Cultural studies: food and society Books

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Informative, pragmatic responses about what, why, and how we eat." * Kirkus Reviews *“An easily digestible series of Q&A-format chapters, the book explores questions of what personal nutrition looks like in our complicated food world, and how both flawed policy and corporate interests can make sustainable and healthy eating challenging. . . . Nestle deftly threads many of the nutritional issues facing the country.”
 * FoodPrint *"There is no one who knows more about food politics and policy and its effects on health in this country than Marion Nestle. . . . Years of research on various aspects of our systems have made her the go-to, for many of us, when we can't make sense of something that should be very straightforward but is anything but. . . . Her perspective is expansive and her opinions direct." * KCRW/Good Food *“[Addresses] some of the most pressing issues around consumers’ diets, local and global food systems, and the environment. . . . Offers readers an accessible introduction to these complex topics. It also shows readers how they can fight for a better food system and a healthier planet.” * Food Tank *"Klein offers a concrete and approachable doorway to a discussion and study of race in America. She tells a compelling story, devoid of jargon and not requiring specialized knowledge, while still grounded in rigorous research." * Food, Culture & Society *"This 'little book' has big messages and is well worth reading even by those already active in food and nutrition advocacy. It achieves its goal of being accessible to diverse readers. Overall, it integrates topics that are discussed separately in Nestle’s previous books and that are often considered separately in public health and larger societal discourse but must ultimately be addressed by coordinated solutions." * American Journal of Public Health *Table of ContentsIntroduction I. THE POLITICS OF PERSONAL DIETS AND HEALTH 1. What is a healthy diet? 2. Why does nutrition advice always seem to be changing? 3. Are low-carb diets really better for us? 4. Can food be addictive? 5. Is fake meat better for us—and the planet—than the real thing? 6. Is it a good idea to self-medicate with supplements or superfoods? II. THE COMMUNITY POLITICS OF FOOD CHOICE 7. Why should anyone go hungry, ever? 8. Is obesity really only a matter of personal responsibility? 9. Why isn’t healthy school food a no-brainer? 10. Why don’t we demand a higher standard of food safety? 11. Why can’t we stop wasting food? 12. Do we need a national food policy agency? III. THE GLOBAL POLITICS OF DIETS, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT 13. Can we feed the world well? 14. Is the “free” market the path to a stable global food supply? 15. Can we stop agriculture from contributing to global warming? 16. Will technology fix our food system? 17. What are Sustainable Development Goals, and why should we care? 18. Is there a road map to the future of food? Conclusion: Take Action Abbreviations Sources and Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisA WALL STREET JOURNAL FAVORITE FOOD BOOK OF THE EARFrom the author of Queen Sugar—now a critically acclaimed series on OWN directed by Ava Duvernay—comes a beautiful exploration and celebration of black farming in America.Trade Review“We Are Each Other’s Harvest is a groundbreaking and amazing collection of voices that reveal Black people’s devotion to agriculture. Expressing our contributions to the world from ground up, it is a tribute to our ancestors and a gift for us and the future. May these words free our soul indefinitely, while keeping our roots strong.” — Ibram X. Kendi, author of Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist "Every page of this poetic assemblage is watermarked with love—the same love for farmers and their painfully forged legacy that birthed the success of Queen Sugar. The love in We Are Each Other’s Harvest also incites a visceral remembering of the rich legacy from which we all come and celebrates the resilience that is our DNA." — Tina Lifford, actress, and author of The Little Book of Big Lies “Black, brown and tan hands in dark rich loamy soil or in sandy shoals have been a part of the agricultural life of this country since its inception. Yet, all too often, the stories of African American farmers have remained unharvested. In We Are Each Other’s Harvest, Natalie Baszile reaps a bounty of tales and shares them along with photographs, history, poetry, and more. This is a must-have volume for anyone who revers that land and those who work it.” — Jessica B. Harris, Ph.D., Culinary Historian, Professor, and author of My Soul Looks Back “Journeying from Alaska to Louisiana to Napa Valley, We Are Each Other’s Harvest uplifts the voices of Black farmers, honoring their perseverance and resilience. This insightful, eye-opening collection helps to reimagine what it means to be dedicated to the land.” — Alice Waters, chef, author, food activist, owner of Chez Panisse and founder of The Edible Schoolyard Project “With stunning color portraits and quotes from iconic writers, leaders, and others interspersed throughout, this well-researched collection is readable (while it requires sitting with some hard truths), informative, and inspiring. Black farming and farmers play a much more significant role in American culture than is typically represented, and this collection brings that information beautifully to the fore, as well as inviting readers to interrogate their own connections to the land and this history.” — Booklist (starred review) “Novelist Baszile (Queen Sugar) explores the legacy of “Black and brown farmers” in this winning anthology of essays, poems, photographs, and interviews… With its attractive presentation and incisive blend of academic, creative, and real-world perspectives, this inspirational survey is a fitting tribute to Black farmers throughout history.” — Publishers Weekly “We Are Each Other’s Harvest offers moving, edifying food for thought and will whet your appetite for action.” — BookPage “In her new anthology, Natalie Baszile examines the relationship between Black farming and American culture through essays, photographs, first-person accounts and more. Together, these pieces dissect the legacy of Black farmers in the U.S. and the impact of land loss and food injustice over generations. In illuminating how these farmers persevered in the face of such challenges, Baszile creates a moving collection about identity, food and community.” — Time magazine “Baszile’s beautifully produced compendium of essays, poems, and photographs explores Black Americans’ connection to the soil.” — The Boston Globe "[T]he celebration Natalie Baszile refers to in “We Are Each Other’s Harvest: Celebrating African American Farmers Land, and Legacy” is leavened by hard truths and cruelties of efforts to run Black farmers off the land...Baszile has recruited some strong writers to tell their family farming stories of perseverance and a kinship with the land best understood by people who work the rhythms of soil, plants and weather." — Associated Press “Baszile's collection of essays, poems and family histories pay homage to the Black farmers who tilled North American earth, first under enslavement and then as free people. . . . Baszile brings a personal passion for her theme.” — Shelf Awareness

