Mushroom


Nicholas P. Money - 2011
    It is one of many awe-inspiring, magical processes that have evolved among the fungi, yet this group remains the least studied and most poorly understood kingdom of organisms. In Mushroom, NicholasMoney offers a vibrant introduction to the world of mushrooms, investigating the science behind these organisms as well as their enduring cultural and imaginative appeal. Beginning with the basics of mushroom biology, Money leads us through a history of mushroom research, painting portraits of thecolorful characters involved in their study--among them, Beatrix Potter, the celebrated author and creator of Peter Rabbit, and Captain Charles McIlvaine, a Civil War veteran who engaged in a dangerous quest to determine the edibility of every mushroom in North America. Money also discusses the usesof mushrooms today, exploring their importance as food and medicine, their use as recreational drugs, and as the cause of horrific poisonings. A cultural, natural, and scientific history in one, Mushroom is a must-read for mycophiles, mushroom gatherers, and nature lovers alike.

Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession with Meat Is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It


Garth Davis - 2015
    Foods, drinks, and supplements are loaded with extra protein. Many people use protein for weight control, to gain or lose pounds, while others believe it gives them more energy and is essential for a longer, healthier life. Now, Dr. Garth Davis, an expert in weight loss asks, “Is all this protein making us healthier?”The answer, he emphatically argues, is NO. Too much protein is actually making us sick, fat, and tired, according to Dr. Davis. If you are getting adequate calories in your diet, there is no such thing as protein deficiency. The healthiest countries in the world eat far less protein than we do and yet we have an entire nation on a protein binge getting sicker by the day.As a surgeon treating obese patients, Dr. Davis was frustrated by the ever-increasing number of sick and overweight patients, but it wasn't until his own health scare that he realized he could do something about it. Combining cutting-edge research, with his hands-on patient experience and his years dedicated to analyzing studies of the world’s longest-lived populations, this explosive, groundbreaking book reveals the truth about the dangers of protein and shares a proven approach to weight loss, health, and longevity.

The Vegetable Butcher: How to Select, Prep, Slice, Dice, and Masterfully Cook Vegetables from Artichokes to Zucchini


Cara Mangini - 2016
    The skills of butchery meet the world of fresh produce in this essential, inspiring guide that demystifies the world of vegetables. In step-by-step photographs, “vegetable butcher” Cara Mangini shows how to break down a butternut squash, cut a cauliflower into steaks, peel a tomato properly, chiffonade kale, turn carrots into coins and parsnips into matchsticks, and find the meaty heart of an artichoke. Additionally, more than 150 original, simple recipes put vegetables front and center, from a Kohlrabi Carpaccio to Zucchini, Sweet Corn, and Basil Penne, to a Parsnip-Ginger Layer Cake to sweeten a winter meal. It’s everything you need to know to get the best out of modern, sexy, and extraordinarily delicious vegetables.

The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here


Hope Jahren - 2020
    A Vintage Original.Hope Jahren is an award-winning geobiologist, a brilliant writer, and one of the seven billion people with whom we share this earth. The Story of More is her impassioned open letter to humanity as we stand at the crossroads of survival and extinction. Jahren celebrates the long history of our enterprising spirit--which has tamed wild crops, cured diseases, and sent us to the moon--but also shows how that spirit has created excesses that are quickly warming our planet to dangerous levels. In short, highly readable chapters, she takes us through the science behind the key inventions--from electric power to large-scale farming and automobiles--that, even as they help us, release untenable amounts of carbon dioxide. She explains the current and projected consequences of greenhouse gases--from superstorms to rising sea levels--and the science-based tools that could help us fight back. At once an explainer on the mechanisms of warming and a capsule history of human development, The Story of More illuminates the link between our consumption habits and our endangered earth, showing us how we can use less and share more. It is the essential pocket primer on climate change that will leave an indelible impact on everyone who reads it.

Yoga and Vegetarianism: The Path to Greater Health and Happiness


Sharon Gannon - 2008
    When they are used in tandem, she argues, they form a strong framework for physical and spiritual attunement and promote an overall healthy life. Yoga and Vegetarianism emphasizes the importance of understanding of Ahimsa, the practice of non-harming and nonviolence, as the first step in marrying yoga and vegetarianism. All actions, says Gannon, originate as thoughts, so the "perfection of action" that yoga strives for must come from a perfect thought. What is a perfect thought? According to the book, it is a thought free of selfish desire, anger, and hate. This brings us back to Ahimsa and to vegetarianism. Freeing oneself of needless cruelty, harm, and injustice — which includes eating meat — can transform both the individual and the world. This book shows how.

