Food History

Ranging from the eating habits of our prehistoric ancestors to food-related policy issues we face today, this work covers the full spectrum of foods that have been hunted, gathered, cultivated, and domesticated; their nutritional makeup and uses; and their impact on cultures and demography. It offers a geographical perspective on the history and culture of food and drink and takes up subjects from food fads, prejudices, and taboos to questions of food toxins, additives, labeling, and entitlements. It culminates in a dictionary that identifies and sketches out brief histories of plant foods mentioned in the text and additionally supplies thousands of common names and synonyms for those foods.

First published in 1983, John Mariani's Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink has long been the go-to book on all things culinary. In addition to updates on food trends and other changes to American gastronomy since 1999, for the first time the Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink will include biographical entries, both historical and contemporary, from Fanny Farmer and Julia Child, to the Galloping Gourmet and James Beard, to current high-profile players Mario Batali and Danny Meyer, among more than one hundred others.

A three-volume survey of food and its place in human culture and society, presented through 600 alphabetically sorted entries. Features multidisciplinary coverage of such topics as comfort food, ethnicity and food, medieval banquets, and nutrient composition, among many others. Includes photographs, illustrations, sidebars, recipes, menus, and timelines. For students and general readers.

The Food History Almanac, covering 365 days of the year, is chock full of information and anecdotes relating to food history from around the world from medieval times to the present.

Gale Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Food Labels explains the often confusing (and sometimes contradictory) language and measurements on food labels and in food marketing, and provides information in a more reader-friendly way than an FDA report can.

Thousands of entries provide coverage on every possible food, its history, cultural significance, and culinary usage.

Most comprehensive reference work on the idea of the sweet ever published, with entries on all aspects of sweetness, including chemical, technical, social, cultural, and linguistic.