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Book Synopsis*Winner of the 2022 Cherasco International Prize*''Thoroughly engrossing'' Michael Pollan, The Atlantic''Wonderful, energising'' Kathryn Hughes, The GuardianCoffee is one of the most valuable commodities in the history of the global economy and the world''s most popular drug. The very word ''coffee'' is one of the most widespread on the planet. Augustine Sedgewick''s brilliant new history tells the hidden and surprising story of how this came to be, tracing coffee''s 400-year transformation into an everyday necessity.The story is one that few coffee drinkers know. Coffeeland centres on the volcanic highlands of El Salvador, where James Hill, born in the slums of nineteenth-century Manchester, founded one of the world''s great coffee dynasties. Adapting the innovations of the industrial revolution to plantation agriculture, Hill helped to turn El Salvador into perhaps the most intensive monoculture in modern history, a place of extraordinary productivity, inequality and violence.The book follows coffee from the Hill family plantations into the United States, through the San Francisco roasting plants into supermarkets, kitchens and work places, and finally into today''s omnipresent cafés. Sedgewick reveals the unexpected consequences of the rise of coffee, which reshaped large areas of the tropics, transformed understandings of energy, and ultimately made us dependent on a drug served in a cup.''Gripping'' The Spectator''An eye-opening, stimulating brew'' The EconomistTrade ReviewWonderful, energising ... Coffeeland is a data-rich piece of original research that shows in compelling detail how coffee capitalism has delivered both profit and pain, comfort and terror to different people at different times over the past 200 years ... Sedgwick's great achievement is to clothe macroeconomics in warm, breathing flesh. -- Kathryn Hughes * The Guardian *Thoroughly engrossing ... his literary gifts and prodigious research make for a deeply satisfying reading experience studded with narrative surprise. Sedgewick has a knack for the sparkling digression and arresting jump cut, hopping back and forth between El Salvador and the wider world. -- Michael Pollan * The Atlantic *Both a curio-shop of forgotten snippets of history and quirky facts - who knew mocha was so called because it was shipped out of a Yemeni port of the same name? - as well as a theory of the modern world ... there is much here to entertain, educate and - dare one say it of a book about coffee - stimulate. -- David Pilling * Financial Times *Sedgewick's gripping book exposes the dark heart of what goes into making a ubiquitous commodity, cherished every morning, enshrined in the workplace and appreciated after a meal. It provides a devastating answer to the question: 'What does it mean to be connected to faraway people and places through everyday things?' -- Colin Greenwood * The Spectator *An erudite and engrossing socioeconomic history ... With a forensic grasp of detail, Sedgewick charts the rise of mass-marketing and modern retail strategies through the story of the humble coffee bean ... Yet Coffeeland's poignant message runs wider still. Ultimately, the story of coffee, today's 'unrivaled work drug', is also the story of globalisation. -- Oliver Balch * Literary Review *Many fascinating details... Mr Sedgewick's book is a parable of how a commodity can link producers, consumers, markets and politics in unexpected ways. Like the drink it describes, it is an eye-opening, stimulating brew. * The Economist *[A] beautifully written, engaging and sprawling portrait of how coffee made modern El Salvador, while it also helped to remake consumer habits worldwide. * New York Times *It's a rich and complex story and the book is full of glances at the history of the times ... This is a staggeringly well-researched piece of work. -- Roger Alton * Daily Mail *Impressive ... People and food as much as coffee itself are the focus of Sedgewick's concern and the nexus of some of the most surprising connections in Coffeeland ... A powerful indictment of labour relations in El Salvador and capitalism in general. -- Judith Hawley * Times Literary Supplement *Epic, illuminating ... Coffeeland functions not just as the story of one country's relationship to coffee, but as a pocket history of globalisation itself ... It is a story very worth telling - and one that reaches out far beyond so-called "Coffeeland" itself. -- Tim Smith-Laing * Daily Telegraph *Informed and entertaining ... Coffeeland is thoroughly researched and Sedgewick is a stylish writer. -- Ed Cumming * i newspaper *Extremely wide-ranging and well researched, Sedgewick's story reaches out into American political history ... The originality and ambition of Sedgewick's work is that he insistently sees the dynamic between producer and consumer-Central American peasant and North American proletarian-not merely as one of exploited and exploiter but as a manufactured co-dependence between two groups both exploited by capitalism. -- Adam Gopnik * New Yorker *Meticulously researched, vivid in its scene-setting, fine-toothed in its sociopolitical analysis . . . Coffeeland lays bare the history and reality behind that cup of joe you're drinking. -- Michael Upchurch * Boston Globe *How did a cup of coffee become the everyday addiction of millions? In this impressively wide-ranging, personality-filled history, Augustine Sedgewick untangles the routes that carried coffee from the slopes of El Salvador's volcanoes ... To enter Coffeeland is to visit a realm of ruthless entrepreneurs, hard-working laborers, laboratory chemists, and guerrilla fighters. -- Maya Jasanoff, author of THE DAWN WATCHCapitalism has remade the global countryside in radical ways. Coffeeland brilliantly chronicles this most consequential revolution by telling the global history of one family. After reading Augustine Sedgewick's fast-paced book you will never be able to think about your morning coffee in quite the same way. -- Sven Beckert, author of EMPIRE OF COTTONCoffeeland will set a new standard ... an innovative study of work, of the work involved to produce a drink needed by workers to keep working. Sedgewick treats coffee not so much as a material commodity but rather more like intangible energy ... provocative and convincing. -- Greg Grandin, author of THE END OF THE MYTH

