books about food and eating

Three books have definitely make me think twice about what I eat and where my food comes from: Fast-food nation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and The Omnivore's Dilemma. (The movie Super-Size Me was also thought provoking, but I'll try to limit this posting to the books.

Food production and its paradoxical environmental benefits and degradation have lately been of increasing interest to me, particularly as my research now focuses on specifically identifying where human-induced pollution is coming from.

The debate about organic vs. conventional production as well as local vs. global food economies is really interesting. It is something that seems to me to be important to think about individually. It is clear to me that a growing number of people are thinking and talking seriously about food and trying to conciliate biological logic with industrial/economic logic and match these with personal eating/purchasing behaviors

I'm interested in finding more books about food, food production and the various debates about where the food industry is going, on local, national and international levels.

The food industry from a British perspective:
Not on the Label: What Really Goes into the Food on Your Plate by Felicity Lawrence
I've haven't been able to look chicken the same way since.

This one is one my TBR pile so I can't speak to it myself, but it has a pretty good rating on LT:
The End of Food : How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our Food Supply - and What You Can Do About It by Thomas F. Pawlick

Food Politics by Marion Nestle.

Hmm, I posted, but it's not showing up.

Food Politics by Marion Nestle.

Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink. If this book doesn't make you stop & think, nothing will.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed "The Way We Eat" by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. (Sadly, can't seem to get touchstones to work for this).

http://www.librarything.com/work/904082

JA

Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization by Richard Manning is a great read. Manning talks about the move from hunter/gathering to agriculture and how it has shaped society. The title is a little bit more strident than the content of the book. It's actually quite a thoughtful treatment of the subject.

jlmartin (see main board message 102) recommended The China Study by T Colin Campbell. You might want to check that out.

Other books recommended by jlmartin on food which are not mentioned here yet are The Food Revolution by Robbins and Eliot Coleman's book - Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long.

#7
Daniel Quinn's Ismael is along a very similar vein.

A book I've recently read called Cute, Quaint, Hungry, and Romantic deals with food advertising and food photography in a painfully close way, in that you realize what sort of food aesthetics we as a society have bought into. It's definitely worth a read.

When I saw the thread, the first thing I thought of was Ismael and Son of Ismeal by Daniel Quinn. These two books made me think about food in a different light.
Then I read Fast Food Nation and I was stunned. Americans have strange eating habit... and our habits are contagious.

Edited to get those pesky touchtones to work!

I read Diet for a Small Planet (touchstones not working) many years ago but I still think about it regularly. The amount of grain needed to produce a pound of meat is astonishing.

The Omnivore's Dilemma presents lots of information in a very (to carry on the food theme) palatable fashion. Answers lots of questions that may have been on the tip of your mind! It's not highly polemical, although it does show the ravages of corn-based industrial agriculture. It also takes the veil off high-volume organic farming, not in a muckraking way particularly, and shows the reality of a sustainable methods farm.

This is a bit tangential, but if you get too depressed reading about the modern food manufacturing industry, you might find it a welcome relief. The Philosopher in the Kitchen was written in the early 1800s and gave advice on practical and ethical advice for gastronomy, much of which would prevent the sort of excessive appetites which lead to the "necessity" of modified foods to begin with. Despite the title, it's not dry at all; it definitely has a certain charm to it.

I read two books by Adelle Davis in college (long, long time ago!) called Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit and Let's Cook It Right. They got me to thinking about food and quality and what I was putting in my body. Lots of books and theories later, I still try to put good food in my body.

Lately we're trying to buy locally when we can. Milk, beef, chicken, turkey, potatoes, etc. My own vegetable garden in the summer.

A book I read is "Chew on this" which is written by the guy who wrote fast food nation. Interesting, and discusting at the same time. I am a vegetarian and I have been for a year now. It's just discusting what buissnesses can get away with serving, and what they do to there animals!!! A good read.

Michael Pollan has a new book called In defense of food which may be worth checking out.

I am reading something that is certainly making me think about food & eating. It's called Dr. Bridell's Logical and Rational & Poetic and Beautiful & Completely Guarantee Diet The book is small and basically makes you think about eating less- half as much as you already do- theory behind it is that when you start eating half- your appetite will start requesting the best foods your body really needs. And to help motivate it challenges you to spend the difference on those who don't have enough to eat.

Thanks for bringing up In defense of food Shanglee. Have you read it yet? I just went through it in about two sittings. I would call it a manifesto. He says "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants." It would be a great bumper sticker (were can I find one?) And then he expounds on that for a while.

Basically he argues that a vast chunk of the stuff sold in a grocery store is not "food". Then he goes on about "nutritionism", which is a fancy argument against reductionist nutrition (previously: fat = bad!; now: carbs = bad!) and an argument for a holistic view of foods and cuisine. I kinda felt he was counterintuitively arguing that we'll be a lot healthier if we don't pay as much attention to the content of the food.

In any case, I've found the number of aisles that I actually shop in dwindling. Has anyone else?

What do you guys think about his arguments in Omnivore's Dilemma about 'industrial' organic? Do you think it's any better for either the environment (either local to the farm locale, or in general and including issues of transportation) or our health than conventional food?

I've joined a CSA (community supported agriculture - essentially a weekly subscription to a farm's produce) to get some local organic produce, and I enjoy the freshness, taste, connection to the farmer, and general-feel-good-support-the-little-guy- (give myself a pat on the back) -- but on the other hand I do notice a shorter shelf life, have a harder time planning meals for the week (still need to fill in gaps for recipes/meals), and never quite get the quantities quite right (some weeks there's too little and sometimes too much), even though I split my share with another couple. Does anyone else do this? How have your experiences been?

