have and read.