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times bestseller *Shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize*A New Statesman and Spectator Book of the Year''This book calls for nothing less than a revolution in the future of food'' Kate RaworthFrom the bestselling author of Feral, a breathtaking first glimpse of a new future for food and for humanityFarming is the world''s greatest cause of environmental destruction - and the one we are least prepared to talk about. We criticise urban sprawl, but farming sprawls across thirty times as much land. We have ploughed, fenced and grazed great tracts of the planet, felling forests, killing wildlife, and poisoning rivers and oceans to feed ourselves. Yet millions still go hungry.Now the food system itself is beginning to falter. But, as George Monbiot shows us in this brilliant, bracingly original new book, we can resolve the biggest of our dilemmas and feed the world without devouring the planet.Regenesis is a breathtaking vision of a new future for food and for humanity. Drawing on astonishing advances in soil ecology, Monbiot reveals how our changing understanding of the world beneath our feet could allow us to grow more food with less farming. He meets the people who are unlocking these methods, from the fruit and vegetable grower revolutionising our understanding of fertility; through breeders of perennial grains, liberating the land from ploughs and poisons; to the scientists pioneering new ways to grow protein and fat. Together, they show how the tiniest life forms could help us make peace with the planet, restore its living systems, and replace the age of extinction with an age of regenesis.Trade ReviewThis book calls for nothing less than a revolution in the future of food - one that will literally transform the face of the Earth, to make food affordable for all while restoring the living world. Such a vision sounds near impossible, but Monbiot reveals the food pioneers whose extraordinary innovations could bring it within reach. Never shying from controversy, Regenesis weaves the poetry of soil into the politics of farming to shake the ground on which we all grow. This is Monbiot's masterpiece: an urgent and exhilarating journey into remaking what and how we eat -- Kate RaworthRegenesis speaks to us like a poem that begins with a phantasmagoria of that which lies under the soil, offers a magnificent political economy of global food production and concludes with a hopeful vision of a techno-ethical equilibrium between Humanity and Nature. It must be read -- Yanis VaroufakisPeople from all walks of life should read this remarkable book. It is in my view one of the two or three most important books to appear this century -- Prof. Sir David King, former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK GovernmentAs we begin to rethink our relationship with Nature, the unstinting work of George Monbiot becomes ever more valuable. Monbiot has been at the cutting edge of the discussion for decades, and his extraordinary book covers this complex, evolving subject with depth and breadth, sincerity and humour. I never cease to be surprised by the unexpected perspectives he brings to bear, leading me through problems I never envisaged and solutions I never imagined. We are left with the hope that the solutions might triumph, that we might make it through -- Brian EnoA book offering evidence-based hope is a rare thing in these days of climate and nature emergency - yet that's exactly what George Monbiot has written. Inspiring and compelling, Regenesis sets out a transformative vision of a new food future with the potential to both restore nature and feed the world. Monbiot's blueprint is both wildly ambitious and deeply practical, and might well be our last best hope of stopping the sixth great extinction -- Caroline LucasThis remarkable book, staring curiously down at the soil beneath our feet, points us convincingly in one of the directions we must travel. I learned something on every page -- Bill McKibbenGeorge Monbiot clears paths towards solutions that lie dormant within us, which, if embraced, could transform our world and our societies into better places. He reaches for new ideas that might ignite the collective consciousness in a push to protect, rather than tragically destroy, the biosphere. Read George Monbiot and you will meet the cheerful courage and passion of a fellow traveller on this earth who seeks authentic hope -- ANOHNIFor anyone who cares about where our food comes from and its impact on the planet Regenesis is essential reading. This deeply researched book lifts the lid on our current methods of food production and all its dirty secrets: but more than that it provides a blueprint for the future. Monbiot pursues the key question: how can we have healthy food that's cheap enough for everyone to eat? His answers provide critical pathways towards a way to feed the planet -- Rosie BoycottForget Elon Musk's dry-as-dust retro sci-fi fantasies, George Monbiot gives us an inspiring vision of the future that is alive and kicking and grounded in the latest scientific discoveries. George Monbiot has combined his gifts as an investigator, interviewer and witty storyteller to create an exhiliarating epic! -- Robert NewmanA fascinating and ultimately positive book ... a harmonic vision of how changing our relationship to land use, farming and the food that we eat could transform our lives -- Thom YorkeWonderful ... Monbiot shows that the thin layer on which all terrestrial ecosystems stand is alive with organisms as diverse, fascinating and mysterious as any found above ground. He shatters the shibboleths of farming, showing the way to a radical transformation of agricultural practices and exciting new opportunities for nourishment -- David SuzukiRegenesis is a world-making, world-changing book; at once visionary and rigorous and practicable. It rings and sings throughout with Monbiot's extraordinary combination of passion, generosity and justice. It is braced by his unshakeable commitment to bettering the planet for all its inhabitants, human and other-than-human. It is a thrilling work, more ambitious even than its predecessor, Feral, and it gripped me as I read. Recognising that "the future is underground", Monbiot shows us that the possibility for a transformed relationship with food, the living world and each other lies just beneath our feet, right under our noses -- Robert MacfarlaneA brilliant, mesmerizing, vital book. Beneath each square meter of soil live thousands of species, and each chapter of George Monbiot's eye-opening exploration of that soil and its potential is similarly, dynamically rich-delivering a whole new way of thinking about our agriculture and our diets, our climate and our future. And much needed hope, besides -- David Wallace-WellsA genuinely brilliant, inspirational book ... George Monbiot embarks on a journey of discovery, realising that soil and its role in our life is bigger than everything else. Halfway through, I felt like a child who was bursting to share a secret with anyone who would listen. By the time I had finished reading, I felt as if the purest mountain stream had washed through my brain, and Monbiot had shared the most fundamentally important insight of his life -- Sir Tim Smit, Founder of the Eden ProjectYou may think you are across environmental and climate change issues, but think again. This passionate, extraordinary book opens up a compelling and vital new dimension: food and the way the world farms -- Will HuttonWith rigour, singular bravery and an infectious love for the living world, George Monbiot presents the Silent Spring of our time. Regenesis is an eye-watering reckoning of humanity's land and food crisis and an astonishing vision of survival and restoration. Monbiot takes us on a journey from the rhizospheres and the drilospheres through soil ecology, cultural myths, to the future of food all bound together with his own wonder-ful, beautifully-written observations. There is no topic more important for planetary survival than land and food, and there is no writer willing to dispense of bullshit, tell us the truth, and take on powerful forces and perceived wisdom like George Monbiot. A visionary, fearless, essential book -- Lucy JonesMonbiot rolls up his sleeves and pulls on his boots for an uncompromising session of agricultural dragon-slaying and foodie myth-busting. Unafraid to propose a new world order for farming and food production that is kinder to both people and planet, Regenesis is rigorous and restive, but also witty, original and humane. Let us hope it is read, digested and acted on by people, politicians and policy-makers the world over -- Hugh Fearnley-WhittingstallI am so grateful George Monbiot has applied his razor sharp intellect, bountiful curiosity and love for the land to the complex and fundamental issue of what we eat. This book offers a deep dive into the most essential question of our time - how might we feed ourselves without destroying our planet in the process? -- Lily ColeThis is an important book and a gripping read. It will enflame vested interests on all sides. Because Monbiot has that most aggravating of gifts - the ability lucidly to point out things that people desperately do not want to be true -- Henry DimblebyHow can we ensure that everyone is fed without destroying the biosphere? Regenesis is a lively and deeply researched enquiry that confronts our dilemmas head on. There are no easy answers, but Monbiot provides a brilliant guide to asking the right questions. Transformation is urgently needed and this book shows how it is possible -- Merlin SheldrakeGeorge Monbiot is a very skilful writer, and Regenesis shows all his powers at full stretch. He seems to see more fully than almost anyone else in this field, with a clarity of attention both to the smallest realities of a handful of soil and to the widest implications of the way human beings have lived and continue to live in the world. Telling things in the right order doesn't seem like one of the functions of the imagination, but again and again Monbiot shows that it is, with all the imaginative sympathy of a great storyteller as well as the overarching understanding of a moral visionary. This is a fine and necessary book -- Philip PullmanGeorge Monbiot is one of the most fearless and important voices in the global climate movement today -- Greta ThunbergI used to look up to the stars for thoughts of infinity, eternity and divine cooperation. This book revealed to me I could find the same inspiration beneath the soles of my feet in less than a foot of soil. My walks on earth will never be the same as they were. The writing, observation and devotion is infectiously compelling. The learning is deep and immense -- Mark RylanceA magnificent new overview of how we might live and feed ourselves without destroying ourselves ... It is riveting ... Along with a dazzling array of stats, there's also impressive investigative reporting ... rich food for thought, devastating figures, startling insights and even the odd joke ... A hugely important read -- Christopher Hart * The Sunday Times *A call to raze the pastoral imaginary so that we can begin to think clearly about how we produce food and steward the soil ... To have any chance of turning the age of extinction into an age of regeneration, systemic reform, based on the facts, not pastoral myth-making, is essential -- Philippa Nuttall * New Statesman *Colossally important... You've got to read it -- Max Porter (via Twitter)A treasure trove of hope and solutions, and a vision for a sustainable, healthy, equitable world. We meet inspiring farmers as well as some radical solutions ... Comprehensive, devastating, rousing ... An essential book -- Rowan Hooper * New Scientist *Big ideas, beautifully written and the portraits of people building the alternatives are gorgeous! Makes you angry and enraptured with the beauty of the natural world all at once -- Aaron Bastani (via Twitter)A paean to the wonder that is the ecology of soil, scientifically informed and beautifully told. The perfect bank holiday read -- Yadvinder Malhi, Professor of Ecosystem Science at the University of OxfordPhenomenal. Clear, eloquent, fearless and devastating in its analysis. A revolution in the future of food -- Adam Rutherford (via Twitter)Glorious ... intelligent, deeply researched .... The point Monbiot makes so ably and so necessarily is that system change is both essential and possible through a complexity of solutions ... The stakes could not be higher. If a book can change hearts and minds about one of the most critical issues of our time, this rational, humane polemic is it -- Gaia Vince * Observer *Revolutionary ... Rigorous, bold and clear-sighted ... To conjure the miracle of more food with less farming, we need to rethink what lies beneath our feet -- David Farrier * Prospect *Vivid and memorable... Regenesis is a compelling, deeply researched account of a deeply broken food system and how we might heal it * Irish Times *A compelling story of soil, food and farming * Financial Times *Ambitious and deeply researched ... Monbiot exposes, with journalistic flair, the 'gulf between perception and reality' about where and how our food is produced ... it includes some fascinating case studies ... bristling with ideas and imagination -- Laura Battle * Financial Times *Eye-opening, persuasive, meticulously researched [...] Monbiot thinks globally [... and] his arguments take account of the needs of everyone in society -- Amy Liptrot * Guardian *A paean to soil, told more gracefully and memorably than anyone before him... Regenesis is likely to become a classic. Monbiot is a writer of the first rank -- Bill McKibben * Times Literary Supplement *Inspiring, courageous, and bursting with ideas -- Jeremy Williams * The Earthbound Report *

