From the OverDrive Digital Library Blog:
As a former social studies teacher, I’m well aware that a lot of people think history books are boring. They certainly can be, especially when you’re not particularly interested in the topic. So why not read about the history of something you actually care about? For me, that would be food. And judging by the recent popularity of food history titles, I’m not alone! Here are a few highlights of category:
Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit
What has happened to the tomato? Why are store bought tomatoes so identically shaped, hard, and tasteless? Author, Barry Estabrook investigates what has gone wrong on our quest for cheap produce in the grocery stores all year long. It’s impossible for this expose not to change the way you think about tomatoes and you may never buy one at the grocery store again.White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf
Alton Brown once said that a rule of thumb for making a good sandwich is that you should use a bread that you would be willing to eat on it’s own. Upon hearing this, suddenly I realized I would never eat store bought white bread on its own and that I should stop making sandwiches with it and probably should stop consuming it altogether. Beyond what it is made of and how that came to be, in White Bread, Aaron Bobrow-Strain traces the roots of this most popular loaf and what it is has meant to society in terms of race, class, immigration, and gender.Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil
The health benefits and culinary essentiality of olive oil have been touted for centuries. But apparently these days there is a lot of fake olive oil going around. Tom Mueller explores how it has become highly profitable to sell imitation extra virgin olive oil at low prices and turns out, it’s easy to get away with.Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine
Some of Andrew F. Smith’s exciting turning points include Gail Borden’s Canned Milk, The Kelloggs’ Corn Flakes, and McDonald’s Drive-In. Each chapter is a short exploration of a defining moment in American cuisine. With this title, you can enjoy your food history like we should all enjoy our meals: in small bites.Karen Donovan is a collection development associate at OverDrive
