Montgomery County, Maryland’s 93,000-acre Agricultural Reserve is a nationally recognized model of farmland and open space preservation, and a thriving, bountiful place. Its buildings, landscapes and people tell diverse American stories of independence, agriculture, slavery, technology, and culture.  

Bread & Beauty, A Year in Montgomery County’s Agricultural Reserve captures a real sense of place. Its recipes have been handed down and developed from the particulars of this place and its people. They are a legacy of family and labor, just as the Reserve is a legacy of stewardship we hand to the future.  We hope the book communicates the importance of stewardship and engages readers in the Reserve’s history, value, food, people, and natural beauty and inspires us all to care for our extended community—from friends and family at the table, to the land that sustains the health of our environment and the appreciation of our past. It is a lasting (and hopefully stain-spattered) record of the people, places, and flavors of the Ag Reserve.  Net proceeds from the sale of Bread & Beauty benefit Montgomery Countryside Alliance and Manna Food Center.