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Book SynopsisThis unique book is an exciting global journey into the origins, technologies, and recipes of ancient beer as well as into beer's continued importance today in diet, ritual, and economics.Trade ReviewIt is only the beer drinkers that survived long enough to reproduce and pass their genes in our direction. Beer has been at the heart of most societies on earth-and this book is an authoritative and fascinating dip into thousands of years of fertile history of the world's favorite adult beverage. * Charles Bamforth, author of In Praise of Beer *If you've ever wondered, as a brewer or beer aficionado, what a brew from thousands of years ago in Africa or anywhere else on planet Earth might have tasted like and how it was made, this is the book for you. John W. Arthur's globetrotting doesn't stop in the past as he ventures into remote villages and tribal conclaves of today and captivates you with traditional beers of all kinds. These brews celebrated life, sustained gods and ancestors, or simply brought a joie de vivre to our everyday life. * Patrick E. McGovern, author of Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages and Ancient Brews: Rediscovered and Re-created *This wonderful book richly documents the foundational role that beer, and beer-enhanced sociality, has played in human societies around the world for over 10,000 years. Although beer and other chemical intoxicants are too often given short shrift by scholars, Arthur demonstrates that it is impossible to fully understand the technology, economics, health and nutritional outcomes, ritual practices, or social structures of most cultures without understanding how beer is produced, traded, and consumed. Impressively detailed and comprehensive. * Edward Slingerland, author of Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization *Arthur's book belongs in every serious library. Highly recommended. * Choice *The text is quite accessible and could easily be incorporated into upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses. * Liza Gijanto, African Archaeological Review *Table of Contents1. Introduction - Beer is Food 2. The Diversity of Indigenous Beer Production 3. Near Eastern and Asian Beers: Stone Bowls, Red-Crown Cranes, Ancient Hymns, and Ancestral Spirits 4. African Beers: Feeding the Living and the Ancestors 5. European Beers: Henges, Vikings, Monks, and Our Favorite Brews 6. Meso- and South American Beers: Beer Fuels Runners, Roads, and Feasts 7. Tapped Out Index

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Book SynopsisSam Bilton explores our complex relationship with this versatile confection, which is made from the humble beans of the tropical cacao tree.

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Book SynopsisThe tomato gets no respect. Never has. Lost in the dustbin of history for centuries, accused of being vile and poisonous, subjected to being picked hard-green and gassed, even used as a projectile, the poor tomato has become the avatar for our disaffection with industrial foods - while becoming the most popular vegetable in America (and, in fact, the world). Each summer, tomato festivals crop up across the country; the Heinz ketchup bottle, instantly recognizable, has earned a spot in the Smithsonian; and now the tomato is redefining the very nature of farming, moving from fields into climate-controlled mega-greenhouses the size of New England villages. Supported by meticulous research and told in a lively, accessible voice, Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World seamlessly weaves travel, history, humour, and a little adventure (and misadventure) to follow the tomato's trail through history. A fascinating story complete with heroes, con artists, conquistadors, and-no surprise-the Mafia, this book is a mouth-watering, informative, and entertaining guide to the food that has captured our hearts for generations.

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Book SynopsisInspiring. -MARK BITTMANOne of the best stories under the sun. -JOSÉ ANDRÉSFrom James Beard Award-winner Rowan Jacobsen, the thrilling story of the farmers, activists, and chocolate makers fighting all odds to revive ancient cacao and produce the world''s finest bar.When Rowan Jacobsen first heard of a chocolate bar made entirely from wild Bolivian cacao, he was skeptical. The waxy mass-market chocolate of his childhood had left him indifferent to it, and most experts believed wild cacao had disappeared from the rainforest centuries ago. But one dazzling bite of Cru Sauvage was all it took. Chasing chocolate down the supply chain and back through history, Jacobsen travels the rainforests of the Amazon and Central America to find the chocolate makers, activists, and indigenous leaders who are bucking the system that long ago abandoned wild and heirloom cacao in favor of high-yield, low-flavor varietals preferred by

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Book SynopsisAsk about German food and most people think of beer and sausage, or pretzels and Limburger cheese. However, the 82 million inhabitants of modern-day Germany do not all live exclusively on Oktoberfest fare. In fact, Germans have a long tradition of taking outside influences into their cuisine, and there is a wide variety of food eaten within the various regions of the country. Beyond Bratwurst traces the many traditions that have combined to form German food today. From their earliest beginnings, food and cooking in Germany have been marked by geographic and climatic differences between north and south, as well as continuous cultural influences from bordering countries. The openness of Germans to these influences has resulted in the frequent reinvention of their cuisine. The regional variations of today are based as much on political, cultural and socioeconomic history as on geography: the story of German food includes the back-to-the-land movement of the late nineteenth century and the development of modern mass-market products by Justus von Liebig and Dr Oetker, as well as rationing and shortages under the Nazis, post-war hunger and divisions between East and West.& #8232;
 Beyond Bratwurst describes who eats what, how, where, when and why in Germany, telling the stories of many German specialities such as beer, stollen, rye bread and lebkuchen, as well as more surprising German favourites.

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Book SynopsisWhether pizza is served as high-end cuisine or a poor man's food, this global product transcends the boundaries of culture and social class. The circular piece of dough has long become an established superfood. It is so much more than just something we eat. Aside from culinary considerations, the preparation, consumption and ubiquity of pizza involves at least as many social aspects. These must be taken into account in order to understand the entirety of this phenomenon. For instance, in sociology the "pizza effect" refers to reciprocal processes of reception and exchange and thus to the constant transformation of cultures. Only recently did the UNESCO in Paris allow Italy to formally register the preparation of pizza as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. That's iconic! The collection "Pizza is God" accompanies the eponymous international group exhibition. Situating a cultural phenomenon in the world of contemporary art, the exhibition will be staged by NRW-Forum Dusseldorf in 2018. This feast for the eyes, which combines painting, photography, net art, as well as video and performance, is complemented in the book by texts and essays written by renowned experts from the fields of food history, culture and science. Text in English and German.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Andrew Friedman’s deep dive into The Dish gives us a great appreciation and understanding of the people who play a part in the meals we order in restaurants. This book should be required reading for all of us who enjoy going out to eat!” — Marcus Samuelsson, James Beard Award-winning author, chef, and restauranter “Andrew Friedman has achieved a long overdue thing: shown just how much skill, connectivity, personal touch, and professional grace exists in our restaurant culture. It is a real gift to have an archivist like Andrew who cares so much about cooks, producers and service workers document this work with such a loving and truthful eye.” — Lisa Donovan, James Beard Award-winning author of Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger Perpetual Hunger “Tail to nose and root to stem, Andrew Friedman serves the life story of a single plate of food at a single restaurant and somehow conjures an entire world of blue-collar work.” — Amanda Cohen, Chef/Owner of Dirt Candy “Who is really behind the food we eat at a restaurant? Andrew Friedman, in The Dish, perfectly orchestrates what it takes to go from farm…and ranch…and vineyard…to mouth.” — Tom Colicchio, Chef/Owner of Crafted Hospitality

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Book SynopsisFor centuries, professional cooking was a job exclusively for men. As a result, most histories of food and cooking, even today, are dominated by male achievements. But while historians weren''t paying attention, women all over the world have been quietly changing the way we eat, cook, and dine out, inventing standardized measures, dishwashers, coffee filters, and even Champagne and buffalo wings!In A WOMAN''S PLACE, these hidden figures of culinary history have the chance to tell their stories. Stories like that of Leah Chase, whose New Orleans restaurant sheltered and fed the civil rights movement, or Madhur Jaffrey, who became an accidental celebrity chef teaching English and American home cooks how to cook Indian food.With lively illustrations depicting the women in scenes from their everyday lives, and stories ranging around the globe and across centuries, A WOMAN''S PLACE is the perfect gift for the foodie, history lover, or groundbreaking woman or girl in your

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Book SynopsisIn Closing the Food Gap, food activist and journalist Mark Winne poses questions too often overlooked in our current conversations around food: What about those people who are not financially able to make conscientious choices about where and how to get food? And in a time of rising rates of both diabetes and obesity, what can we do to make healthier foods available for everyone?To address these questions, Winne tells the story of how America''s food gap has widened since the 1960s, when domestic poverty was rediscovered, and how communities have responded with a slew of strategies and methods to narrow the gap, including community gardens, food banks, and farmers'' markets. The story, however, is not only about hunger in the land of plenty and the organized efforts to reduce it; it is also about doing that work against a backdrop of ever-growing American food affluence and gastronomical expectations. With the popularity of Whole Foods and increasingly common community-supported agriculture (CSA), wherein subscribers pay a farm so they can have fresh produce regularly, the demand for fresh food is rising in one population as fast as rates of obesity and diabetes are rising in another. Over the last three decades, Winne has found a way to connect impoverished communities experiencing these health problems with the benefits of CSAs and farmers'' markets; in Closing the Food Gap, he explains how he came to his conclusions. With tragically comic stories from his many years running a model food organization, the Hartford Food System in Connecticut, alongside fascinating profiles of activists and organizations in communities across the country, Winne addresses head-on the struggles to improve food access for all of us, regardless of income level. Using anecdotal evidence and a smart look at both local and national policies, Winne offers a realistic vision for getting locally produced, healthy food onto everyone''s table.

