Food - Sociology of food
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Books – Food – Sociology of food

Books 1 to 20 of 25 – Sociology of food

Why Italians Love to Talk About Food  by Elena Kostioukovitch
Why Italians Love to Talk About Food is a fascinating mix of history, culture, language and cuisine. Covering each of Italy’s 20 diverse regions, along with chapters on general themes such as olive oil, Slow Food, and the Mediterranean diet, it is a gastronomic-cultural guide. Award-winning writer Elena Kostioukovitch shows how each region’s traditional cuisine and local specialties have been informed by its culture and history, its exposure to foreign influences, its geography and landscape, its topography and climate, its social customs and attitudes, its religious canons, its politics and economy, and more. In the end it is Kostioukovitch’s love for Italy itself, even more so than its food, that is her muse and inspiration.

Paperback,  464 pp,  $34.99. Buy now

Eating Animals  by Jonathan Safran Foer
Is a uniquely passionate, powerful and provocative exploration of what we eat, and why, by the bestselling author of Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.This story didn’t begin as a book. I simply wanted to know – for myself and my family – what meat is. Where does it come from? How is it produced? What are the economic, social and environmental effects? Are there animals that it is straightforwardly right to eat? Are there situations in which not eating animals is wrong? If this began as a personal quest, it didn’t stay that way for long . . .’ Jonathan Safran Foer

Paperback,  342 pp,  $32.95. Buy now

Belching Out the Devil  by Mark Thomas
Coca-Cola and its logo are everywhere. In our homes, our workplaces, even our schools. It is a company that sponsors the Olympics, backs US presidents and even re-brands Santa Claus. A truly universal product, it has even been served in space. From Istanbul to Mexico City, Mark travels the globe investigating the stories and people Coca-Cola’s iconic advertising campaigns don’t mention. Child labourers in the sugar cane fields of El Salvador. Indian workers exposed to toxic chemicals. Colombian union leaders falsely accused of terrorism and jailed alongside the paramilitaries who want to kill them. And many more…Provocative, funny and stirring, Belching Out the Devil investigates the truth behind one of the planet’s biggest brands

Paperback,  384 pp,  $22.95. Buy now

Field Days  by Jonah Raskin
‘Sooner or later, nearly everyone who cares about wine and food comes to Sonoma’ – so begins this lively excursion to a spectacular region that has become known internationally as a locavore’s paradise. Part memoir, part vivid reportage, Field Days chronicles the renaissance in farming organically and eating locally that is unfolding in Northern California. Jonah Raskin tells of the year he spent on Oak Hill Farm – working the fields, selling produce at farmers’ markets, and following it to restaurants. He also goes behind the scenes at Whole Foods. In this luminous account of his experiences, Raskin introduces a dynamic cast of characters – farmers, chefs, winemakers, farm workers, and environmentalists. They include such luminaries as War

,  344 pp,  $55.95. Buy now

African American Foodways  by Anne L. Bower
Ranging from seventeenth-century West African fare to contemporary fusion dishes using soul food ingredients, the essays in this book provide an introduction to many aspects of African American foodways and an antidote to popular misconceptions about soul food. Examining the combination of African, Caribbean, and South American traditions, the volume’s contributors offer lively insights from history, literature, sociology, anthropology, and African American studies to demonstrate how food’s material and symbolic values have contributed to African Americans’ identity for centuries. Individual chapters examine how African foodways survived the passage into slavery, cultural meanings associated with African American foodways, and the contents

Paperback,  200 pp,  $40.95. Buy now

Eating Between the Lines  by Rebecca Huntley
We live in an age of gastronomic soul-searching. Why is childhood obesity on the rise, especially among the poor? Is the traditional family dinner really dying out – and if so, does it matter? Jamie Oliver and Bill Granger have marched confidently into the family kitchen, but have Aussie blokes followed? What do the contents of our shopping trolleys tell us about the fair go in Australia today? In Eating between the Lines, Rebecca Huntley embarks on an inquisitive tour of the nation’s food courts, supermarkets and suburban kitchens – and uncovers some startling trends. Join her on a thought-provoking trip through the deep-fried, sun-dried, cold-pressed world of Australian eating

Paperback,  224 pp,  $24.95. Buy now

Ethical Eating  by Angela Crocombe

Paperback,  144 pp,  $24.95. Buy now

Coca-globalization  by Robert J. Foster
This book explores globalization through a historical and anthropological study of how familiar soft drinks such as Coke and Pepsi became valued as more than mere commodities. Foster discusses the transnational operations of soft drink companies and, in particular, the marketing of soft drinks in Papua New Guinea, a country only recently opened up to the flow of brand name consumer goods. Based on field observations and interviews, as well as archival and library research, this book is of interest to anyone concerned about the cultural consequences and political prospects of globalization, including new forms of consumer citizenship and corporate social responsibility

Paperback,  288 pp,  $60.95. Buy now

Eating for England  by Nigel Slater
The British have a relationship with their food that is unlike that of any other country. Once something that was never discussed in polite company‚ it is now something with which the nation is obsessed. But are we at last developing a food culture or are we just going through the motions? ‘Eating for England’ is an entertaining and somewhat tongue-in-cheek observation of the British and their food‚ their cooking‚ their eating and how they behave in restaurants‚ with chapters on – amongst other things – dinner parties‚ funeral teas‚ Indian restaurants‚ dieting and eating whilst under the influence. Written in Nigel Slater’s trademark readable style‚ ‘Eating for England’ highlights our idiosyncratic attitude towards the fine art of dining.

