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Interested in what goes into your food? Like to read? Come join us for one or more of five book-related brown bag discussions this 2013-2014 year.
November 2013: Focus on History
Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America, Harvey A. Levenstein
This popular history was part of the start of the current debate about eating habits and social policy. Of particular interest in our current recession are the long-term effects of the Great Depression on our national food consciousness.
February 2014: Focus on Social Justice and Civic Engagement
Food Justice, by Robert Gottlieb and Anupama Joshi
This is the classic introduction to food/justice issues. Love it or hate it, this is one of the core texts to be familiar with when discussing food systems in American society: farm workers, food processing, food deserts, megastores, and other issues.
March 2014: Focus on Farming—and Literature
Bringing it to the Table: On Farming and Food, by Wendell Berry.
This collection of writer, foodie, farmer and Slow Food Movement activist Berry’s readable essays and stories will provide us a literary opportunity to discuss farming and food-related issues.
April 2014: Focus on Science and Business Systems
Fresh, a Perishable History, by Susanne Freidberg
Technological and business changes have revolutionized the way we view food in the last hundred years. Friedberg’s book offers an opportunity to discuss those scientific and economic trends and our experiences of them. How much of what we ‘know’ about food and freshness is science, and how much a modern construct?
May 2014: Focus on Sociology, Economics, and Food Work:
Kitchens: the culture of restaurant work by Gary Alan Fine
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