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Book SynopsisIn this pioneering study Vivienne Richmond reveals the importance of dress to the nineteenth-century English poor, who valued clothing not only for its practical utility, but also as a central element in the creation and assertion of collective and individual identities.Trade Review'Vivienne Richmond demonstrates the power of clothing in the lives of the working and indigent poor of nineteenth-century England: children, women and men. This is an innovative exploration of clothing cultures, both those crafted by individuals and those imposed by state and institutional authorities. Subtle and insightful, Richmond brings new perspectives to this important topic.' Beverly Lemire, University of Alberta'Vivienne Richmond tells a very sad historical story, about the bodily and psychological misery of a large proportion of the population in nineteenth-century Britain; but she is not afraid to be wry, or ironic, or outraged and sometimes very funny, when appropriate.' Carolyn Steedman, University of WarwickTable of ContentsIntroduction: identifying the poor, locating their clothes; 1. Setting the standard: working-class dress; 2. 'Frankly a mystery': budgeting for clothes; 3. 'Poverty busied itself': buying clothes; 4. 'Woman's best weapon': needlework and home-made clothing; 5. 'The struggle for respectability'; 6. The sense of self; 7. 'The bowels of compassion': clothing and the Poor Law; 8. 'An urgent desire to clothe them': ladies' clothing charities; 9. 'We have nothing but our clothes': charity schools and servants; 10. 'The greatest stigma and disgrace': lunatic asylums, workhouses and prisons; Conclusion: no finery; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisChina''s food safety system is in crisis. Egregious scandals, as varied as the sale of liquor laced with Viagra and the distribution of fake eggs, reveal how regulatory practices have been stretched to their limit in the world''s largest food production system. On Feeding the Masses focuses on the oft-cited but ultimately overlooked concept of scale to identify the root causes of China''s regulatory failures in food safety. The ''politics of scale'' framework highlights how regulators disagree on which level of government is best suited to regulate (''the scale of governance''), struggle to address multilevel tensions (''multidimensional scale integration''), and fail to understand how policies at one level of government can affect other levels of government in unexpected and costly ways (''scale externalities''). Drawing from over 200 interviews with food safety regulators and producers, the study provides one of the most comprehensive accounts of China''s food safety crisis to date.Trade Review'Food safety has become one of the most salient quality-of-life issues. Using a 'politics of scale' framework, John K. Yasuda sheds important light on the politics of food safety in China. He also helps us appreciate the challenges of governance in large-scale polities.' Dali L. Yang, University of Chicago'Why do government regulations designed to safeguard the public so often fail to achieve this goal in practice? John K. Yasuda's On Feeding the Masses provides a fresh answer to this important question by going deep inside the Chinese state. Yasuda finds that the lackluster performance of China's national food safety system stems not from corruption, lack of state capacity, or recalcitrant bureaucrats, but from 'scale politics,' that is, the difficulties of coordinating knowledge, procedures, and rules across different levels of government. Yasuda's 'politics of scale' theoretical framework, which he elucidates and tests with impressive subnational and cross-national evidence, offers an exciting new way for scholars and practitioners to understand and manage the challenges of multilevel governance.' Richard Snyder, Brown University, Rhode Island'… Yasuda's new book On Feeding the Masses: An anatomy of Regulatory Failure in China is worth the wait. … Part of the appeal of Yasuda's conceptual framework is its ability to incorporate so much analytical territory. Overall, Yasuda's book will appeal to political scientists and policy analysts researching China, as well as anyone researching or working in the food industries in China. It is also an excellent teaching resource for undergraduate and graduate courses on food and government in China.' Sacha Cody, newbooks.asiaTable of Contents1. Food safety and China's scale problem; 2. Revisiting scale; 3. On feeding the masses; 4. The export sector: the heavy hand of direct control; 5. CSA markets: 'I don't sell vegetables, I sell trust'; 6. Failed state policies: scale and its discontents; 7. Co-regulatory initiatives: China's big, small farmer problem; 8. Scaling-down: moving from global to the local; 9. Scaling-up: from local experiments to national solutions?; 10. The scale politics of regulatory giants compared; 11. Parting thoughts on scale; Appendix; References; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisThis Companion provides an engaging and expansive overview of gustation, gastronomy, agriculture and alimentary activism in literature from the medieval period to the present day, as well as an illuminating introduction to cookbooks as literature. Bringing together sixteen original essays by leading scholars, the collection rethinks literary food from a variety of critical angles, including gender and sexuality, critical race studies, postcolonial studies, eco-criticism and children''s literature. Topics covered include mealtime decorum in Chaucer, Milton''s culinary metaphors, early American taste, Romantic gastronomy, Victorian eating, African-American women''s culinary writing, modernist food experiments, Julia Child and cold war cooking, industrialized food in children''s literature, agricultural horror and farmworker activism, queer cookbooks, hunger as protest and postcolonial legacy, and ''dude food'' in contemporary food blogs. Featuring a chronology of key publication and histTrade Review'The book is clearly written and full of engaging facts and literary connections.' M. K. Bloodsworth-Lugo, ChoiceTable of ContentsIntroduction: the literature of food J. Michelle Coghlan; 1. Medieval feasts Aaron K. Hostetter; 2. The art of early modern cookery Joe Moshenska; 3. The Romantic revolution in taste Denise Gigante; 4. The matter of early American taste Lauren Klein; 5. The culinary landscape of Victorian literature Kate Thomas; 6. Modernism and gastronomy Allison Carruth; 7. Cold War cooking J. Michelle Coghlan; 8. Farm horror in the twentieth century Michael Newbury; 9. Queering the cookbook Katharina Vester; 10. Guilty pleasures in children's literature Catherine Keyser; 11. Postcolonial tastes Parama Roy; 12. Black power in the kitchen Erica Fretwell; 13. Farmworker activism Sarah D. Wald; 14. Digesting Asian America Anne Anlin Cheng; 15. Postcolonial foodways in contemporary African literature Jonathan Bishop Highfield; 16. Blogging food, performing gender Emily Contois.

