HE-Recommended Reading | Revolutionary Act

Marc David

Marc David is a visionary nutrition expert, author, teacher and consultant with specific expertise in the psychology of eating and mind-body nutrition. David is the founder and director of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating and the author of The Slow Down Diet and Nourishing Wisdom. He earned his MA at Sonoma State University, specializing in the psychology of eating, and trained at the Harvard Mind-Body Medical Institute and SUNY Upstate Medical School. Today, he consults, speaks, writes and serves on the editorial staff of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.

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Deborah Madison

Deborah Madison is one of the country’s premier vegetarian chefs, as well as a renowned cookbook author. In 1979, Madison partnered with the San Francisco Zen Center to open Greens, one of the first major vegetarian restaurants in the country. In 1987, she published her first cookbook, The Greens Cookbook, and has since published eight more, including the ever-popular Local Flavors. Madison blogs for Gourmet and Culinate and is author of What We Eat When We Eat Alone.

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Seeds of Deception

by Jeffrey M. Smith

Are you concerned about the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? This investigative book, by executive director of The Institute for Responsible Technology, Jeffrey M. Smith, outlines the potential health risks of GM foods and documents industry attempts to pressure government officials and regulators for approval of GM seeds without proper safeguards and testing. The book also includes suggestions for avoiding purchasing and consuming GM foods.

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A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives

by Ruth Winter, MS

This handy resource, written by award-winning science writer, Ruth Winter, MS gives safety facts, pesticide and side effect information on more than 12,000 ingredients that make it to food as a result of processing. Don’t head to the supermarket without it!

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Farm Together Now: A Portrait of People, Places and Ideas for a New Food Movement

by Amy Franceschini and Daniel Tucker with a foreword by Mark Bittman

Farm Together Now is a portrait of the current state of grassroots farming in the U.S. designed to cultivate a new wave of modern agrarians. The project, part travelogue, part oral history and part food politics primer, introduces the reader to a range of individuals producing sustainable food and developing community organizing efforts challenging food and agriculture policy.

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Bringing It to the Table: On Farming and Food

by Wendell Berry

This book is an important collection of farmer, slow food advocate, poet and author, Wendell Berry’s work. For over40 years, Berry has written about the declining state of American agriculture, the dangers of industrialized agriculture, and their affect on the humans and the environment. Bringing it to the Table covers the compelling themes inherent in all of Berry’s work such as mindful eating, and conscious land practices. Berry calls on everyone to take the time to understand the basics of what they ingest.

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Milk: A Global and Local History

by Deborah Valenze

In this intriguing cultural history, Barnard history professor, Deborah Valenze, explains how milk went from an object of suspicion during medieval times to the basis for a modern high-priced and successful ad campaign. She analyzes milk’s role in mythology, its effects on animal husbandry and its transformation to cheese.

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The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice and Sustainability

by Lierre Keith

In this memoiristic and informative book, former vegan Lierre Keith examines the destructive history of agriculture, encourages eating locally and sustainably, and advocates for individual farming. Keith also analyzes the question of what to eat for human, animal and environmental health, as well as the moral issue of whether or not humans should eat animals. She also reveals what she considers the risks of a vegan diet and explains why animals are necessary for sustainable farming practices.

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American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half Its Food (and What We Can Do About It)

How much food do you waste? The typical U.S. household squanders nearly half its food. Other estimates indicate that a quarter to half of all food produced in the United States goes uneaten — left in fields to rot, spoiled during transport or thrown out at the grocery store. In this insightful book, Jonathon Bloom chronicles how we waste food from farm to fridge to the garbage can, examines the impact of our wasteful practices and includes suggestions on how individuals and the nation can curb waste.

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Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer

by Novella Carpenter

In this often-hilarious memoir, Novella Carpenter chronicles her personal adventures in urban farming. She shares everything — from how she first procured an unauthorized urban plot, to venturing into animal husbandry in Oakland, Calif. Her tales include dumpster diving raids of East Bay upscale restaurants, to beekeeping and everything in between. This is a story that reshapes notions of what’s possible in urban America.

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Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit

by Barry Estabrook

This book by Barry Estabrook, an award-winning writer, uses the perfectly ripe grocery store tomato as a metaphor to indict the modern agricultural system. Estabrook gives the reader a behind-the-scenes look at the journey that America’s second favorite fruit goes on from farm to laboratory to his or her own kitchen.

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Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System For All

by Oran B. Hesterman, PhD

Do you think the time is at hand for a systemic, sustainable change to the food system? Author Oran B. Hesterman, PhD, President and CEO of Fair Food Network offers solutions to changing what we eat as well as how our food is grown, packaged, delivered, marketed and sold. The book includes sections outlining the history of our current food system and his four key principles for redesigning it. The final section serves as a guide to collective action including questions to ask at farmers’ markets, tools for starting buy-fresh/buy-local campaigns; advice for forming buyer’s clubs that purchase food directly from farmers and fishermen, and advocacy information.

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What To Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating

by Marion Nestle

The supermarket can be a confusing place for consumers, especially considering experts’ focus on the nutritional value of individual food components and a food industry dedicated to the bottom line. Nutritionist and consumer advocate Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, guides readers on a tour of each supermarket section, decoding food labels, as well as nutrition and health claims.

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“Is Sugar Toxic?”

by Gary Taubes

Delivering another in-depth article for the New York Times, Gary Taubes carefully explains and analyzes the research surrounding the great sugar debate.

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“How to Save a Trillion Dollars”

by Mark Bittman

Dear Congress: Who wants to save a few billion dollars, when you can save a TRILLION? Mark Bittman’s message is as simple and sound as the old adage: “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers are easier and cheaper to prevent than to cure.

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