text by Tanner Latham

photography by D. Paul Jones III

Know Thy Farmer is a book that seeks to honor the contribution of Alabama farmers and chefs who have helped make Birmingham a “food city.”

With photographs by D. Paul Jones III and text by Southern culture writer Tanner Latham, Know Thy Farmer features over 200 pages of profiles and stunning portraits showing Alabama farmers, their farms and the crops they grow, as well as the Birmingham chefs who have been their biggest champions.

Know Thy Farmer opens with an introduction by award-winning Chef Frank Stitt, as well as a short history of the Market by Birmingham real estate/urban developer and Market founder Cathy Sloss Jones.

The book spotlights thirty Alabama farmers and small business owners alongside their families, from Gadsden to Greensboro; eight leading Birmingham chefs; and a farm to table supper that brought growers, chefs and consumers together one fall evening in 2014.