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Book SynopsisThis compelling study explores food programs initiated by the British government across two centuries, from the workhouses of the 1830s to the post-war Welfare State. Challenging the assumption that state ideologies and practices were progressive and based primarily on scientific advances in nutrition, Nadja Durbach examines the political, economic, social and cultural circumstances that led the state to feed some of its subjects, but not others. Durbach follows food policies from their conception to their implementation through case studies involving paupers, prisoners, famine victims, POWs, schoolchildren, wartime civilians and pregnant women. She explores what government food meant to those who devised, executed, used, and sometimes refused, these social services. Many Mouths seeks to understand the social, economic, and political theories that influenced these feeding schemes, within their changing historical contexts. It thus offers fresh insights into how both the administratorsTrade Review'Many Mouths is an absorbing study of when, why and how the modern British state sought to feed its most vulnerable subjects. Durbach's major achievement is to show us how the state was literally made manifest – locally, nationally and imperially – through the practices used to feed people. This compelling book should be read by all those interested in the politics of food and its central place in modern British history.' James Vernon, University of California, Berkeley'Many Mouths is a sweeping, richly textured, and important study of government feeding that takes us from the Dickensian workhouse of the 1830s to the debates surrounding the cups of welfare orange juice served to expectant mothers and children after the Second World War. Throughout, we see how food (and drink) is good to think with and to govern with as well.' Erika Rappaport, University of California, Santa Barbara'Many Mouths is a magisterial study of the complex history of British state feeding from the 1830s to the 1960s. Durbach provides a compelling analysis of how the distribution of food is an elemental field through which power relations were (and are) articulated and contested. This is an extremely important book.' Christopher Otter, Ohio State University'… goes back to the 19th century to examine some of the origins of our current 'food system' and how embedded attitudes to food - and of who is deserving of feeding - have shaped policy to the present day … casts an interesting light on the way in which people's relationships with food became entwined with their relationships to the British state.' Erica Wagner, Financial Times'… the author is to be praised for moving beyond the conventional top-down focus on planners and administrators and conveying the voice of the recipients of relief.' M. J. O'Brien, Choice'… Durbach's study provides compelling evidence that there are certain irreducible realities about food itself that resist even well meaning attempts at ameliorating undernutrition no matter what form it may take.' Travis A. Weisse, Bulletin of the History of MedicineTable of ContentsIntroduction. The politics of pickles; 1. Old English fare: festive meals, the new Poor Law, and the boundaries of the nation; 2. Gendered portions and racialized rations: the classification of difference in British and colonial prisons; 3. Famine, cooked food, and the starving child: rethinking political economy in colonial India; 4. Tommy's tummy: provisioning POWs during the first world war; 5. The science of selection: malnutrition and school meals in the interwar years; 6. Every sort and condition of citizen: British restaurants and the communal feeding experiment during the second world war; 7. Nations out of nurseries, empires into bottles: the colonial politics of welfare orange juice; Conclusion. How the sausage gets made.

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Book SynopsisChapter 1 looks at the planting techniques of barley noting that the bidirectional planting technique had a significant effect on growth and yield of barley. Chapter 2 provides information about the molecular approaches and mutation breeding in barley. Late spring frosts and drought are the most important abiotic stress factors that definite the yield and quality performance of spring barley genotypes in breeding programs. For this purpose, the authors of Chapter 3 used in their study a total of 25 spring barley genotypes, including 20 advanced line and 5 standard varieties. The next chapter looks at the composite of barley and the health effects it has. The last chapter, the author performs a study that investigates the effects of the short-term application (1 and 5 days) of arsenic, cadmium, and lead (15Î"M, 30Î"M, and 60Î"M mixtures) on the phenolic contents of a barley species that was registered by the Trakya Agricultural Research Institute in 2014.Table of ContentsPreface; Planting Techniques of Barley (Hordeum vulgare); Molecular Techniques and Mutation Breeding Approaches to Genetically Enrich the Barley (Hordeum Vulgare L.); Effects of Ecological Factors on Spring Barley Genotypes; An Introduction to Specific Attributes of Barley: Cultivation, Production and Consumption; The Effects of Heavy Metal Exposure on Phenolic Compounds in Barley (Hordeum vulgare); Index.

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Book SynopsisThe best way to avoid food-borne illnesses is to prevent contaminants from getting into food. Public health is a constant concern for world health authorities since not only food-borne illnesses but also diverse human illnesses associated to fat, salt and sugar intake, are increasingly prevalent. These diseases are caused by micro-organisms, harmful chemicals or excess of some food components in foods which people preferably drink or eat. On the other hand, chemicals can produce both acute and chronic diseases depending on the level of contaminants present in the food. When the level of contaminants is high, the result may be an acute disease with dramatic consequences, but when the level of contaminants is low; they may accumulate in a live organism and produce a long term disease. Usually, chemical contaminants are found in the environment, both naturally and produced by human activity. In this sense, prevention is therefore the principal focus of all safety quality systems in the food industry and rules to change this system in order to assure people safe food products of the required quality by the consumer are discussed. Since food contamination can happen at any place during processing, it is necessary to evaluate all the hazards that can occur all along the food production chain, identifying inputs, and analysing and controlling all critical points to keep hazards at acceptable levels.

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Book SynopsisThis compilation examines agricultural research from across the globe and covers a broad spectrum of related topics. In this book, the authors discuss research including the impacts of the Fukushima nuclear disaster on Japanese agriculture and food chains; plant nutrients, plant growth retardants, and cotton production; response of olive trees to deficit irrigation regimes; improving selectivity in trawl fisheries; grazing management of native and naturalised pastures in harsh environments; sustainable grazing systems for the enhancement of livestock production and biodiversity in less-favoured heathland areas of northern humid Spain; genomic organisation and comparative analysis of the genome of domesticated animals and poultry; and in-depth studies of cattle-manure-compost activated carbons for Cu(Ii) ions removal.

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Book SynopsisAccording to USDA''s Economic Research Service (ERS), the national net farm income, a key indicator of U.S. farm well-being, is forecast at a record $121 billion in 2013, up 6% from last year, and about $3 billion above 2011''s previous record. In addition to record net farm income, farm wealth is also at record levels. This book discusses the USDA''s Economic Research Service (ERS), which originally developed a farm typology that has been used over the years extensively in ERS publications and USDA analyses to help clarify the distributional impacts of policy, market, and technological developments.

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Book SynopsisBeef markets in the United States are undergoing rapid change as alternative production systems and technologies evolve in response to consumer demands and compete with conventional grain-fed beef production. This book focuses on the issues and implications of alternative beef production systems; slaughter and processing options and issues for locally sources meat; and technology, restructuring, and productivity growth of hog production in the United States from 1992 to 2009.

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Book SynopsisIn 2003, EPA introduced revised Clean Water Act regulations to better protect surface waters from nutrients from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). When applying manure to crop or pasture land (the primary disposal method), CAFOs now must follow a nutrient management plan that specifies a manure application rate that minimises the threat to water quality. This book focuses on managing manure to improve air and water quality; trends and developments in hog manure management; and current laws and legislative issues with animal waste and hazardous substances.

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Book SynopsisMost U.S. households have consistent, dependable access to enough food for active, healthy living -- they are food secure. But a minority of American households experience food insecurity at times during the year, meaning that their access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources. Food and nutrition assistance programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) increase food security by providing low-income households access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education. This book presents statistics from the survey covering households'' food security, food expenditures, and use of food and nutrition assistance programs in 2012.

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Book SynopsisAgricultural trade and development is a backbone of international trade. It includes agricultural trade patterns, commercial policy, international institutions such as WTO, Tariff and non-tariff barriers in international trade, exchange rates, biotechnology and trade, agricultural labour mobility, land reform, environment and the areas and issues spanning these areas. This new book brings together leading research and issues in this fundamental field.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents an overview of the cultivation of the potato, pointing out some aspects in relation to its production, consumption and importance for consumer health. The aim is to offer a glimpse of the forest rather than the single tree, but not failing to focus on "a few trees". The approach is interdisciplinary, and in this sense the history and the climatic aspects that favour cultivation are highlighted first, ideally starting with contributions on the South-America and then moving eastwards, following the diffusion of the potato in the rest of the world. Some technological aspects are then tackled linked to cultivation, harvest, post-harvest, production and utilisation of potatoes. Lastly some aspects are dealt with, nutritional and not, relating to the importance of potatoes on the health of the consumer.