But I Could Never Go Vegan!: 125 Recipes That Prove You Can Live Without Cheese, It's Not All Rabbit Food, and Your Friends Will Still Come Over for Dinner


Kristy Turner - 2014
    You’ll find you can get enough protein, fit in at a potluck, learn to love cauliflower, and enjoy pizza, nachos, brownies, and more—without any animal products at all. (Even vegan pros will discover some new tricks!) Colorful photographs throughout will have you salivating over Kristy’s inventive, easy-to-follow recipes. So what are you waiting for? Get in the kitchen and leave your excuses at the door!

The Economics of Discontent: From Failing Elites to The Rise of Populism


Jean-Michel Paul - 2019
    Houses, health care and higher education have become unaffordable to a majority of people, while the burden of unregulated monopolies, globalization and uncontrolled immigration has fallen disproportionately on the lower and middle classes. Wrapped in political correctness, an increasingly out of touch Western elite continues catering to special interests and fails to grasp the urgency for change. Populist movements harnessing public anger appear unable to propose and implement effective solutions. The last financial crisis was bad enough. But the next crisis will spread deeper and wider. And yet we stand economically, politically and most of all intellectually unprepared. This book is the story of how we have arrived at the brink of disaster and how we can move away from the win-lose policies of recent decades to restore much-needed balance.

The Inspired Vegan: Seasonal Ingredients, Creative Recipes, Mouthwatering Menus


Bryant Terry - 2012
    Marking his 10-year anniversary working to create a healthy, just, and sustainable food system, Bryant Terry offers more than just a collection of recipes. In the spirit of jazz jam sessions and hip hop ciphers, The Inspired Vegan presents a collage of food, storytelling, music, and art. Bryant shares his favorite preparation / cooking techniques and simple recipes -- basics to help strengthen your foundation for home cooking and equip you with tools for culinary improvisation and kitchen creativity. He also invites you to his table to enjoy seasonal menus inspired by family memories, social movements, unsung radical heroes, and visions for the future. Ultimately, The Inspired Vegan will help you become proficient in creating satisfying meals that use whole, fresh, seasonal ingredients and are nutritionally balanced -- and full of surprising, mouthwatering flavor combinations.

The Wealth of Nature: Economics as if Survival Mattered


John Michael Greer - 2011
    Building on the foundations of E. F. Schumacher's revolutionary "economics as if people mattered," this book examines the true cost of confusing money with wealth. By analyzing the mistakes of contemporary economics, it shows how an economy centered on natural capital—the raw materials that support human life—can move our society toward a more productive relationship with the planet that sustains us all.The Wealth of Nature suggests public policy initiatives and personal choices that can help alleviate the economic impact of Peak Oil. These strategies must address not only financial concerns, but the issues of resource depletion and pollution as well. Examples include:Adjusting tax policy to penalize the use of natural nonrenewable resources over recycled materialsPlacing public welfare above corporate interestsEmpowering individuals, families, and communities by prioritizing local, sustainable solutionsBuilding economies at an appropriate scaleProfoundly insightful and impeccably argued, this book is required reading for anyone interested in the intersection of the environment and the economy as we enter the twilight of the Age of Abundance.John Michael Greer is a scholar of ecological history, an award-winning author, and an internationally renowned peak oil theorist whose blog The Archdruid Report has become one of the most widely cited online resources dealing with the future of industrial society.

What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins


Jonathan Balcombe - 2016
    Although there are more than thirty thousand species of fish—more than all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians combined—we rarely consider how individual fishes think, feel, and behave. Balcombe upends our assumptions about fishes, portraying them not as unfeeling, dead-eyed feeding machines but as sentient, aware, social, and even Machiavellian—in other words, much like us. What a Fish Knows draws on the latest science to present a fresh look at these remarkable creatures in all their breathtaking diversity and beauty. Fishes conduct elaborate courtship rituals and develop lifelong bonds with shoalmates. They also plan, hunt cooperatively, use tools, curry favor, deceive one another, and punish wrongdoers. We may imagine that fishes lead simple, fleeting lives—a mode of existence that boils down to a place on the food chain, rote spawning, and lots of aimless swimming. But, as Balcombe demonstrates, the truth is far richer and more complex, worthy of the grandest social novel. Highlighting breakthrough discoveries from fish enthusiasts and scientists around the world and pondering his own encounters with fishes, Balcombe examines the fascinating means by which fishes gain knowledge of the places they inhabit, from shallow tide pools to the deepest reaches of the ocean. Teeming with insights and exciting discoveries, What a Fish Knows offers a thoughtful appraisal of our relationships with fishes and inspires us to take a more enlightened view of the planet’s increasingly imperiled marine life. What a Fish Knows will forever change how we see our aquatic cousins—the pet goldfish included.

