For winter reading, Dani Nierenberg, president of Food Tank, a think tank on food, offers another great reading list, this one on food books that answer the question why.
Why bread, which cost a third of household expenditures in Europe 300 years ago, now costs less than 1 percent.
Why many attempts to reform farming and food policy in sub-Saharan Africa haven’t succeeded.
Why New Orleans has long been famous for its amazing food.
Why only a few very large corporations came to dominate agriculture.
To learn the answers to these questions, and other important food questions, take a look the books Nierenberg recommends:
- “A History of Bread: Consumers, Bakers and Public Authorities since the 18th Century” by Peter Scholliers.
- “Chile, Clove, and Cardamom: A Gastronomic Journey Into the Fragrances and Flavors of Desert Cuisines” by Beth Dooley and Gary Paul Nabhan.
- “Chop Chop: Cooking the Food of Nigeria” by Ozoz Sokoh (Forthcoming March 2025).
- “Countering Dispossession, Reclaiming Land: A Social Movement Ethnography” by David E. Gilbert (Forthcoming March 2025).
- “Decolonizing African Agriculture: Food Security, Agroecology and the Need for Radical Transformation” by William G. Moseley.
- “Eating and Being: A History of Ideas about Our Food and Ourselves” by Steven Shapin.
- “Food Activism Today: Sustainability, Climate Change, and Social Justice” by Donald M. Nonini and Dorothy C. Holland.
- “Insatiable City: Food and Race in New Orleans” by Theresa McCulla.
- “Julia Child’s Kitchen: The Design, Tools, Stories, and Legacy of an Iconic Space” by Paula J. Johnson.
- “Modern Chinese Foodways” edited by Jia-Chen Fu, Michelle T. King, and Jakob A. Klein.
- “Planning Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems: From Soil to Soil” by Julia Freedgood.
- “Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed, and the Fight for the Future of Meat” by Chloe Sorvino.
- “Reversing Deforestation: How Market Forces and Local Ownership Are Saving Forests in Latin America” by Brent Sohngen and Douglas Southgate.
- “Seeding Empire: American Philanthrocapital and the Roots of the Green Revolution in Africa” by Aaron Eddens.
- “Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes” by Chantha Nguon with Kim Green.
- “The Crop Cycle: Stories with Deep Roots” by Shane Mitchell.
- “The Nature of Nature: The Metabolic Disorder of Climate Change” by Vandana Shiva.
- “The Proof Is in the Dough: Rural Southern Women, Extension, and Money Making” by Kathryn L. Beasley.
- “Titans of Industrial Agriculture: How a Few Giant Corporations Came to Dominate the Farm Sector and Why It Matters” by Jennifer Clapp (Forthcoming February 2025).
- “The Painful Truth about Hunger in America: Why We Must Unlearn Everything We Think We Know – and Start Again” by Mariana Chilton.
- “The Regenerative Agriculture Solution: A Revolutionary Approach to Building Soil, Creating Climate Resilience, and Supporting Human and Planetary Health” by Ronnie Cummins and André Leu.
- “The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World” by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
- “The Youth Climate Uprising: From the School Strike Movement to an Ecophilosophy of Democracy” by David Fopp, Isabelle Axelsson, and Loukina Tille.
- “Waters of the United States: POTUS, SCOTUS, WOTUS, and the Politics of a National Resource” by Royal C. Gardner.
- “What a Farmer Wants You to Know about Food” by Dennis Bulani.
Check out more details on all these books by clicking here.
Interesting list today, rita.
Thanks. It’s nice to write about something other than politics and grocery prices.
My son is a professional cook. He’d probably love some of these.
Yes, it’s a good list.