Podcast Summary: New Books Network

Veronica House, "Local Organic: Food Rhetorics and Community Writing for Impact" (Utah State UP, 2025)

Release Date: December 20, 2025
Host: Peter Astrus
Guest: Dr. Veronica House

Episode Overview

This episode features an engaging discussion with Dr. Veronica House, author of "Local Organic: Food Rhetorics and Community Writing for Impact." Together with host Peter Astrus, Dr. House explores how community-based writing can shape our definitions and practices surrounding local food. The conversation touches on food justice, curricular innovation, co-authorship, and the power of connection and vulnerability in both scholarship and community partnerships. Dr. House shares personal stories, actionable frameworks, and powerful examples from her years of embedding students in local food systems and community organizations.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Dr. House’s Journey into Food Rhetorics (02:59–06:50)

• Nontraditional Entry into Food Studies: Dr. House began her academic career in literary studies, not food studies. Food issues became central to her work after moving to Boulder and immersing herself in local community concerns and events.
  • Quote: "I don't have a background in food studies. I started as a literature PhD...My love for this work developed right along with my love of the place where I lived." (03:28)
• Importance of Place: Boulder’s food-centric culture made her reflect on how local context shapes both curriculum and personal development.

Intertwining Personal History and Scholarship (06:50–10:19)

• Ancestral Connections: After moving to Boulder, Dr. House discovered her great-great-grandmother was a homesteader and teacher in the same area—a connection that deepened her reflection on legacy, land, and role.
  • Quote: "I started to really wonder, was there some kind of strange serendipity that led me to this place...what is my role as someone descended from a settler colonizer?" (09:04)
• Impactful Closure: She ended her tenure in Boulder by visiting her ancestral homestead with a student who lived there.

Transforming Student Engagement (10:19–13:32)

• From Classroom to Community: Dr. House observes that students often lack community connection, so she leverages writing as a medium to foster real-world impact by embedding students in farms, nonprofits, and food banks.
  • Quote: "You can only talk about an idea so much before you need to see it lived and embodied." (11:35)
• Empowerment through Action: Students learn that local solutions can be meaningful and manageable even in the face of overwhelming issues like climate change.

Co-Authorship and Community Collaboration (13:32–16:50)

• Inclusive Storytelling: The book incorporates student voices and co-authors, reflecting Dr. House’s belief in collaborative knowledge-building.
  • Quote: "I just fundamentally disagree with that idea [single authorship]...the shared knowledge is much more valuable than anything I could have offered myself." (15:30)
• Changing Academia: She advocates for valuing co-authorship and relational research in tenure and academic achievement.

Distributed Definition Building (16:50–25:03)

• Concept Framework: Introduces the practice of distributed definition building—a collaborative community process to shape the meaning of complex, contested concepts like "local food."
  • Quote: "If companies, if restaurants, if the government are all disagreeing about what local food is...can we, at a grassroots level, have people with knowledge and understanding start to form their own definitions for what they want to support?" (24:14)
• Practical Case: She recounts how, post-2013 Boulder floods, her students’ research revealed ambiguity (and sometimes deception) in restaurant sourcing claims.

The Nuances of Food Justice (25:03–27:53)

• Place-Based Challenges: Local food, justice, and access issues are deeply contextual; barriers in Boulder, Denver, and Detroit all differ widely.
  • Quote: "Everything local is going to be particular to the locale...my projects...might be very different from what someone would be doing...in Detroit, or even...in Denver." (25:29)

Embracing Vulnerability and Accountability (27:53–32:12)

• Scholarship with Humility: Dr. House espouses vulnerability as a gift, especially in community-engaged scholarship, foregrounding humility, accountability, and relationality over academic ego.
  • Quote: "Vulnerability means accountability. We are accountable to the communities in which we work and their needs come before my need to publish." (29:15)
• Process Reflections: Acknowledges that community-based research is slow, messy, and subject to continual revision as real-world conditions change.