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Book SynopsisIn the last ten years the ready meals market has had considerable growth with an average of 4.0% in value and 3.0% in volume per year. Several factors have contributed to this growth. The changes in the lifestyle of individuals in the Western world have increased the demand for convenience in the preparation of meals. Consumers work more hours, spend more time in traffic and wish to maximise their increasingly diminished leisure time; therefore, they demand both products and services that facilitate and support a busy life. As a reaction to this demand the Food Industry has expanded its options of ready-to-eat food. The main objective of this study is to characterise the influence of lifestyles in the habit of eating these meals. We present an analysis about the health, flavour, convenience and tradition dimensions in the consumption of ready-to-eat products and eating habits of consumers'' samples from São Paulo and Rome. The concepts of lifestyles, multiculturalism, eating habits and the consumption of ready meals are revised. According to the results, the consumers of both cities present different styles regarding eating habits. More elderly populations from southern Europe are traditional regarding their eating habits. Similarly, in this work, consumers of Rome in general present greater concern with tradition and health in comparison to São Paulo. The Germanic cultures are more concerned with health, while in Italy the sensorial element would matter more. This study indicated that in São Paulo there is a great emphasis in convenience and flavour. The city of São Paulo takes pride in being a gastronomical centre and many of the social activities of the city''s habitants takes place at gatherings that involve feeding; therefore the importance of flavour aspect is easily explained. Simultaneously, the convenience aspect is supported by another characteristic of the city: the fact that it is a large urban centre. The circumstances of contemporary life and the impacts of advertisement have changed the acquisition and consumption of food, highlighting the relevance of prepared food in São Paulo. It is believed that the results of this line of investigation are relevant not only to professionals that work on the development of new products, positioning of brands and products that operate in the current markets, but also to the distributors that commercialise food products and the food packaging industry.

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Book SynopsisThe pomegranate is a beloved plant and fruit that has been used in ancient times. The raw fruit, juice, peels and flowers were used as medicines. The botany, genetics, cultivation and postharvest treatment of pomegranates are discussed, along with the production of juices and extracts. Previously published reports on the biochemical composition of each part of the pomegranate are described. This is followed by a list of potential health effects. Many of these articles described the health effects of extracts of pomegranates because (until recently) few journals would publish articles that described the effects of whole foods. Based on reductionist thinking, this approach required investigators to isolate individual active ingredients. So, the book starts with an introduction that compares and contrasts reductionist and systems thinking. In reductionist thinking the whole is equal to the sum of its parts, while in systems thinking and traditional medicine, individual parts can act synergistically to cause health effects. Modern medicine is becoming a fusion of traditional and western medicine. Math, physics, chemistry and engineering are used to do modern analyses of individual parts of the patient and his or her diseases. At the same time, the traditional methods are used to observe nature and look for the relationships between ions, molecules, cells, organs and organisms. Moreover, medicine is becoming predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory. It uses genomic and metabolomic data to predict a person''s susceptibility to diseases and then provide advice on how to treat or cure the diseases. It is personalized for each individual. Patients are encouraged to participate in making decisions about their own treatments, including their diet. So, hard scientific data from previously published articles are used in this book to describe the biochemical composition and potential health effects of pomegranates. At the same time, the results are interpreted based on the author''s experience in analytical chemistry.

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Book SynopsisSugarcane is one of the most important crops commercially grown in about 115 countries of the world. India is a major producer as well as consumer of sugar in the world and has produced about 25MT of sugar from 360MT sugarcane in 2011-13, contributing about 15 percent of the total sugar production in the world. A quantum of sugar is produced from sugarcane, however, this crop faces a number of problems such as low cane productivity, biotic and abiotic stresses, high cost of cultivation, post-harvest losses, and low sugar recovery. In India, sugarcane research began in the beginning of the 19th century. Since then rapid advancement has been made in sugarcane cultivation by Indian researchers. The objective of this book is to provide a comprehensive account of all the major achievements based on Indian workers in sugarcane research. The book is a compilation of recent advancements made on sugarcane development, cultivation, and on improvement in cane and sugar yield using conventional and biotechnological approaches by different agricultural scientists and researchers of India.

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Book SynopsisFor almost six decades, the United States has played a leading role in global efforts to alleviate hunger and malnutrition and to enhance world food security through international food aid assistance -- primarily through either the donation or sale on concessional terms of U.S. agricultural commodities. Objectives of U.S. foreign food aid include providing emergency and humanitarian assistance in response to natural or manmade disasters and promoting agricultural development and food security. This book includes a description of U.S. international food aid programs under current law; several important policy issues related to U.S. international food aid; and describes Administration and congressional proposals intended to change the nature of U.S. food international aid. This book also reviews the U.S. Agency for International Development''s (USAID) processes for awarding and modifying cash-based food assistance projects and assesses the extent to which USAID and its implementing partners have implemented financial controls to help ensure appropriate oversight of such projects.

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Book SynopsisCitrus is the most widely produced fruit in the world and it is grown in more than 80 countries. Due to its varied and wide chemical composition as a consequence of its nature, citrus is an exceptional feedstock to the designing and assessing of biorefineries. A wide spectrum of products are obtained from citrus, which nowadays are extracted and purified into essential oils, antioxidants and other compounds. This book provides research on the production, consumption and health benefits of citrus fruits. The first chapter begins with an overview of citrus based refineries. Chapters two and three discuss hesperidin and narirutin, which are citrus flavonoids. Chapter four studies the use of citrus residues as raw materials for biomolecules and energy. Chapter five collects information from published works about the alternative use of citrus residues as efficient and promising adsorbents in clean water technology. The final chapter examines citrus genetic improvement.

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the developments, issues and research outlook of global agriculture. Topics discussed in this compilation include reviews of historical trends in Chinese corn yields in order to assess the potential for future growth; discussions on the impact that pre- and post-2004 reforms had on Public Distribution System (PDS) consumption and on rates of food insecurity; and studies on the growth in broiler meat exports to several major markets.

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Book SynopsisThe pepper fruit is commonly consumed as fresh fruit. In addition, the fruit is used in food industry and in manufacture processing, either fermented or concentrated. The pepper fruit is a rich source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties to which highly desirable medicinal properties and health benefits have been attributed. The stability and concentration of these bioactive compounds are affected by preharvest factors such as cultivar, cultivation methods and fertilisation, grafting, shading, stage of maturity, and postharvest factors such as prestorage treatments, temperature management and packaging. Chapter One of this book discusses in detail the preharvest and postharvest factors influencing the functional properties of pepper fruit. Chapter Two reviews electron paramagnetic resonance imaging of paramagnetic species in pepper seeds. Chapter Three studies the technology and properties of drying peppers after harvesting. Chapter Four presents the potential use of peppers for therapeutic management besides its use as a food additive in various spicy cuisines. Chapter Five provides an overview of recent research on the chemical profile, health properties, and processing of peppers.

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Book SynopsisThis edited volume presents five chapters, each detailing recent updates in agricultural research. Chapter One studies acaricidal neuronal activity from the perspective of molecular level interactions with receptor-proteins. Chapter Two deals with the use of omics technologies for developing soybean cultivars with improved seed longevity and permeability. Chapter Three summarizes the results of two investigations of various nutritional properties of the aerial parts of soybean cultivar Eiko at seven stages classified as vegetative stages and reproductive stages during the 2014 growing season. Chapter Four describes the production of crocin and its potential as a biocolorant in polymer products. Lastly, Chapter Five discusses the relationships between aphids and plants as well as strategies for following and controlling aphid behavior.Table of ContentsPreface; Acaricidal Neuronal Activity from the Perspective of Molecular Level Interactions with Receptor-Proteins: A Theoretical Study; Omics: Way Forward to Characterize Soybean Seed Longevity and Permeability; Nutritional Properties of Soybean (Glycine Max[L.] Merr.) Plant During Growth Cycle; Crocin Production and Its Prospect as Biocolorant in Polymer Products; Aphids and Host Plants Relationships; Index.