12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Addiction to Cooked Food


Victoria Boutenko - 2000
    Based on the latest scientific research, Victoria Boutenko explains the numerous benefits of choosing a diet of fresh rather than cooked foods. This book contains self-tests and questionnaires that help the reader to determine if they have hidden eating patterns that undermine their health. Using examples from life, the author explores the most common reasons for people to make unhealthy eating choices. Rather than simply praising the benefits of raw foods, this book offers helpful tips and coping techniques to form and maintain new, healthy patterns. Learn how to make a raw food restaurant card that makes dining with co-workers easy and enjoyable. Discover three magic sentences that enable you to refuse your mother-in-law's apple pie without offending her. Find out how to sustain your chosen diet while traveling. These are only a few of the many scenarios that Boutenko outlines. Written in a convenient 12-step format, this book guides the reader through the most significant physical, psychological, and spiritual phases of the transition from cooked to raw foods. Embracing the raw food lifestyle is more than simply turning off the stove. Such a radical change in the way we eat affects all aspects of life. Boutenko touches on the human relationship with nature, the value of supporting others, and the importance of living in harmony with people who don't share the same point of view on eating. Already a classic, this enhanced second edition is aimed at anyone interested in improving their health through diet.

Everyday Cooking with Dr. Dean Ornish


Dean Ornish - 1996
    In "Everyday Cooking with Dr. Dean Ornish," Dr. Ornish teaches you that you don't have to make compromises in your diet. You can enjoy fast, easy-to-prepare meals that are delicious and nutritious, made with familiar, inexpensive, and easy-to-find ingredients. Dr. Ornish and his colleagues present simple yet extraordinary recipes for making fresh, delicious, everyday meals. These time-saving recipes are organized into seasonal menus to take advantage of the freshest ingredients. In addition to offering a tempting selection of recipes, Dr. Ornish gives clear, detailed instructions that interweave techniques, and helpful sidebars; advice on using leftovers, suggestions for alternative ways to season or serve a dish, how to keep a plentiful pantry, a shop-smart guide with supermarket tips and traps, how to equip your low-fat kitchen, how to cook legumes and grains, how to pack a better lunch box, how to choose better bread, and scores of other helpful tips. For the millions who were inspired by Dr. Ornish's previous books, this companion audio makes his way of eating fast and fun, easy and extra ordinary. Drawing on his work training others to adopt his program, Dr. Ornish presents recipes that are extremely low in fat and cholesterol and high in flavor. These simple choices may result in powerful changes in your health and well-being.

The Population Explosion


Paul R. Ehrlich - 1990
    Paul and Anne Ehrlich also clearly and concisely point to immediate action that will lessen the threat of ruin and begin to build a more peaceful, sane, and secure world.

The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-term Health


T. Colin Campbell - 2004
    If we’re obsessed with being thin more so than ever before, why are Americans stricken with heart disease as much as we were 30 years ago?In The China Study, Dr. T. Colin Campbell details the connection between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. The report also examines the source of nutritional confusion produced by powerful lobbies, government entities, and opportunistic scientists. The New York Times has recognized the study as the “Grand Prix of epidemiology” and the “most comprehensive large study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and the risk of developing disease.”The China Study is not a diet book. Dr. Campbell cuts through the haze of misinformation and delivers an insightful message to anyone living with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and those concerned with the effects of aging.

Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do About It


Richard V. Reeves - 2017
    But the most important, consequential, and widening gap in American society is between the upper middle class and everyone else.Reeves defines the upper middle class as those whose incomes are in the top 20 percent of American society. Income is not the only way to measure a society, but in a market economy it is crucial because access to money generally determines who gets the best quality education, housing, health care, and other necessary goods and services.As Reeves shows, the growing separation between the upper middle class and everyone else can be seen in family structure, neighborhoods, attitudes, and lifestyle. Those at the top of the income ladder are becoming more effective at passing on their status to their children, reducing overall social mobility. The result is not just an economic divide but a fracturing of American society along class lines. Upper-middle-class children become upper-middle-class adults.These trends matter because the separation and perpetuation of the upper middle class corrode prospects for more progressive approaches to policy. Various forms of “opportunity hoarding” among the upper middle class make it harder for others to rise up to the top rung. Examples include zoning laws and schooling, occupational licensing, college application procedures, and the allocation of internships. Upper-middle-class opportunity hoarding, Reeves argues, results in a less competitive economy as well as a less open society.Inequality is inevitable and can even be good, within limits. But Reeves argues that society can take effective action to reduce opportunity hoarding and thus promote broader opportunity. This fascinating book shows how American society has become the very class-defined society that earlier Americans rebelled against—and what can be done to restore a more equitable society.