,  304 pp,  $46.95. Buy now

French Women for All Seasons  by Mireille Guiliano
‘Who can resist a book that recommends love and chocolate as part of a balanced diet?’ asked Allison Pearson in the Daily Telegraph about Guiliano’s French Women Don’t Get Fat, a mould-breaking book that unlocked the secrets of ‘The French paradox’ and sold well over a million copies worldwide. By letter, by email, in person, readers have inundated Mireille Guiliano with requests for more advice. Her answer is: this buoyant new book full of advice, ideas and fresh, French recipes for each season. Elaborating on the wise counsel of her first book, but with many more easy-to-make recipes, anecdotes, tips and a wealth of global experience, Guiliano talks us through food and dining, from her childhood in Alsace-Lorraine, renowned for its cuisin

Paperback,  400 pp,  $24.95. Buy now

Kafka’s Soup: A complete history of world literature in 14 recipes  by Mark Crick
Literature and food are bedfellows in this book in a way that will surprise you. Each of the 14 recipes is written in the voice of a famous author. Jane Austin does eggs, Raymond Chandler does lamb in dill sauce (while considering his real needs). Other literary giants on duty in their kitchens are Geoffrey Chaucer, Harold Pinter and Virginia Woolf. This book will appeal to the reader in you.

Hardback,  96 pp,  $20.95. Buy now

Food Is Culture  by Massimo Montanari
Looks at how the capture, cultivation, preparation, and consumption of food relate to culture and identity. Demonstrating how the history of food is intimately linked to the transformation of human cultural identities, this work shows how food, originally a practical necessity, became metaphor, discourse, and gastronomy

,  144 pp,  $63.95. Buy now

They are What You Feed Them  by Alex Richardson
Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University and former school teacher‚ Dr Alex Richardson is the UK’s leading expert on how what we do and do not feed our children impacts their learning‚ concentration‚ co-ordination and behaviour. Empowering and extremely practical‚ this book sorts out food fact from food myth and shows parents how to bring the best choices into their children’s everyday diets. Includes simple meal plans and recipes as well as practical guidance on other lifestyle factors‚ such as time spent in front of TV and computer screens. A highly influential book that offers concerned parents concrete information and real solutions.

Paperback,  448 pp,  $38.99. Buy now

Fat Is a Feminist Issue  by Susie Orbach
Reflecting on our diet and body-obsessed society, this work provides an introduction that explains how generations of women and girls are growing up absorbing the eating anxieties around them. Exploring our love/hate relationship with food, it describes how fat is about so much more than food

Paperback,  400 pp,  $26.95. Buy now

Sacred Cow, Mad Cow  by M. Ferrieres
From the markets of medieval Europe to the slaughterhouses of twentieth-century Chicago, Madeleine Ferrihres offers a colorful and insightful history of how we’ve decided what “not” to eat. Ferrihres explores panics, myths, and changing attitudes regarding food as well as various attempts throughout history to ensure food safety. She demonstrates that fears of food have been inspired not only by safety concerns but also by cultural, political, and religious prejudices

,  416 pp,  $75.95. Buy now

Hungry Planet: What the World Eats  by Faith D’Aluisio, Peter Menzel
A photographic collection exploring what the world eats featuring portraits of thirty families from twenty-four countries including Australia. This book is very much a portrait of the global food divide as it takes you from the sterile supermarket food wonderland of an Australian family to the weekly morsals from the Oxfam truck for a family in Chad, Africa.

Hardback,  288 pp,  $55.95. Buy now

Hungry Planet: What the World Eats  by Faith D’Aluisio, Peter Menzel
A photographic collection exploring what the world eats featuring portraits of thirty families from twenty-four countries including Australia. This book is very much a portrait of the global food divide as it takes you from the sterile supermarket food wonderland of an Australian family to the weekly morsals from the Oxfam truck for a family in Chad, Africa.

Hardback,  288 pp,  $69.95. Buy now

History of Cooks and Cooking  by Michael Symons
This book explores the civilizing role that cooks and cooking have played in world history from Plato to Marx, from carnivores to vegetarians

Paperback,  400 pp,  $34.95. Buy now

Encyclopedia of Food and Culture 
This reference presents more than 700 articles – from apples to zucchini – on food and its place in human culture and society. the three volumes together cover topics from from food preparation, distribution, and storage, to holidays and festivals and nutrition and health

,  2000 pp,  $697.95. Buy now

Fast Food Nation  by Eric Schlosser
Britain eats more fast food than any other country in Europe. It looks good, tastes good, and it’s cheap. But the real cost never appears on the menu. Eric Scholsser’s explosive bestseller, by turns funny and terrifying, tells the story of our love affair with fast food. He visits the lab that re-creates the smell of strawberries; examines the safety records of abbattoirs; reveals why the fries taste so good and what really lurks between the sesame buns – and shows how fast food is transforming not only our diets but our world.

Paperback,  400 pp,  $24.95. Buy now