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Novella Carpenter

Journalist & Best-selling Author of "Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer"

Journalist & Best-selling Author of "Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer"

Travels From Travels From:
Oakland, CA, USA
Speaking Fee Speaking Fee:
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Novella Carpenter Biography

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.

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Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 01/04/2024.

Novella Carpenter Speaking Topics

  • Food and Community

    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.

  • Urban Farming: One Woman’s Story

    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.

Novella Carpenter Videos

  • One City, One Book with author Novella Carpenter - YouTube
    Carpenter is the author of the best-selling Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. She attended UC Berkeley's Graduate school of ...
  • UO Today with Novella Carpenter - YouTube
    Novella Carpenter, a writer and urban farmer in Oakland, California. Her memoir Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer was published ...
  • Novella Carpenter in conversation with Michael Krasny - YouTube
    The culminating event for the 2014 One Book One Marin selection, Farm City, April 30th held at Dominican University of California.

Novella Carpenter Books

  • Gone Feral: Tracking My Dad Through the Wild
    Gone Feral: Tracking My Dad Through the Wild
  • The Essential Urban Farmer
    The Essential Urban Farmer
  • Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer
    Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer

FAQs on booking Novella Carpenter

  • How do I book Novella Carpenter to speak at my event?

    Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Novella Carpenter for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page to check availability 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 speaking fee information and check availability for Novella Carpenter or any other speaker of your choice.
  • What are the speaker fees for Novella Carpenter

    Speaking fees for Novella Carpenter, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Novella Carpenter are for live events and for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Novella Carpenter, click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.
  • What topics does Novella Carpenter speak about?

    Novella Carpenter is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Agriculture, Authors, Biology, Earth Day, Environment, Environmental Science, Food & Beverage, Lifestyle, Sustainability, Virtual.
  • Where does Novella Carpenter travel from?

    Novella Carpenter generally travels from Oakland, CA, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.
  • Who is Novella Carpenter’s agent?

    AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully booked keynote speakers like Novella Carpenter for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker 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. Please click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, 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.
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    AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Novella Carpenter or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.
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Novella Carpenter is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Food and Community and Urban Farming: One Woman’s Story. The estimated speaking fee range to book Novella Carpenter for your event is available upon request. 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, Gary Hirshberg, Sarah Frey, Alice Waters and Kate Kavanaugh. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Novella Carpenter for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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