Category Archives: Books

Twain’s Feast: Searching for America’s Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens, by Andrew Beahrs

Food on the Frontier: Minnesota Cooking from 1850 to 1900 with Selected Recipes, by Marjorie Kreidberg

The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, by Mark Kurlansky

Cod: A Biography of Fish that Changed the World, by Mark Kurlansky

The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food – Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation’s Food was Seasonal, by Mark Kurlansky

Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky

The Taste of America, by John and Karen Hess

Out of the Ordinary: Recipes from The Hingham Historical Society, by The Hingham Historical Society

Desert Terrior: Exploring the Unique Flavors of Sundry Places of the Borderlands, by Gary Nabhan

Where Our Food Comes From, by Gary Nabhan

Peanuts: The Illustrious History of the Goober Pea, by Andrew F. Smith

Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in American, by Andrew F. Smith

Fading Feast: A Compendium of Disappearing American Regional Foods, by Raymond Sokolov

The Way We Ate: Pacific Northwest Cooking, 1843-1900, by Jacqueline B. Williams

These two outstanding books present different takes on “food heritage,” one from the woods of Virginia, the other from the bush of the Bahamas.

Bush Medicine of the Bahamas, by Jeff McCormack

“A sound ethnobotanical book with good coverage, pleasing format, written in an engaging style. The reader will especially enjoy, as did I, the interesting and colorful personal accounts of bush medicine. … The wondrous field of Ethnobotany grows and grows, thanks to great books like this.” — James A. Duke, Ph.D. author of the CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, and The Green Pharmacy.

“… This book feels as though it has emerged from the field, and not from a lofty tower. The interviews have more than mere data in them: they have story. And what beautiful stories they are, some of them with healing power in their own right.”— from the Foreword by Gary Paul Nabhan, internationally-celebrated nature writer, and ethnobotanist

The Beginner’s Guide to Hunting Deer for Food, by Jackson Landers

“Hunting deer is the most inexpensive, environmentally friendly way to acquire organic, grass-fed meat. Even if you’ve never held a gun before, author Jackson Landers can show you how to supplement your food supply with venison taken near your home. He addresses everything a new hunter needs to know: how to choose the correct rifle and ammunition, how to hunt effectively and safely, and what to do if something goes wrong. He includes chapters on field dressing and butchering after the kill, recipes for using the meat, and a chapter on the politics and psychology of hunting. Whether you hunt to be more self-sufficient, to eat the safest and most nutritious meat possible, to protect the environment, or to save money, this book is the perfect guide.”  – Amazon.com

All across the country, Americans are seeking more fresh, local foods – at home, in their schools, in restaurants, and at food markets. Grassroots community food projects from Boston to Nashville to Birmingham to Seattle are rising to meet this demand. Led by innovative, creative people from all walks of life, these projects are building community by creating valuable jobs, preserving cultural traditions, building local knowledge about growing food, and educating school-children.

Where others have made the case for the local food movement, Reclaiming Our Food shows how communities are actually making it happen. This book offers a wealth of information on how to make local food a practical and affordable part of everyone’s daily fare.