Our latest book display presents a range of books from our collections which explore how the consumption and production of food in the US interact with various social and political issues, today and throughout history.
The books on display cover themes including food insecurity (Feeding the crisis : care and abandonment in America’s food safety net and Life on the other border : farmworkers and food justice in Vermont), consumer activism (Upsetting food : three eras of food protest in the United States), the relationship between food and identity (Eating while black : food shaming and race in America, A taste of power : food and American identities and Sameness in diversity : food and globalization in modern America) and more. A full list of the other titles on display can be found below.
The library team has also suggested a range of online resources for those interested in delving deeper into food studies. The Food and Foodways Web Archive is a selection of food-related websites archived by the Library of Congress. Civil Eats is a news site covering the politics of the American food system, with an emphasis on social justice and sustainability. The Conrad N. Hilton Library lists a range of open access digital collections on food history, with a focus on historical menus, recipes and cookery books, and the UC Berkley library suggests a broad range of online archives and collections relating to diverse aspects of food studies.
The book display can be found on the ground floor of the Vere Harmsworth Library by the comfy chairs towards the back of the room. Books are labelled as loanable or for library use only, and links to ebooks are given where the Bodleian has ebook access.
Other titles on display
- Dinner with the President : food, politics, and a history of breaking bread at the White House
- Food and agriculture during the Civil War
- Food in the American military : a history
- Food in the Civil War era : the South
- Food power politics : the food story of the Mississippi civil rights movement
- Food, health, and culture in Latino Los Angeles
- From label to table : regulating food in America in the information age
- Grocery : the buying and selling of food in America
- How America eats : a social history of U.S. food and culture
- Manly meals and mom’s home cooking : cookbooks and gender in modern America
- Native foods : agriculture, indigeneity, and settler colonialism in American history
If you have any questions about working in the Vere Harmsworth Library, please email vhl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.