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by Amanda Pike (Author)
Florida's Food Forest Cookbook makes creating healthy, easy-to-prepare, zero-waste meals straightforward. For those looking to convert their lawns and backyards into food forests (using the author's Transforming Florida Yards), this companion cookbook offers 400 sweet and savory recipes and menus for 20 easy-to-grow, sustainable plants that thrive without pesticides, herbicides, toxins, or additives.
The included recipes--containing no more than six ingredients--are quick and easy to prepare, helping Floridians improve their well-being. Florida faces high rates of malnourishment and chronic disease. Approximately one in three children is overweight or obese, and one in six has a developmental disability--both conditions can be exacerbated by poor diet and sedentary lifestyles. If current trends continue, more than half of Florida's population is projected to be overweight or obese by 2030, with a similar proportion expected to be living with prediabetes or diabetes, posing a significant public health challenge. Florida's Food Forest Cookbook is a back-to-basics manifesto that empowers home gardeners to enhance their quality of life and culinary knowledge while improving both their health and their landscapes.Author Biography
Amanda Pike, PhD, ATR-BC, is a board-certified art therapist, professional educator, Florida-certified educational leader, and past president of the Florida Art Therapy Association. Dr. Pike grew up spending summers exploring her grandparents' farmland and lived in Cuernavaca, Mexico, for multiple years, working for a holistic wellness company. During this time, she learned to grow and use plants to create health and beauty products. During her bachelor's and master's degrees, she lived and worked on farms, bringing to her writing the groundedness of firsthand experience. She currently owns a two-acre permaculture farm in Jupiter, Florida, where she manages her food forest, offers tours, and hosts 4-H groups. Her previous book, Eco-Art Therapy in Practice, published internationally by Routledge, highlights the importance of growing and using plants in educational and therapeutic settings. Her most recent book, Transforming Florida Yards, provides 200 plant profile cheat sheets to help gardeners create food forests with ease.
