I hadn’t expected to talk about Family Meals here because it’s a cookbook, and really — how much can one say about cookbooks, and how often? I’ve reviewed several here already and felt that I’d done my duty to the cookbook world. But then I discovered my daughters “reading” Family Meals and asking, “Mommy, can [...]

It’s been suggested that I might be a bit obsessed with food these days. Guilty. It’s no surprise, then, that Food Matters was one of the first books to catch my eye when I was recently browsing at a Chapters store. I mean, the title said it all. Food! Matters! Right up my alley. Rather [...]

For our family, simplifying our lives has meant becoming more mindful of what we’re doing in a whole lot of areas, not least of which has been the kitchen. I’ve mentioned earlier that as part of this process, we’ve been slowly gravitating towards eating a lot more local, seasonal food. It just makes sense for [...]

Paul Roberts’ The End of Food (not to be confused with Thomas Pawlick’s identically-titled work) is a well-researched, thoughtful examination of the global impact and intricacies of the modern food system. In his introduction, Roberts explains that the modern food industry is built on high-volume, low-cost production. Of course, this creates an internal vicious cycle: [...]

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle had been recommended to me a while ago, but I hesitated. What could Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Poisonwood Bible (which I thoroughly enjoyed, by the way) possibly have to say about animals and vegetables? A whole lot of worthwhile stuff, it turns out. From the first chapter, Kingsolver had me hooked. [...]