Novella Carpenter is an author, journalist and urban farmer. In addition to her farming and writing, She is an adjunct professor of Environmental Studies at the University of San Francisco, teaching urban agriculture and writing in the university's College of Arts and Sciences.
She is the author of Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. Her follow-up book is The Essential Urban Farmer, a "how-to" guide for a new generation of farmers. The book describes her extensive garden in Ghost Town, a run-down neighborhood about a mile from downtown Oakland, California. In 2014, she released her memoir Gone Feral: Tracking My Dad Through the Wild which was selected as a Library Journal Best Book of 2014 and a Northern California Book Award Nominee for Best Creative Nonfiction of 2014.
A child of back-to-the-land hippies, Novella Carpenter grew up in the rural areas of Idaho and Washington State. A biology and English major, she worked many odd jobs, including assassin bug handler, book editor, media projectionist, and, most recently, freelance journalist and memoirist.
For more than ten years, Carpenter has been farming in downtown Oakland, California, raising and living off of her own rabbits, chickens, bees, fruits, and vegetables. Her memoir is one of the most popular books on practical, sustainable living. Engaging and lively, it is a funny and frank look at what it means to live off the land and live a contemporary city life.
Carpenter studied under Michael Pollan, one of the leaders of the new food movement, at Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism for two years. A writer for Mother Jones, Food & Wine, Salon.com, and more, she shares stories of farming, food, the environment, and culture.
Novella Carpenter is the antidote to high-maintenance foodies. She started urban farming partially because eating organic local food can be prohibitively expensive and is often seen as an elitist pursuit. In Farm City, she writes, “as a poor scrounger with three low-paying jobs and no health insurance, I couldn’t afford the good stuff. Since I liked eating quality meat and have always had more skill than money, I decided to take matters into my own hands.” And so she did, raising turkeys, ducks, rabbits, and even pigs, using thrifty (and sometimes gross) techniques in order to make her pursuit sustainable. She wound up getting an education in gourmet food production along the way, learning how to make duck confit, pancetta, lardo, and roasted heritage turkey. As she will describe in her talk, she also got an education in how hungry her community was, and how she went about to mend that situation. Even the desperately poor people in her area rallied around the farm and helped create an oasis in a blighted neighborhood. Good food, as food justice advocates say, is for everyone. Novella will also talk about how the good food movement is shaping up in the U.S. and is reaching more people than ever before.
Novella Carpenter will present a slideshow about her urban farm, which has featured, over the years, turkeys, bees, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, and goats. Her misadventures in squat farming in the middle of downtown Oakland inspired The New York Times to call her book “easily the funniest, weirdest, most perversely provocative gardening book I’ve ever read. I couldn’t put it down.” In addition to reading from her book and giving a PowerPoint presentation about the evolution of her farm and her lessons learned, Novella will discuss the history of urban farming in America, the state of the movement today, and what we can learn from urban farmers around the world.
How to book Novella Carpenter?
Our booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure talent like Novella Carpenter for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment for over 15 years. The team at All American Entertainment represents and listens to the needs of organizations and corporations seeking to hire keynote speakers, celebrities or entertainers. Fill out a booking request form for Novella Carpenter, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get pricing information and check availability for Novella Carpenter or any other celebrity of your choice.
How much does it cost to book Novella Carpenter?
Booking fees for Novella Carpenter, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. Pricing often varies according to the circumstances, including the talent's schedule, market conditions, length of presentation, and the location of the event. Speaker fees listed on this website are intended to serve as a guideline only. In some cases, the actual quote may be above or below the stated range. For the most current fee to hire Novella Carpenter, please fill out the booking request form or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak with an experienced booking agent.
Who is the agent for Novella Carpenter?
All American Entertainment has successfully secured celebrity talent like Novella Carpenter for clients worldwide for more than 15 years. As a full-service talent booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Fill out the booking request form or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Novella Carpenter for your next private or corporate function.
What is a full-service talent booking agency?
All American Speakers is a "buyers agent" and exclusively represents talent buyers, meeting planners and event professionals, who are looking to secure celebrities and speakers for personal appearances, speaking engagements, corporate entertainment, public relations campaigns, commercials, or endorsements. We do not exclusively represent Novella Carpenter or claim ourselves as the exclusive booking agency, business manager, publicist, speakers bureau or management for Novella Carpenter or any other speaker or celebrity on this website. For more information on how we work and what makes us unique, please read the AAE Advantage.
