My Favorite Books on Food and our Food System

I played around with the title of this post. It started out as “The Books On Food That Changed Everything For Me” but that sounded…dramatic. Regardless, one of my hobbies for a long time has been reading books on nutrition, food, food politics, the food system - you name it. The following books were completely and utterly enlightening. I may have studied Public Health in college, but I’m no registered dietitian. I can assure you that these books will be enjoyed by anyone with a deep interest in learning more on how and what we eat, and just for the love of FOOD.

On a similar note, I’ve read plenty of bad food and nutrition literature. To summarize: avoid any book with the title Skinny Bitch.

On our food system:

1. The Omnivore’s Dilemma - Michael Pollan’s well-known book on American food culture and where our food comes from. This was my “gateway drug” book into just devouring (no pun intended) other books on our food system.
2. In Defense of Food -Michael Pollan’s other book answering the question that people asked him after they read The Omnivore’s Dilemma - “what should I be eating?” The answer: Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
3. Fast Food Nation - Investigative journalism into the fast food industry in the USA
4. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver’s (also wrote Poisonwood Bible) wonderful non-fiction novel on her family’s journey to only eat foods within a 100-mile radius of their home for a year

Just for the love of food:

1. The Best Food Writing of 2015 (The Best Food Writing of 2014, and so forth) - these books are compilations of short stories submitted by bloggers, authors, journalists, chefs (including Anthony Bourdain, Alice Waters) - you name it. They are always fantastic reads, and every story is different than the last. Each story is modern, relevant, and often mouth-watering!
2. Cooked - another Michael Pollan book all about COOKING, and each chapter is centered around a different element - fire, water, earth, and air. It includes some recipes at the end. Definitely for anyone who enjoys the history of food!

Accessible nutrition books for the non-nutritionist:

1. Sport’s Nutrition by Nancy Clark - the first book that was ever recommended to me on nutrition, and it’s incredibly informative on discussing optimal diets whether you’re just simply active or an athlete, and understanding how much you need to eat and of what. There are specific sections on gaining weight, losing weight, performance, and recovery as well.
2. The Ultrasimple Diet - recommended by my primary care physician for those folks who struggle with autoimmune disorders, and healing through food.
3. The Anti-Anxiety Food Solution - I bought this book to read about foods that add/reduce stress in your life, and it was overall a fascinating read about how our body processes and reacts to different foods, especially if you’ve found food to be a stress-inducer in your life.

I currently have Marion Nestle’s Food Politics on my bookshelf to read next, but are there any others I should add to the list?

It's only fair to share...