Summer is a great time for catching up on your pleasure reading. But you don’t have to miss out on substance when you pack a book into your beach bag or vacation luggage this season. There are many choices for your beach blanket or back yard hammock that can entertain while making you think.

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As you swing in the summer breeze on the Hammock, book in hand, be sure to snack on some fresh vegetables from your local farmers. Bring your No Farms No Food totebag on your summer vacation to fill with your good reads and delicious local food.

Here are five summer reads for those who care about farms, local food and the environment.

Deep Economy, Bill McKibben

In his latest book, Vermont environmentalist and author Bill McKibben makes a convincing case for why local communities should produce more of their own food and generate more of their own energy, given the many costs related to having the food we eat travel hundreds and thousands of miles.

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, Michael Pollan

The author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, which started a national conversation about American eating habits, now tells us how to change those habitats in his new book. He proposes an alternate way of eating, one that takes us back to ages-old traditions of eating healthy unprocessed foods straight from farms.

Outstanding in the Field: A Farm to Table Cookbook, Jim Denevan and Marah Stets

Jim Denevan is a renowned chef from Santa Cruz, California, who sets up dinner tables on farms, ranches and community gardens for meals that connect diners with the land and people that grew their food. His new cookbook presents seasonal, locally inspired dishes from his farm-fresh meals.

Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression, Mildred Armstrong Kalish

In this touching memoir, author Mildred Armstrong Kalish looks back at her childhood on an Iowa farm, recalling both the challenges and the rewards of Midwestern farm life during the Great Depression.

Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage, Daniel Esty and Andrew Winston

American Farmland Trust’s former board member Daniel Esty and a fellow expert from Yale provide examples of how companies can succeed by going green—incorporating environmental stewardship and sustainability into their company outlook.