Related Guides
Background Sources
- Sage Encyclopedia of Food Issues The SAGE Encyclopedia of Food Issues explores the topic of food across multiple disciplines within the social sciences and related areas including business, consumerism, marketing, and environmentalism. In contrast to the existing reference works on the topic of food that tend to fall into the categories of cultural perspectives, this carefully balanced academic encyclopedia focuses on social and policy aspects of food production, safety, regulation, labeling, marketing, distribution, and consumption.
- From Famine to Fast Food : Nutrition, Diet, and Concepts of Health around the World A country's food culture and eating habits directly impact the health and well-being of its citizens. Economic factors contribute to problems such as obesity and malnourishment. This book examines how diet affects health in countries around the world, discussing how the availability of food and the types of foods eaten influence numerous health factors and are tied to the prevalence of "lifestyle" disease.
- Encyclopedia of Food and Culture 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.
- Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia Filled with succinct, yet highly informative entries, the four-volume Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia covers all of the planet's nation-states, as well as various tribes and marginalized peoples.
- The Bloomsbury Handbook of Food and Popular Culture The influence of food has grown rapidly as it has become more and more intertwined with popular culture in recent decades. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Food and Popular Culture offers an authoritative, comprehensive overview of and introduction to this growing field of research.
- Street Food Around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture This encyclopedia surveys common street foods in about 100 countries and regions of the world, clearly depicting how "fast foods of the common people" fit into a country or a region's environments, cultural history, and economy.
- Sweet Treats Around the World: an Encyclopedia of Food and Culture Few things represent a culture as well as food. Because sweets are universal foods, they are the perfect basis for a comparative study of the intersection of history, geography, social class, religion, politics, and other key aspects of life. With that in mind, this encyclopedia surveys nearly 100 countries, examining their characteristic sweet treats from an anthropological perspective. It offers historical context on what sweets are popular where and why and emphasizes the cross-cultural insights those sweets present.
- Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions An indispensable resource for exploring food and faith, this two-volume set offers information on food-related religious beliefs, customs, and practices from around the world.
United States
- Ethnic American Food Today: A Cultural Encyclopedia Ethnic American Food Today introduces readers to the myriad ethnic food cultures in the U.S. today. Entries are organized alphabetically by nation and present the background and history of each food culture along with explorations of the place of that food in mainstream American society today. Many of the entries draw upon ethnographic research and personal experience, giving insights into the meanings of various ethnic food traditions as well as into what, how, and why people of different ethnicities are actually eating today.
- We eat what? : a cultural encyclopedia of unusual foods in the United States This fascinating encyclopedia examines over 100 foods that are unique to the United States as well as dishes found only in specific American regions and individual states.
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America Home cooks and gourmets, chefs and restaurateurs, epicures, and simple food lovers of all stripes will delight in this smorgasbord of the history and culture of food and drink. Professor of Culinary History Andrew Smith and nearly 200 authors bring together in 770 entries the scholarship on wide-ranging topics from airline and funeral food to fad diets and fast food; drinks like lemonade, Kool-Aid, and Tang; foodstuffs like Jell-O, Twinkies, and Spam; and Dagwood, hoagie, and Sloppy Joe sandwiches.
- "United States," in Encyclopedia of Food and Culture Includes twelve subentries: African American Foodways, Cajun Cooking, California and the Far West, Ethnic Cuisines, Hawaii, The Middle Atlantic States, The Midwest, New England, Pennsylvania Dutch Food, Pioneer Food, The South, The Southwest
- The Routledge History of American Foodways The Routledge History of American Foodways provides an important overview of the main themes surrounding the history of food in the Americas from the pre-colonial era to the present day. By broadly incorporating the latest food studies research, the book explores the major advances that have taken place in the past few decades in this crucial field.
