What we learn when an anthropologist and a historian talk about food.
From the origins of agriculture to contemporary debates over culinary authenticity, Ways of Eating introduces readers to world food history and food anthropology. Through engaging stories and historical deep dives, Benjamin A. Wurgaft and Merry I. White offer new ways to understand food in relation to its natural and cultural histories and the social rules that shape our meals.
Wurgaft and White use vivid storytelling to bring food practices to life, weaving stories of Panamanian coffee growers, medieval women beer makers, and Japanese knife forgers. From the Venetian spice trade to the Columbian Exchange, from Roman garum to Vietnamese nớc chấm, Ways of Eating provides an absorbing account of world food history and anthropology. Migration, politics, and the dynamics of group identity all shape what we eat, and we can learn to trace these social forces from the plate to the kitchen, the factory, and the field.
Benjamin A. Wurgaft is a writer and historian. His previous books include Meat Planet: Artificial Flesh and the Future of Food and Thinking in Public: Strauss, Levinas, Arendt.
Merry I. White is Professor of Anthropology at Boston University. Her previous books include Coffee Life in Japan and Perfectly Japanese: Making Families in an Era of Upheaval. The Japanese government has honored her work in the anthropology of Japan with the Order of the Rising Sun.
"The intricate ways in which human history is formed by food are catacombs full of stories, waiting to be exposed, unraveled, and told. Benjamin Wurgaft and Merry White's vignettes and chapters are full to the brim with food and drink, which are the facts of life. Ways of Eating is a thrilling ride into the human spirit."—Yotam Ottolenghi, James Beard Award–winning author
"Who better than a historian-ethnographer team to illuminate the multiple roles that eating has in our lives? Readers will find the authors' juxtaposition of vivid descriptions of specific cooks, artisans, and farmers with a fast-paced history of food engaging and illuminating."—Rachel Laudan, author of Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
"This thoughtful and original book invites us to see food through culture and culture through food. Wurgaft and White—son and mother—make delightful company as they guide us through everything from the birth of agriculture to the lamination in a croissant in modern-day Tokyo. I was informed and entertained in equal measure."—Bee Wilson, author of Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat
256 pp.6 x 9Illus: 11 b/w ornaments
9780520419315$24.95|£21.00Paper
Apr 2025