As the cradle of American agriculture, Virginia's history has been molded by a way of life directly connected to the land. This colorful, graphically striking book captures the intimate relationship between the state’s identity and its agriculture with interviews, tours, sidebars, essays, and recipes, along with evocative illustrations and maps. Combining useful information, agricultural history, and recipes from Virginia's political leaders, celebrities, chefs, and farm families, noted author CiCi Williamson has created a book that entertains and educates readers about the state’s land, people, and food. Throughout, Williamson highlights Virginia's traditional small-farm values, organic farming practices, and enlightened corporate farming programs. From a trip to historic Jamestown and Yorktown to a mariner's tour of the lower Chesapeake Bay to a weekend tour of central Virginia's wineries, the 17 driving tours sprinkled throughout the book encourage readers to discover historic farmsteads, museums, plantations, and more.