Many of our foodie interviews touch on the history of food. The Penn Professor and psychologist Paul Rozin puts the history of eating food into its cultural context. “Every meal,” he argues, “is a virtuoso performance, a demonstration of how civilised we human beings have become.”
Steven Kaplan, Professor of History at Cornell University, chooses his best books on the history of food, noting that food exists at “the confluence of five, six, seven disciplines—and it’s almost impossible when you do food history not to be doing at the same time food anthropology, food economics, food sociology, et cetera”. He discusses wacky food topics from medieval attitudes to bread and the anthropology of rice production in Japan.
The architect Carolyn Steel chooses her best books on food and the city, looking at how Rome, Paris and London have been shaped by the demands of feeding the population. Tristram Stuart, historian and campaigner, discusses the failures of global food distribution in the modern world, and the massive ecological and societal benefits of limiting food waste and over production. Barry Estabrook discusses the same issues, while choosing his best books on food production. Both Stuart and Estabrook choose The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan.
Ruth Reichl, former editor of Gormet magazine, chooses her best books on American food and the diverse influences that shaped it. Louise Fresco, a food and agricultural scientist, chooses her best books on food, arguing that most of us are “quite illiterate” on the subject, and that contemporary anxieties about food can be attributed to the gulf between production and consumption that has grown in a couple of generations.
The best books on The History of Food, recommended by Diane Purkiss
History too often glosses over basic questions of subsistence and food availability, argues Oxford academic Diane Purkiss—whose new book English Food is a social history told through the food on people’s tables. Here, she recommends five books about the history of food that focus on the diet of the common person as opposed to the royal banquet table.
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1
Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England
by William Cronon -
2
Nature’s Perfect Food
by E. Melanie Dupuis -
3
Flavors of Empire: Food and the Making of Thai America
by Mark Padoongpatt -
4
Life on the Other Border: Farmworkers and Food Justice in Vermont
by Teresa M. Mares -
5
Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America
by Marcia Chatelain
The best books on Food Studies, recommended by Matt Garcia
The best books on Food Studies, recommended by Matt Garcia
Matt Garcia, Professor of Latin American, Latino & Caribbean Studies & History at Dartmouth College, discusses the production of primary foods in the United States and globally—a field that has often been ignored by historians and by society. He recommends five books to learn more about food studies, with particular attention to agricultural workers, often among the most marginalized and least protected members of the US labor force.
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1
The Hungry Soul: Eating and the Perfecting of Our Nature
by Leon R Kass -
2
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
by Michael Pollan -
3
The Food Police: A Well-Fed Manifesto About the Politics of Your Plate
by Jayson Lusk -
4
The Primal Cheeseburger: A Generous Helping of Food History Served On a Bun
by Elizabeth Rozin -
5
Taste Matters: Why We Like the Foods We Do
by John Prescott
The best books on Food Psychology, recommended by Paul Rozin
The best books on Food Psychology, recommended by Paul Rozin
Food is an affirmation of who we are. Paul Rozin, food psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, deconstructs the cheeseburger and busts myths about food consumption: not only is our food budget controlling what we eat, but also the expensive organic foods we’re pressured to buy may not even be healthier—let alone better-tasting—than their alternatives.
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1
Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
by Rachel Laudan -
2
The Raw and the Cooked
by Claude Levi-Strauss -
3
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
by Charles Mann -
4
All Manners of Food: Eating and Taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present
by Stephen Mennell -
5
Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History
by Sidney Mintz
The best books on Food, recommended by Louise Fresco
The best books on Food, recommended by Louise Fresco
Most people are illiterate when it comes to food, their views based on a combination of personal beliefs, semi-truths and not fully substantiated scientific claims. Dutch food and agricultural scientist, and author, Louise Fresco, picks five books to help us better understand the food we eat.
The best books on American Food, recommended by Ruth Reichl
The Puritans got modern American cuisine off to a bad start. But the food writer and critic says subsequent immigrants have helped create a culture where food is appreciated.
The best books on Food Production, recommended by Barry Estabrook
Do you know what’s in the food you eat, and how it gets from field to plate? The author of an acclaimed exposé of American agribusiness tells us where to look if we want to become better-informed consumers
The best books on The History of Food, recommended by Steven Kaplan
From body and blood of Christ or an act of seduction to a means of social control and even a weapon of war – Professor Steven Kaplan picks the best books on the history and power of food.
The best books on Food and the City, recommended by Carolyn Steel
The architect, writer, lecturer, and director of Kilburn Nightingale Architects says architecture should not be just about buildings, but about everything else in our environment
The best books on The Global Food Scandal, recommended by Tristram Stuart
The campaigner and historian says that Western countries waste more food than they consume. Believe him: he survives off food scavenged exclusively from supermarket bins
