"Like many miniencyclopedias, this one is studded with often intriguing facts."—Kirkus New York Post Required Reading and an Entertainment Weekly Top 3 Must-Read! From the chief historian at HISTORY® comes a rich chronicle of the evolution of American cuisine and culture, from before Columbus's arrival to today. Did you know that the first graham crackers were designed to reduce sexual desire? Or that Americans have tried fad diets for almost two hundred years? Why do we say things like "buck" for a dollar and "living high on the hog"? How have economics, technology, and social movements changed our tastes? Uncover these and other fascinating aspects of American food traditions in The American Plate. Dr. Libby H. O'Connell takes readers on a mouth-watering journey through America's culinary evolution into the vibrant array of foods we savor today. In 100 tantalizing bites, ranging from blueberries and bagels to peanut butter, hard cider, and Cracker Jack, O'Connell reveals the astonishing ways that cultures and individuals have shaped our national diet and continue to influence how we cook and eat. Peppered throughout with recipes, photos, and tidbits on dozens of foods, from the surprising origins of Hershey Bars to the strange delicacies our ancestors enjoyed, such as roast turtle and grilled beaver tail. Inspiring and intensely satisfying, The American Plate shows how we can use the tastes of our shared past to transform our future.

Replete with instruction and knowledge honed with experience, The Book of the Farm remains one of the finest agricultural guidebooks ever produced. The 19th century saw the maturation of farming in Western Europe, with intensive methods and efficiencies achieved as never before. Published in the 1840s and successively revised over subsequent decades, this book is a summation of the ingenuity of large-scale agriculture. The production of ever-greater harvests required skill; no longer could any farm be maintained by rudimentary methods taught by example - farming had become a sophisticated, professional discipline reliant upon science and machinery. Aimed at informing prospective students of farming, this work makes no secret of the difficulty and wits required of the modern farmer. Over 100 illustrations depict the tools required, from hoes and ploughs to the traction steam engines that served as forerunners to the modern tractor. Over 80 charts detail all manner of records: animal and crop weights, their prices on the market, mineral levels present in soil and fertilizer, costs of machinery and day-to-day operations. In all, The Book of the Farm is both a superb agricultural history and guide, filled with insight and techniques useful even in the modern day.

A detailed description and guide to best contemporary farming practice, including agriculture, dairying and livestock farming, first published in 1842.

" Salmonella in eggs. Listeria in deli meats. Melamine in milk. Cyclospora in lettuce. In a world where irrigation water is contaminated by run-off from cattle feedlots and where food processors cut corners, the food preparation skills we learned from our parents and grandparents are no longer good enough to keep us safe. Using a variety of foodborne disease outbreaks, often illustrated with the stories of individual victims, Tainted explores the ways in which food becomes contaminated. Some of the stories - such as the deadly 1993 Jack in the Box outbreak - will be very familiar. Others will not. In this update to her 2007 book, “Food Safety: Old Habits, New Perspectives,” Phyllis Entis draws on nearly five decades of experience to explain how our regulatory systems have failed us, and to talk about what can be done to protect consumers from unsafe food. "