Food and Farming Books We’re Reaching for This Fall

The Secret Life of Groceries

After taking aim at Bikram Yoga in his first book, Hell-Bent, author Benjamin Lorr takes us deep into the dark world of grocery store supply chains. Based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews, Lorr digs into the abuse and suffering endured by the workers that help bring food to your supermarket’s shelves.
(September 8, Avery)

Eat A Peach

In his new memoir, David Chang tells the story of his rise to success and his struggles along the way. The celebrity chef behind Momofuku tackles his reputation for being an angry presence in the kitchen, his bipolar disorder diagnosis, and how cooking gave him purpose.
(September 8, Clarkson Potter)

The Man Who Ate Too Much

The Man Who Ate Too Much tells the story of legendary chef James Beard. In this comprehensive biography, author John Birdsall (who has received his own James Beard Award for his food writing) explores Beard’s closeted life as a gay man.
(October 6, W.W. Norton & Company)

Fermentation as Metaphor

Eight years ago, Sandor Katz released The Art of Fermentation, a DIY guide that showed home cooks how to make their own fermented foods. In his follow up, Katz gets philosophical, comparing the changes that happen in the fermentation process with those in human society.
(October 15, Chelsea Green Publishing)

A Small Farm Future

The pandemic has highlighted vulnerabilities in our food supply chain and made more people think about how and where their food is grown. In this book, farmer and social scientist Chris Smaje makes the case for establishing self-reliant, small-scale, local farming communities in response to climate change and other problems humanity faces.
(October 21, Chelsea Green Publishing)

On the Farm
Readers who remember goat week will no doubt be familiar with Aliza Eliazarov. The photographer used to take the animal photos for the front of our print edition (back when that was still a thing), and she has put together a book of beautiful portraits of heritage animal breeds. Shot entirely on small farms and homesteads, the book is packed with fun factoids about Eliazarov’s subjects, which include goats, horses, donkeys, pigs, ducks and llamas, to name just a few.
(November 17, Ten Speed Press)