It used to be preservation was not an issue. People shopped daily for vegetables and fruit at the green grocers, fish from the fish-monger, meat from the butcher and bread from the baker. We have sacrificed flavor, freshness, and nutrition, not to mention food safety for convenience. We make our choices and take our chances.

Kitchen Confidential

Those chefs are like pirates, and Bourdain is a badass. Good for anyone interested in restaurants or mental illness or both.

Take a look at Bottomfeeder by Taras Grescoe -- basically the seafood version of The Omnivore's Dilemma, though not as elegantly written, and with a bit of a travelogue thrown in.

>16 shanglee:, 18 -- I liked In Defense of Food, though its total content made for a pretty thin book. Pollan's contempt for "nutritionism" reminded me of Colbert's "truthiness." One of his comments regarding packaged/preserved foods stays in my mind more than anything: (paraphrased) "the surest way to extend the shelf life of a food is by removing its nutrients."

This is going to sound silly, but Why French Women Don't Get Fat is actually quite good at communicating the importance of healthy, balanced eating along with thinking about the seasons, the quality of vegetables and variety. Eating is about pleasure as much as fuel and enjoyment in preparation, presentation and togetherness are all part of a healthy approach to food.

The Omnivore's Dilemma is one of the most influential books I've ever read.....it completely changed my eating habits.

I recently read {The Ethics of What We Eat} by {{Peter Singer and Jim Mason}} and I highly recommend it to anyone seeking to become informed about food production, you will never look at meat the same way again! I would also recommend {What To Eat} by {{Marion Nestle}} very informative.

I just read about this book in Mother Jones and it sounds very interesting. The book is Righteous Porkchop by Nicolette Hahn Niman. She takes on the undercover pork lobbyists, tours dozens of manure-infested factories, and eventually sues some of the biggest factory farms in the country for violating the Clean Water Act. I have not read it but do plan on reading it after seeing how well it has been reviewed.

The last really good book that I have read is "Eat your heart out" by Felicity Lawrence (ISBN 978-0-141-02601-5). I hope you dare eating anything afterwards :-D We know nothing about what we eat and how corporations are cheating us with the ingredients they put in our food. I was really surprised. No wonder there is an over-weight "epidemics".

Hey bfretig, i've finally read In defense of food. Although the manifesto is good, as you've found out, we'll be faced with the battle between convenience and freshness. I've been using a "simpler" manifesto. Eat everything in moderation. You sort of diversify your palette to include both the good and the bad, but not be focused on any type of food. However, i do like his "not so much" in the manifesto, something I try to do once in a while during lunch times... :)

Another book that's related to eating is In praise of slow. It's a movement in itself about the way we go about life, but on food itself, it asks to, well, eat slowly. :)

What does everyone think about the Slow Food movement? Do you think it's worthwhile? Do you think it will change anything?

I guess it'll make it easier to catch.

A great new book on this by former FDA commissioner David Kessler is The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. It's a well-researched book on the food industry's tactics for manipulating us into eating too much of the wrong things and how we can replace our learned cue-urge-reward-habit cycle with healthy eating patterns.

i thought The Hungry Self was an interesting take on why women in particular are prone to eating disorders, and how the author suggests that it is linked to gender role/identity creation.

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The book that altered the way I eat was Don't Eat This Book by Morgan Spurlock who also did the movie, Super Size Me. Since reading Spurlock's book in 2005, I've not eaten in a fast food restaurant. I also very closely look at ingredients that are listed on cans and boxes, but, in truth, I try to avoid canned and boxed food items as much as I can.

Last year, I started my own vegetable garden after a neighbor chopped down several trees allowing enough sun into my small yard to successfully grow some of my own food.

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Last year I joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) and simply love it. I became their newsletter editor so I get to write about what ever I like! This year our CSA has doubled in size.

I think our farmer (Pam of Calvert Farm, Cecil County, Maryland) is terrific. She works well with us and provides fabulous fresh produce, mostly veggies. Better yet, it's an organic farm. I thrill at the idea of diverting my hard-earned dollars away from some CEO and toward a local farmer. Her prices are competitive with produce from any of the local supermarkets.

I plan my meals to incorporate the produce but do not base them solely on the produce. I find that freezing surplus food helps to prevent getting tired of the same produce from week to week. The odd quantities don't bother me. I find way to work around them.

I think a lot of the dissatisfaction with CSAs comes from just what you mentioned - too much of one thing, too little of another, too much of the same item week after week. Think about it, though. These are the natural seasons of our food. We are so far removed from our natural agricultural cycle that when we enter into it again, many of us don't like it. I'm willing to allow myself back into my local agricultural cycle again. When each of my crops matures in my garden this summer, I'll be delighted, no matter how abundant or how little.

Just for fun I'm pointing you to a slide show that made my season last year. It's of the first pumpkin plant I ever grew.

Enjoy! Here it is.

As you can see, I get great joy from the natural bounty of our land.

Addendum to my previous message:

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You might find the Local Harvest website a good resource, if you're not already familiar with it.

P.S. What an interesting area of research you've chosen!

I must mention Hope's Edge. It was written by the author of Diet for a Small Planet which was mentioned in one of the previous messages.
It gave me a fresh perspective for many topics - besides food and agriculture, I learned of the idea of microfinance.
It also has some recipes which is a nice addition.

This is a great post... I sometimes feel that I'm the only one around me that takes caution of what I eat. (Did that make any sense?) I might as well of printed out this page, cause I wrote down about half of the books listed.

> What to Eat by Marion Nestle is like a bible for food, it's a great reference.
> Fast Food Nation is another "in your face" truth about fast food, the movie was pretty good too.
> The Compassionate Carnivore is another good book taking you inside conventional farming.
> The Organic Food Shopper's Guide is a great book listing which organic foods to buy and when (seasonal).