Novella Carpenter is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics including Authors, Food & Beverage and Environment. The estimated speaking fee range to book Novella Carpenter for virtual events is $10,000 - $20,000. Please contact us for live event fees. Novella Carpenter generally travels from Oakland, CA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Will Allen, Sarah Frey and Alice Waters. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Novella Carpenter for an upcoming event.
Novella Carpenter is the antidote to high-maintenance foodies. She started urban farming partially because eating organic local food can be prohibitively expensive and is often seen as an elitist pursuit. In Farm City, she writes, “as a poor scrounger with three low-paying jobs and no health insurance, I couldn’t afford the good stuff. Since I liked eating quality meat and have always had more skill than money, I decided to take matters into my own hands.” And so she did, raising turkeys, ducks, rabbits, and even pigs, using thrifty (and sometimes gross) techniques in order to make her pursuit sustainable. She wound up getting an education in gourmet food production along the way, learning how to make duck confit, pancetta, lardo, and roasted heritage turkey. As she will describe in her talk, she also got an education in how hungry her community was, and how she went about to mend that situation. Even the desperately poor people in her area rallied around the farm and helped create an oasis in a blighted neighborhood. Good food, as food justice advocates say, is for everyone. Novella will also talk about how the good food movement is shaping up in the U.S. and is reaching more people than ever before.
Novella Carpenter will present a slideshow about her urban farm, which has featured, over the years, turkeys, bees, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, and goats. Her misadventures in squat farming in the middle of downtown Oakland inspired The New York Times to call her book “easily the funniest, weirdest, most perversely provocative gardening book I’ve ever read. I couldn’t put it down.” In addition to reading from her book and giving a PowerPoint presentation about the evolution of her farm and her lessons learned, Novella will discuss the history of urban farming in America, the state of the movement today, and what we can learn from urban farmers around the world.
Sorry everyone, have to cancel Friday and Saturday's open farm. My dad is sick and I am flying to Idaho tomorrow. View more on Novella Carpenter's website ».
Novella Carpenter grew up in rural Idaho and Washington State. She majored in biology and English at the University of Washington in Seattle. While atten...
How to book Novella Carpenter?
Our booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure talent like Novella Carpenter for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment for over 15 years. The team at All American Entertainment represents and listens to the needs of organizations and corporations seeking to hire keynote speakers, celebrities or entertainers. Fill out a booking request form for Novella Carpenter, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get pricing information and check availability for Novella Carpenter or any other celebrity of your choice.
How much does it cost to book Novella Carpenter?
Booking fees for Novella Carpenter, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. Pricing often varies according to the circumstances, including the talent's schedule, market conditions, length of presentation, and the location of the event. Speaker fees listed on this website are intended to serve as a guideline only. In some cases, the actual quote may be above or below the stated range. For the most current fee to hire Novella Carpenter, please fill out the booking request form or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak with an experienced booking agent.
Who is the agent for Novella Carpenter?
All American Entertainment has successfully secured celebrity talent like Novella Carpenter for clients worldwide for more than 15 years. As a full-service talent booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Fill out the booking request form or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Novella Carpenter for your next private or corporate function.
What is a full-service talent booking agency?
All American Speakers is a "buyers agent" and exclusively represents talent buyers, meeting planners and event professionals, who are looking to secure celebrities and speakers for personal appearances, speaking engagements, corporate entertainment, public relations campaigns, commercials, or endorsements. We do not exclusively represent Novella Carpenter or claim ourselves as the exclusive booking agency, business manager, publicist, speakers bureau or management for Novella Carpenter or any other speaker or celebrity on this website. For more information on how we work and what makes us unique, please read the AAE Advantage.
Novella Carpenter is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics including Authors, Food & Beverage and Environment. The estimated speaking fee range to book Novella Carpenter for virtual events is $10,000 - $20,000. Please contact us for live event fees. Novella Carpenter generally travels from Oakland, CA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Will Allen, Sarah Frey and Alice Waters. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Novella Carpenter for an upcoming event.
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