An Edible History of Humanity


Tom Standage - 2009
    An Edible History of Humanity is a pithy, entertaining account of how a series of changes—caused, enabled, or influenced by food—has helped to shape and transform societies around the world. The first civilizations were built on barley and wheat in the Near East, millet and rice in Asia, and corn and potatoes in the Americas. Why farming created a strictly ordered social hierarchy in contrast to the loose egalitarianism of hunter-gatherers is, as Tom Standage reveals, as interesting as the details of the complex cultures that emerged, eventually interconnected by commerce. Trade in exotic spices in particular spawned the age of exploration and the colonization of the New World. Food's influence over the course of history has been just as prevalent in modern times. In the late eighteenth century, Britain's solution to food shortages was to industrialize and import food rather than grow it. Food helped to determine the outcome of wars: Napoleon's rise and fall was intimately connected with his ability to feed his vast armies. In the twentieth century, Communist leaders employed food as an ideological weapon, resulting in the death by starvation of millions in the Soviet Union and China. And today the foods we choose in the supermarket connect us to global debates about trade, development, the environment, and the adoption of new technologies. Encompassing many fields, from genetics and archaeology to anthropology and economics—and invoking food as a special form of technology—An Edible History of Humanity is a fully satisfying discourse on the sweep of human history.

Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly


James McWilliams - 2009
    Should we eat locally? Is organic really better for the environment? Can genetically modified foods be good for you? JUST FOOD does for fresh food what Fast Food Nation (Houghton Mifflin, 2001) did for fast food, challenging conventional views, and cutting through layers of myth and misinformation. For instance, an imported tomato is more energy-efficient than a local greenhouse-grown tomato. And farm-raised freshwater fish may soon be the most sustainable source of protein. Informative and surprising, JUST FOOD tells us how to decide what to eat, and how our choices can help save the planet and feed the world.

The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food


Dan Barber - 2014
    Instead, Barber proposes Americans should move to the 'third plate,' a cuisine rooted in seasonal productivity, natural livestock rhythms, whole-grains, and small portions of free-range meat.

Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Our Communities, and Our Planet-One Bite at a Time


Mark Hyman - 2020
    What we eat has tremendous implications not just for our waistlines, but also for the planet, society, and the global economy. What we do to our bodies, we do to the planet; and what we do to the planet, we do to our bodies.In Food Fix, #1 bestselling author Mark Hyman explains how our food and agriculture policies are corrupted by money and lobbies that drive our biggest global crises: the spread of obesity and food-related chronic disease, climate change, poverty, violence, educational achievement gaps, and more.Pairing the latest developments in nutritional and environmental science with an unflinching look at the dark realities of the global food system and the policies that make it possible, Food Fix is a hard-hitting manifesto that will change the way you think about -- and eat -- food forever, and will provide solutions for citizens, businesses, and policy makers to create a healthier world, society, and planet.

The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It: The Complete Back-To-Basics Guide


John Seymour - 1973
    Author John Seymour, the father of the back-to-basics movement, shares his singular vision to transform lives and create communities. More relevant than ever in our hi-tech world, The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the ultimate practical guide for realists and dreamers alike.

What to Eat: Food that’s good for your health, pocket and plate


Joanna Blythman - 2012
    Food should be one of life's greatest pleasures yet, increasingly, choosing it is becoming a chore. Bombarded by questions such as 'Is red meat bad for you?' and 'Is local always best?' it's difficult to know what to eat. At the same time, even the basics are becoming more and more expensive, making it essential that we choose the best foods for ourselves and the planet and make them go as far as possible. Packed with brilliant ideas for choosing lovely, wholesome meat, fish and veg and quick, easy suggestions for cooking them well, without compromising your principles or emptying your purse, this is the modern manual for eating well in the twenty-first century. About the Author Joanna Blythman is Britain's leading investigative food...

Meat: A Benign Extravagance


Simon Fairlie - 2010
    The world's meat consumption is rapidly rising, leading to devastating environmental impacts as well as having long term health implications for societies everywhere. Simon Fairlie's book lays out the reasons why we must decrease the amount of meat we eat, both for the planet and for ourselves. At its heart, the book argues, however, that the farming of animals for consumption has become problematic because we have removed ourselves physically and spiritually from the land. Our society needs to reorientate itself back to the land and Simon explains why an agriculture that is most readily able to achieve this is one that includes a measure of livestock farming.

Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food


Paul Greenberg - 2010
    He visits Norwegian megafarms that use genetic techniques once pioneered on sheep to grow millions of pounds of salmon a year. He travels to the ancestral river of the Yupik Eskimos to see the only Fair Trade–certified fishing company in the world. He makes clear how PCBs and mercury find their way into seafood; discovers how Mediterranean sea bass went global; challenges the author of Cod to taste the difference between a farmed and a wild cod; and almost sinks to the bottom of the South Pacific while searching for an alternative to endangered bluefin tuna.Fish, Greenberg reveals, are the last truly wild food — for now. By examining the forces that get fish to our dinner tables, he shows how we can start to heal the oceans and fight for a world where healthy and sustainable seafood is the rule rather than the exception.

