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1
The human tongue has somewhere up to eight thousand taste buds to inform us when something is sweet, salty, sour, or bitter—or as we usually think of it—delicious or revolting. Tastes differ from one region to the next, and no two people’s seem to be the same. But why is it that some people think maple syrup is too sweet, while others can’t get enough? What makes certain people love Roquefort cheese and others think it smells like feet? Why do some people think cilantro tastes like soap?
John Prescott tackles this conundrum in Taste Matters, an absorbing exploration of why... more The human tongue has somewhere up to eight thousand taste buds to inform us when something is sweet, salty, sour, or bitter—or as we usually think of it—delicious or revolting. Tastes differ from one region to the next, and no two people’s seem to be the same. But why is it that some people think maple syrup is too sweet, while others can’t get enough? What makes certain people love Roquefort cheese and others think it smells like feet? Why do some people think cilantro tastes like soap?
John Prescott tackles this conundrum in Taste Matters, an absorbing exploration of why we eat and seek out the foods that we do. Prescott surveys the many factors that affect taste, including genetic inheritance, maternal diet, cultural traditions, and physiological influences. He also delves into what happens when we eat for pleasure instead of nutrition, paying particularly attention to affluent Western societies, where, he argues, people increasingly view food selection as a sensory or intellectual pleasure rather than a means of survival. As obesity and high blood pressure are on the rise along with a number of other health issues, changes in the modern diet are very much to blame, and Prescott seeks to answer the question of why and how our tastes often lead us to eat foods that are not the best for our health. Compelling and accessible, this timely book paves the way for a healthier and more sustainable understanding of taste. less 
Paul RozinLiking food means primarily liking its taste or flavor. Prescott is very interested in understanding the role of taste—not just sweet, sour, or salty, but also the textures in your mouth and of course the smell that comes out of the food into your nose. (Source)
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2
Here is a witty look at the powerful appeal of that ubiquitous American classic and universal food phenomenon, the cheeseburger platter. Elisabeth Rozin traces the historical, cultural, and culinary roots of each element - burger, cheese, bun, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, fries, and, of course, Coca Cola - in search of the significance of its tantalizing allure. After all, this unique combination of red meat, fat, sugar, and salt violates all that is nutritionally and politically correct in the 90s, yet we can't resist it. The Primal Cheeseburger is an entertaining exploration of... more Here is a witty look at the powerful appeal of that ubiquitous American classic and universal food phenomenon, the cheeseburger platter. Elisabeth Rozin traces the historical, cultural, and culinary roots of each element - burger, cheese, bun, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, fries, and, of course, Coca Cola - in search of the significance of its tantalizing allure. After all, this unique combination of red meat, fat, sugar, and salt violates all that is nutritionally and politically correct in the 90s, yet we can't resist it. The Primal Cheeseburger is an entertaining exploration of why this particular mix of textures, tastes, and smells evokes our carnivorous cravings and touches such a deep chord in our collective food consciousness. less Paul RozinThe book deconstructs the cheeseburger—the bun, its toppings and condiments—and talks about where each of these components come from and how they are produced. The history of each of these cheeseburger components contain independent revelations. (Source)
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3
A rollicking indictment of the liberal elite's hypocrisy when it comes to food.
Ban trans-fats? Outlaw Happy Meals? Tax Twinkies? What's next? Affirmative action for cows?
A catastrophe is looming. Farmers are raping the land and torturing animals. Food is riddled with deadly pesticides, hormones and foreign DNA. Corporate farms are wallowing in government subsidies. Meat packers and fast food restaurants are exploiting workers and tainting the food supply. And Paula Deen has diabetes!
Something must be done. So says an emerging elite in this country... more A rollicking indictment of the liberal elite's hypocrisy when it comes to food.
Ban trans-fats? Outlaw Happy Meals? Tax Twinkies? What's next? Affirmative action for cows?
A catastrophe is looming. Farmers are raping the land and torturing animals. Food is riddled with deadly pesticides, hormones and foreign DNA. Corporate farms are wallowing in government subsidies. Meat packers and fast food restaurants are exploiting workers and tainting the food supply. And Paula Deen has diabetes!
Something must be done. So says an emerging elite in this country who think they know exactly what we should grow, cook and eat. They are the food police.
Taking on the commandments and condescension the likes of Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, and Mark Bittman, The Food Police casts long overdue skepticism on fascist food snobbery, debunking the myths propagated by the food elite. You'll learn:
- Organic food is not necessarily healthier or tastier (and is certainly more expensive).
- Genetically modified foods haven't sickened a single person but they have made farmers more profitable and they do hold the promise of feeding impoverished Africans.
- Farm policies aren't making us fat.