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Book Synopsis‘A provocative vision.’ Sunday Times In 2017, the number of people going hungry in the world increased, for the first time in a decade. Pesticide-resistant bugs lay waste to crops across the globe, from bananas to potatoes. Food production releases billions of tons of carbon into the world, and it’s only getting worse. The writing is on the wall: our food system must change. But no one can agree on how. With his trademark counterintuition, Anthony Warner reveals that we have the ability to make a world where no one starves. And one where we don’t feel guilty about tucking in.Trade Review‘A provocative vision.’ * Sunday Times *‘This is an important book, and a good one. It’s ambitious and well-researched and timely… Food science can be a dry topic, but Warner manages to make it an entertaining one.’ -- Spectator on The Angry Chef

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Book SynopsisThe Table Comes First is at once a celebration of the rituals of eating - the scene of families, friends, lovers coming together, or breaking apart, the core of our memories - and an exploration of the extraordinary transformations that our notion of what makes food 'good' has undergone. Taking the reader from the birth of the restaurant in 18th century France to the molecular Meccas of Barcelona The Table Comes First is the delightful beginning of a new conversation about the way we eat now.Trade Review'Like the Argentinian [Lionel Messi], Gopnik is always worth watching' Telegraph. * Telegraph *'He may be the best food writer there is. He's certainly the most thoughtful - the most philosophical' Evening Standard. * Evening Standard *'Extraordinary' GQ. * GQ *'Brilliant ... flamboyant and greedy' Independent. * Independent *'Gopnik, a brilliant writer on the New Yorker, makes a passionate case for the centrality of the table to our lives, and the binding force of sitting down to the 'nightly miracle' of dinner' Sunday Times. * Sunday Times *'Gopnik writes beautifully ... this is a lovely history of the way we think about all sorts of things' William Leith. * William Leith *'His writing here is a high-glazed wonder' Kathryn Hughes, Guardian. * Guardian *'These are personal essays in the fullest sense of the word, sieving the big subjects of the book's subtitle - family, France, food - through one man's well-furnished mind' Guardian. * Guardian *'He may be the best food writer there is. He's certainly the most thoughtful - the most philosophical' Evening Standard. * Evening Standard *Table of ContentsA Small Starter: Questions of Food. COMING TO THE TABLE: Who Made the Restaurant? What's the Recipe? E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell - Anchovies, Bacon, Lamb. CHOOSING AT THE TABLE: How Does Taste Happen? E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell - Lamb, Saffron, Cinnamon; Meat or Vegetables? E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell - Chicken, Pudding, Dogs; Near or Far? E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell - Salt, Pork, Mustard. TALKING AT THE TABLE: In Vino Veritas? E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell - Potatoes, Steak, Air; What Do We Write About When We Write About Food? What Do We Imagine When We Imagine Food? E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell - Rice, Milk, Sugar. LEAVING THE TABLE: Paris at Last; E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell - Salmon, Broccoli, Repentance; Endings; Last e-mail to Elizabeth Pennell . Reading on the Way Home.

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Book SynopsisThis is a remarkable and deeply wise reflection on land, farming, a sense of place, connecting with nature and what it means to live on this earth. As a third-generation farmer, the author''s roots go deep into the land but her work also captures her thoughts on such current issues as the environment, environmental identity, and animal ethics. Her writing is poetic, lyrical, and engaging. Part farmer, part poet, part activist, Armstrong engages her readers through her fascination and close involvement with both the natural and the human worlds.

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Book SynopsisFrom breakfast to bedtime the food that we eat and the natural world that we all share have the power to nourish our bodies, nurture our growth and support our health, vitality and survival. But are we taking it all for granted? Are we making the best choices for own bodies and minds, our families, our communities and for the planet? Fighting for food justice and equality, supporting the hard-working hands of organic farmers and food producers, and challenging our beliefs around food, nature and how the two must be balanced, have been Phil Haughton’s mission and passion for over 25 years. It is this passion, alongside the simple pleasure of seeing how food, nature, business and community can all thrive in harmony, that is already being brought to vivid life and enjoyed by thousands in Phil’s award-winning Better Food shops. And now, through a fascinating mix of inspiring personal stories, tempting recipes, helpful tips and insightful contributions from 12 thought leaders and changemakers, he is sharing his passion with you. Join Phil on this uplifting and thought-provoking journey through a colourful celebration of food and nature. His experiences and enthusiasm will open your eyes, make you think, bring on a smile and reconnect you with the joys of food, the wonders of nature, and what it really means to eat well and live better on an incredible planet that’s alive with possibility, potential and plenty.Trade Review"The food that we eat and where it comes from is central to the quality of our lives, and lies at the heart of making the world a better place." - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

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Book SynopsisGerald Diffey has spent four decades immersed in the world of food, wine and hospitality, from early days waiting tables in old English hotels to establishing two of the best places in the world to drink and eat: the award-winning Gerald's Bar in North Carlton -- Heston Blumenthal described it as 'a proper, proper old-fashioned sort of bar' -- and Gerald's Bar in San Sebastian. Beggars Belief is a collection of funny, poignant, insightful and just plain ludicrous stories from Gerald's life in kitchens and behind bars: his formative years in the UK, memories of food and family; tales and tips from forty years of service; journeys and meals, people and places, from lunch on the side of a volcano in Sicily to dinner on a beach in East Timor; stories and recipes and drinks suggestions from North Carlton and San Sebastian; vignettes, slices of life, observations. 'Romance', writes Gerald in the introduction. 'That's what I sell. Sensual pleasures. Sights, sounds, smells, touch, taste. Cyrano de Bergerac said: I have tried to live my whole life with panache. If I said that, I'd sound like a twat. But you get the drift. I'm off to bone some quails.'Trade Review"Sunday was the night we went to Geralds Bar in Carlton. What a lovely thing to do: youve got all these trendy new bars everywhere, and then youve got this proper, proper old-fashioned sort of bar." Heston Blumenthal"(Gerald) displays what distinguishes every exceptional restaurateur: a great eye for detail." Nick Lander, author of The Art of the Restaurateur and On the Menu

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Book SynopsisIn 2008, a small-scale flour miller from British Columbia''s Sunshine Coast created a hand-made bike mill to attract a dedicated farmers'' market following. Chris Hergesheimer wanted to challenge the belief that there is only one way -- the big way -- to grow, process and market grain and flour. For Chris and his family, it was not about profit, but connecting a community to its food producers for better health, lower impact on the environment, and the kind of flapjacks only fresh-milled flour can make. But Chris Hergesheimer and his brother Josh could not have predicted that this unique contraption would take them on the journey of their lives. Committed to their cause, and believing in its value despite the dismal economic outlook, the Hergesheimer brothers follow their passion for local on a transcontinental journey. From the rainforests of Roberts Creek, BC, to the bustling streets of Kampala, Uganda, and finally onwards to the village of Panlang in the north-western corner of South Sudan, this is the story of two community-minded entrepreneurs as they set out to build and deliver their bicycle-powered grain mill to a rural women''s cooperative in a tiny village. Chris and Josh come face to face with the realities of life in South Sudan when war breaks out and their microcapitalism mission becomes a race to leave the country before violence makes escape impossible. Part grain-chain analysis, part bare-all exposé, this is a unique and gripping story that explores the trends and issues of local food systems as well as the challenges and power of alternative food movements. For the Hergesheimer brothers, it is also a journey of surprising adventure, from broken-down market vans, fraudulent bus tickets and hungry bears to a Russian helicopter, an attempted coup and a heart-wrenching homecoming.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the political and economic dimensions of food security in Bangladesh and assesses the role of the state in meeting the challenges of food security. The key concern, which is at the heart of this study, is to explore how Bangladesh responds, when its people go hungry. There are no detailed empirical studies that examine the Bangladesh's role by providing an historical cum political analysis; however conventional approaches are primarily concerned with a partial diagnosis of the economic or nutritional problems of food security. This work provides a detailed picture of the missing dimensions of stateness that include the strength of institutions, the scope of state functions, and other important attributes. In doing so, it uses the concept of neo-patrimonialism to explore the political system of Bangladesh. This book explicates the various impediments to food security, ranging from the process of policy formulation to their implementation mechanisms.

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