From Overwhelm to Action: Contagion, Tipping Points, and Community Events (32:12–38:39)

• Combating Despair: She discusses the emotional wall students hit when confronting systemic food and climate problems, and her focus on actionable, joyful involvement.
  • Quote: "Connect and don’t feel like we have to do it all ourselves...can really help a student get over that hump of the fear and overwhelm and move into a belief in action." (33:48)
• Making Ideas Viral: Drawing inspiration from Kristen Sy’s traitor and Malcolm Gladwell, Dr. House describes efforts to make local food support "contagious" or viral, through public events, art collaborations with local youth, and community storytelling.

Personal Impact, Student Stories, and Project Failures (39:03–44:37)

• Long-Term Student Engagement: Shares success stories, including one "frat bro" whose life trajectory changed from sullen disengagement to organic farming after community-based coursework.
• Embracing Failure and Surprise: Highlights favorite student- and partner-initiated projects, like a concert featuring both students and homeless musicians, underscoring the unpredictability and openness of this teaching model.

Book Reception and Recognition (44:37–48:20)

• Early Reception: The book is very new, but Dr. House has already shared it with activists and partners, notably connecting with leaders at D-Town Farm in Detroit.
• WISE Project & Women Who Make a Difference Award: Received for launching and directing the Writing Initiative for Service and Engagement at CU Boulder, which integrated community-based writing throughout the curriculum and facilitated 15,000 hours of annual writing-based service.

New Projects: Food Sovereignty and Storytelling (48:20–53:18)

• Current Work with Frontline Farming: Now collaborating with a BIPOC and women-led farm in Denver focused on food access, justice, and sovereignty through education and signage about heritage seeds and culturally relevant crops.
  • Quote: "They're building up a seed bank of these heritage foods, and it's very cool project. And so my students were involved in that, and Fatima and I are writing about that work right now..." (51:41)

Closing (53:18–53:34)

• Future Outlook: Dr. House is excited about ongoing collaborations and upcoming celebrations marking project milestones.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Place and Social Responsibility
  "My challenge to other professors and teachers is to think about what is most important where you live and then to get involved in that through curricular innovation." (06:27, House)

• On Vulnerability in Scholarship
  "There are a number of cases...where communities are really harmed by academics who go in...with a...one and done mindset with projects, or the semester ends and you leave and the community hasn't gotten what they need. Ego can really harm communities." (29:35, House)

• On Academic Change
  "If we are doing community based work, it should be celebrated that we co author with the people we work with and the students that have helped us understand our projects better." (16:07, House)

• On Student Transformation
  "He sent me an email...working on an organic farm. He was wearing overalls and he had long hair...He talked about how the class meant so much to him and had changed his life." (40:06, House)

• On Distributed Definitions
  "Distributed definition building was a way for saying, if companies, if restaurants, if the government are all disagreeing about what local food is...then can we, at a grassroots level, have people with knowledge and understanding start to form their own definitions for what they want to support?" (24:14, House)

Key Timestamps

• 02:59–03:58: Dr. House's academic journey and food studies origin story
• 06:50–10:19: Personal ancestral connections and their impact
• 10:19–13:32: Student experiences, making writing meaningful
• 13:32–16:50: Approaches to co-authorship and community-based research
• 16:50–25:03: Distributed definition building—process and examples
• 27:53–32:12: Vulnerability, accountability, and humility in scholarship
• 32:12–38:39: Climate action, overcoming overwhelm, and creating contagious engagement
• 39:13–41:20: Student transformation stories
• 41:55–44:37: Memorable community events and learning from projects
• 44:53–48:20: Book reception and WISE project award
• 48:43–53:18: New projects on food sovereignty and heritage seed storytelling

Tone

The conversation is conversational, warm, and reflective, with Dr. House candidly sharing both successes and challenges. She emphasizes collaboration, humility, and the importance of rooting scholarship in meaningful relationships and actual community needs.

For Listeners Who Haven't Heard the Episode

This episode is an excellent resource for educators, community activists, and anyone interested in the intersections of food, writing, justice, and community engagement. Dr. Veronica House demonstrates with detail and humility how writing and local engagement can transform individuals and communities, offering inspiring models and honest discussion about complexities and failures alongside successes.