- Voguish locavorism is not greener or better for the economy.
- Fat taxes won't slim our waists and "fixing" school lunch programs won't make our kids any smarter.
- Why the food police hypocritically believe an iPad is a technological marvel but food technology is an industrial evil
So before Big Brother and Animal Farm merge into a socialist nightmare, read The Food Police and let us as Americans celebrate what is good about our food system and take back our forks and foie gras before it's too late! less Paul RozinLusk argues we’ve gotten obsessed with organics and that there’s not really any justification for that. Organic foods, in his view—and there’s evidence for this—are not healthier. (Source)
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4
The Hungry Soul is a fascinating exploration of the natural and cultural act of eating. Kass brilliantly reveals how the various aspects of this phenomenon, and the customs, rituals, and taboos surrounding it, relate to universal and profound truths about the human animal and its deepest yearnings.
"Kass is a distinguished and graceful writer. . . . It is astonishing to discover how different is our world from that of the animals, even in that which most evidently betrays that we too are animals—our need and desire for food."—Roger Scruton, Times Literary... more The Hungry Soul is a fascinating exploration of the natural and cultural act of eating. Kass brilliantly reveals how the various aspects of this phenomenon, and the customs, rituals, and taboos surrounding it, relate to universal and profound truths about the human animal and its deepest yearnings.
"Kass is a distinguished and graceful writer. . . . It is astonishing to discover how different is our world from that of the animals, even in that which most evidently betrays that we too are animals—our need and desire for food."—Roger Scruton, Times Literary Supplement
"Yum."—Miss Manners
less Paul RozinThe book is about how food is a form of expression for civilizations, from pre-Roman days to the present. Kass tells us that we eat and how we eat becomes part of who we are. (Source)
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5
What should we have for dinner? For omnivore's like ourselves, this simple question has always posed a dilemma: When you can eat just about anything nature (or the supermarket) has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety, especially when some of the foods on offer might shorten your life. Today, buffeted by one food fad after another, America is suffering from what can only be described as a national eating disorder. The omnivore's dilemma has returned with a vengeance, as the cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet confronts us with a... more What should we have for dinner? For omnivore's like ourselves, this simple question has always posed a dilemma: When you can eat just about anything nature (or the supermarket) has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety, especially when some of the foods on offer might shorten your life. Today, buffeted by one food fad after another, America is suffering from what can only be described as a national eating disorder. The omnivore's dilemma has returned with a vengeance, as the cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet confronts us with a bewildering and treacherous food landscape. What's at stake in our eating choices is not only our own and our children's health, but the health of the environment that sustains life on earth.
The Omnivore's Dilemma is a groundbreaking book in which one of America's most fascinating, original, and elegant writers turns his own omnivorous mind to the seemingly straightforward question of what we should have for dinner. The question has confronted us since man discovered fire, but, according to Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of The Botany of Desire, how we answer it today, ath the dawn of the twenty-first century, may well determine our very survival as a species. Should we eat a fast-food hamburger? Something organic> Or perhaps something we hunt, gather or grow ourselves?
To find out, Pollan follows each of the food chains that sustain us--industrial food, organic or alternative food, and food we forage ourselves--from the source to a final meal, and in the process develops a definitive account of the American way of eating. His absorbing narrative takes us from Iowa cornfields to food laboratories, from feedlots and fast-food restaurants to organic farms and hunting grounds, always emphasizing our dynamic coevolutionary relationship with the handful of plant and animal species we depend on. Each time Pollan sits down to a meal, he deploys his unique blend of personal and investigative journalism to trace the origins of everything consumed, revealing what we unwittingly ingest and explaining how our taste for particular foods and flavors reflects our evolutionary inheritance.
The surprising answers Pollan offers to the simple question posed by this book have profound political, economic, psychological, and even mortal implications for all of us. Ultimately, this is a book as much about visionary solutions as it is about problems, and Pollan contends that, when it comes to food, doing the right thing often turns out to be the tastiest thing an eater can do. Beautifully written and thrillingly argued, The Omnivore's Dilemma promises to change the way we think about the politics and pleasure of eating. For anyone who reads it, dinner will never again look, or taste, quite the same.
--jacket less 
Barry EstabrookMichael Pollan looks at food production through four meals. One is a fast-food meal, the other is an industrial-scale organic meal, then there is a small-scale organic meal and finally he actually goes out and either grows or kills, in the case of the meat, the entire meal himself. That is the narrative. (Source)
Gabriel CoarnaMichael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" --more precisely, the first 3rd of it-- was what first made me realize how badly the Earth, as an ecosystem, is out of balance. (Source)
Tristram StuartHe concludes that there is food out there that tastes good, is good for us and is good for the planet. (Source)
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