Green Barbarians: Live Bravely on Your Home Planet


Ellen Sandbeck - 2009
    Green Barbarians demonstrates that by mustering a bit of courage and relying less on many modern conveniences, we can live happier, safer, more ecologically and economically responsible lives..

The Medicinal Chef: Eat Your Way to Better Health


Dale Pinnock - 2013
    Looking carefully at the science of nutrition, Dale Pinnock uses his culinary skills to create practical, delicious dishes that are a pleasure to eat but also alleviate a variety of ailments and illnesses. From antioxidant-rich blueberries that aid the heart and circulation to shiitake mushrooms to boost the immune system, these ingredients target the skin; joints; respiratory, digestive, metabolic, and nervous systems; and even fatigue and hangovers! The recipes include Herbed Mediterranean Frittata, Thai Fish Soup, a Roasted Vegetable and Guacamole Open Sandwich, Wholemeal Bean Quesadillas, and-because everyone deserves a sweet treat-Mint Chocolate No-Cheese Cake! Pinnock also provides a general overview of conditions and what foods can help heal them.

The Art of Eating


M.F.K. Fisher - 1954
    Fisher, whose wit and fulsome opinions on food and those who produce it, comment upon it, and consume it are as apt today as they were several decades ago, when she composed them. Why did she choose food and hunger she was asked, and she replied, 'When I write about hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth, and the love of it . . . and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied.

The Tassajara Recipe Book


Edward Espe Brown - 1985
    "Ordinary food for ordinary people" is the way Brown once described his approach, but there's nothing ordinary about these culinary offerings. From appetizers to desserts, the over two hundred recipes use the freshest ingredients in ways that will tantalize the palates of everyone from down-home vegetarians to the most discriminating gourmet cooks. The recipes are interspersed throughout with line drawings, photographs of the center and its environs, and Brown's own poetry. This revised edition includes twenty-nine new and four revised recipes, new photographs, and a new introduction.

The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability


Lierre Keith - 2009
    In order for this to happen, the argument champions eating locally and sustainably and encourages those with the resources to grow their own food. Further examining the question of what to eat from the perspective of both human and environmental health, the account goes beyond health choices and discusses potential moral issues from eating—or not eating—animals. Through the deeply personal narrative of someone who practiced veganism for 20 years, this unique exploration also discusses alternatives to industrial farming, reveals the risks of a vegan diet, and explains why animals belong on ecologically sound farms.

Mr. Sunday's Soups


Lorraine Wallace - 2010
    After a long day on air, Chris would often arrive home hungry and delight at the sight of a big pot of his wife Lorraine's soup on the burner. Lorraine may not be a professional cook, but you wouldn't know it from her soups!In fact, her soups were so good that Chris couldn't help but rave about them on-air. Before long, the show's fans were begging him to share his wife's wonderful recipes. Now, in Mr. Sunday's Soups, Lorraine Wallace shares a wide variety of soups that are sure to please the whole family.Includes 78 recipes and 40 beautiful full-color photosWith recipes such as Tortellini Meatball, Cuban Black Bean, Chicken Garlic Straciatella, and many moreThe perfect cookbook for fans of Fox News Sunday and great soups in generalFeatures a Foreword by Chris WallacePerfect as comfort food at the end of a long day at the office or the studio, these satisfying soups offer simple, wholesome solutions to the dinner doldrums.

The Fate of Food: What We'll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World


Amanda Little - 2019
    The journey is scary, exciting, and, ultimately, encouraging."--Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth ExtinctionClimate models show that global crop production will decline every decade for the rest of this century due to drought, heat, and flooding. Water supplies are in jeopardy. Meanwhile, the world's population is expected to grow another 30 percent by midcentury. So how, really, will we feed nine billion people sustainably in the coming decades?Amanda Little, a professor at Vanderbilt University and an award-winning journalist, spent three years traveling through a dozen countries and as many U.S. states in search of answers to this question. Her journey took her from an apple orchard in Wisconsin to a remote control organic farm in Shanghai, from Norwegian fish farms to famine-stricken regions of Ethiopia.The race to reinvent the global food system is on, and the challenge is twofold: We must solve the existing problems of industrial agriculture while also preparing for the pressures ahead. Through her interviews and adventures with farmers, scientists, activists, and engineers, Little tells the fascinating story of human innovation and explores new and old approaches to food production while charting the growth of a movement that could redefine sustainable food on a grand scale. She meets small permaculture farmers and "Big Food" executives, botanists studying ancient superfoods and Kenyan farmers growing the country's first GMO corn. She travels to places that might seem irrelevant to the future of food yet surprisingly play a critical role--a California sewage plant, a U.S. Army research lab, even the inside of a monsoon cloud above Mumbai. Little asks tough questions: Can GMOs actually be good for the environment--and for us? Are we facing the end of animal meat? What will it take to eliminate harmful chemicals from farming? How can a clean, climate-resilient food supply become accessible to all?Throughout her journey, Little finds and shares a deeper understanding of the threats of climate change and encounters a sense of awe and optimism about the lessons of our past and the scope of human ingenuity.