John Seymour is known and respected as "The Father of Self-Sufficiency." Educated in England and Switzerland, his worldwide experience of husbandry and the benefits of rural life is unparalleled. After studying at an agricultural college, he worked on farms in England, and then spent some 10 years in Africa, where he managed a sheep and cattle farm and acted as a livestock officer for a veterinary department. His most influential contribution has been to live, teach, and promote self-sufficiency, first on five acres, and then on 62 acres, and then in Ireland, where the School of Self-Sufficiency that he established with Angela Ashe attracts new recruits in increasing numbers. John Seymour was an active campaigner for the countryside and the environment. He died on his old farm in Wales, where he had been living with his family, in 2004.About the Foreword writer:Alice Waters is a chef, author, and food activist, and the founder and owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California. She has been a champion of local, sustainable agriculture for more than four decades. In 1995 she founded the Edible Schoolyard Project, which advocates for a free school lunch for all children and a sustainable food curriculum in every public school. In 2015 she was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama, proving that eating is a political act, and that the table is a powerful means to social justice and positive change. Alice is the author of 15 books, including The Art of Simple Food I & II, and a memoir, Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook.
