Staff Picks

The author, an infectious disease doctor, does a masterful job presenting the harm caused by ultra-processed foods (UPFs) to our physical and mental health, as well as the environment. This book motivated me to change my diet and see the need for marketing restrictions and warning labels on UPFs.

 

Publisher's description:

A manifesto to change how you eat and how you think about the human body.

It’s not you, it’s the food.

In a fast-paced and eye-opening narrative van Tulleken explores the origins, science, and economics of Ultra-Processed Food to reveal its catastrophic impact on our bodies and the planet. And he proposes real solutions for doctors, for policy makers, and for all of us who have to eat. A book that won’t only upend the way you shop and eat, Ultra-Processed People will open your eyes to the need for action on a global scale.

 

Love & Saffron is an epistolary novel set in the 1960s. Joan and Imogen bond through recipes and share a friendship that makes me envious of their bond and hungry for the food they write about.

 

Publisher's description:

When 27-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter--as well as a gift of saffron--to 59-year-old food writer Imogen Fortier, so begins an enduring friendship that sustains them through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the unexpected in their own lives.

 

You've probably heard something about supply chains recently, but how much do you actually know about how our food gets to our shelves? This book made me realize that I actually knew very little! Sourcing food, pitching a product, designing labels, securing transportation, and storage space are all very important realities of the food supply chain. From learning the philosophies behind our favorite stores to shadowing industry professionals, Benjamin Lorr travels the world to witness the (sometimes horrific) market forces and human ingenuity that decide what we will be having for dinner.

 

Publisher's description: What does it take to run the American supermarket? How do products get to shelves? Who sets the price? And who suffers the consequences of increased convenience end efficiency? In this alarming exposé, Benjamin Lorr pulls back the curtain on this highly secretive industry. Combining deep sourcing, immersive reporting, and compulsively readable prose, Lorr leads a wild investigation in which we learn: The secrets of Trader Joe's success from Trader Joe himself; Why truckers call their job "sharecropping on wheels"; What it takes for a product to earn certification labels like "organic" and "fair trade"; The struggles entrepreneurs face as they fight for shelf space, including essential tips, tricks, and traps for any new food business; The truth behind the alarming slave trade in the shrimp industry. The result is a page-turning portrait of an industry in flux, filled with the passion, ingenuity, and exploitation required to make this everyday miracle continue to function.

Before I picked up this book, my lack of knowledge around wine was making me look less like a budding wine connoisseur and more like a budding alcoholic. It's so approachable and easily referenced that it's actually changed the way I look for and taste wines. With infographic-style profiles on every single damn wine, and a primer section that gives you your foundational wine knowledge, I now understand why my favorites are my favorites and where to begin my search next.

 

Publisher's description

Wine Folly became a sensation for its inventive, easy-to-digest approach to learning about wine. Now in a new, expanded hardcover edition, Wine Folly: Magnum Edition is the perfect guide for anyone looking to take his or her wine knowledge to the next level.

 

If you are as hopelessly obsessed with chocolate as I am, then this book is the only one you'll ever need to satisfy your chocolate-curious mind. Every possible detail you could imagine is in here, from this history of chocolate making, the ingredients that go into chocolate, and the process of turning your love into a business. With some tantalizing recipes at the end, this book is a cover-to-cover delight that will make you salivate with yearning.

 

Publisher description: 

A guide from the chocolate maker Dandelion Chocolate offers their approach to making chocolate with only cocoa beans and sugar and covers everything from bean-sourcing tips through their chocolate-making method, along with recipes from their kitchen.

Find Making Chocolate  in our online catalog.

Living gluten-free is not a whole lot of fun, but at least April has managed to make it funny. Gluten Is My Bitch is a brutally honest, entertaining look at what living a gluten-free life entails.  This book is full of tips for the newbie as well as the celiac veteran, all done with an amazing amount of levity.