Top 10 Best Books on Conscious Eating

My library routine is pretty, well, routine. I return the books I've finished, pick up the books I've put on hold, and make a beeline for the cookbooks and cooking section. It's not large, maybe ten shelves, but this section never fails to supply me with a few choice picks. Over the years, as I've become passionate about what I call "SOLE" Food - choosing ingredients that are Seasonal, Organic, Local, and Ethical - I've been inspired and informed by some amazing authors. I find myself recommending these books over an over to my friends, family, and strangers in the produce section.

Here are my top ten favorite books about the food we eat, the passionate people who grow it, and how our choices effect our bodies, our communities, and the world.

1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
This book is my hands-down favorite on the subject. Many of you will recognize Kingsolver's name from her classic novels like the Poisonwood Bible and the Bean Trees, and this book is a beautiful little gem of storytelling, memoir, food politics, family, and a lot of good food!

2 Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection by Jessica Prentice (Chelsea Green)

3 The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World
by John Robbins (Conari Press)

4. Omnivore?s Dilemma by Michael Pollan - Many know Michael Pollan as the spokesman of the modern food-awareness revolution. This is my favorite of his books because of it's people-oriented approach.

5. Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet
by Frances Moore Lappe and Anna Lappé

6. Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating with More Than 75 Recipes
by Mark Bittman

7. How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table
by Russ Parsons

8. Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon (Crown Publishing)

9. The Revolution will not be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements by Sandor Ellix Katz

10. Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, And Fair by Carlo Petrini

* Regional Bonus: Portland's Bounty: A guide to Eating Locally and Seasonally in the Greater Portland and Vancouver Areas by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon's Interfaith Network for Earth Concerns; 2nd edition (2001) - Available through the Multnomah County Library

These books are full of inspirational ideas, facts, recipes, and stories about the people who realize that food is the key. Have you read these books? What did you think? What are your favorites?

Eat, and Read, Well!