Top 10 Food Books of 2010

Top 10 Food Books of 2010

Health and well-being for both humans and the biosphere are the goals of the 10 best food books of the year, in which both pleasure and sustainability are emphasized as authors suggest changes in food shopping, cooking, and eating.

52 Loaves: One Man’s Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and a Perfect Crust. By William Alexander. 2010. Algonquin, $23.95 (9781565125834).

Alexander goes all out in his attempt to produce the ultimate loaf of bread, planting his own wheat field and traveling the world to consult with bread masters.

American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields. By Rowan Jacobsen.2010. Bloomsbury, $25 (9781596916487).

Jacobsen investigates terroir, the belief that individual plots of land can produce significant differences in crops and the new obsession of gastronomes.

Animal Factory: The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy, and Poultry Farms to Humans and the Environment. By David Kirby. 2010. St. Martin’s, $26.99 (9780312380588).

Kirby’s profiles of affected individuals provide the most relatable testimony yet to the hazards of industrial animal farming.

Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do about It. By Anna Lappé. 2010. Bloomsbury, $24 (9781596916593).

Continuing the work her mother, Frances Moore Lappé, began in Diet for a Small Planet (1971), Anna Lappé gathers facts about the major role industrial agriculture plays in today’s climate crisis and advocates for organic farming.

The Food Matters Cookbook: 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living. By Mark Bittman. 2010. Simon & Schuster, $35 (9781439120231).

Bittman provides shopping advice and hundreds of recipes to support his call for Americans to adopt and enjoy more environmentally friendly and healthy diets.

Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food. By Paul Greenberg. 2010. Penguin, $25.95 (9781594202568).

Greenberg travels the globe to assess the full extent of the damage to fisheries and how pollution, habitat destruction, and destructive fishing practices might be ameliorated.

Now Eat This: 150 of America’s Favorite Comfort Foods, All under 350 Calories. By Rocco DiSpirito. 2010. Ballantine, $22 (9780345520906).

Popular television chef DiSpirito retools diet cookery in hope of convincing even the most stubborn gourmand to cut calories without giving up delicious, satisfying foods.

The Perfect Finish: Special Desserts for Every Occasion. By Bill Yosses and Melissa Clark. 2010. Norton, $35 (9780393059533).

White House executive pastry chef Yosses presents 80 delectable dessert recipes, complete with tips, photographs, and step-by-step instructions.

The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food. By Ben Hewitt. 2010. Rodale, $24.99 (9781605296869).

Tiny Hardwick, Vermont, may be the epicenter of a new food movement, thanks to those Hewitt dubs “agripreneurs,” a development that amuses, enthuses, and enrages the town’s residents.

Twain’s Feast: Searching for America’s Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens. By Andrew Beahrs. 2010. Penguin, $25.95 (9781594202599).

At the end of a grand tour of Europe, Mark Twain listed American foods he missed the most, a provocative inventory that inspired Beahrs’ quest to rediscover a more robust American cuisine.

Seaman, Donna (author).

Excerpt of review by Donna Seaman first published October 1, 2010 (Booklist).