A Bánh Mì for Two

Nguyen, Trinity. A Bánh Mì for Two. 2024. 224p. ISBN 9781250910837. 

Lan is a dutiful and loving daughter working with her mother in their small bánh mì food stall in Saigon, Vietnam. Ever since her father died, Lan has needed to put her dreams of writing and attending university on ice. Her cousin, who lives with them, pursues his studies and works at the stall too, helping the family get by. With Lan's mother being sick, Lan feels caught and hopeless. Even her famous food blog, A Bánh Mì for Two, which is read by people all over the world and often mentioned by tourists who visit their stall, has suffered from Lan's writing block.

Vivi lives in California, and her parents are also from Vietnam. But their past lives are shrouded in mystery. For her father, it's because he immigrated when he was a toddler, and doesn't remember much about the country. For her mother, it's because dark secrets have shut down any discussion about the past and what life was like there. Vivi doesn't even know if she has relatives still in Vietnam.

When the opportunity to study abroad presents itself, Vivi jumps on it. Weary that her mother would not approve, Vivi tells her parents she's heading to Singapore for a semester, but instead she travels to Saigon. Armed with old photos she stole from her mother, Vivi hopes she can track down her relatives, try all of the places she discovered on A Bánh Mì for Two, and, perhaps even meet the writer, with whom she shared a writing contest application worth a lot of money.

Vivi's dorm is located across the road from Lan's stall, and soon Vivi discovers that Lan is her favorite writer. Vivi makes a deal with Lan. She will help her come up with ideas for the writing contest, and Lan will help her track down her family. As their relationship blossoms into love, both Lan and Vivi learn about their past, gain a better understanding of their parents, and take steps towards their own independent futures.

Fans of light romance will love A Bánh Mì for Two, with its realistic portrayal of two older teen searching themselves for a future that is hidden. The description of food and of Saigon, with its smells and tastes makes the reader salivate and wish they were in Vietnam with Vivi.

An Appetite for Miracles

Kemp, Laekan Zea. An Appetite for Miracles. 2023. 448p. ISBN 9780316461733.

Danna knows she's a little on the chunky side ... actually, a lot on the chunky side. She loves food. She loves to cook it, and she loves to eat it. Her mother is always after her to lose some weight, and she closely monitors what Danna eats. Danna wishes her mother would just accept her as she is, not as she could be. The family has bigger problems anyway. Danna's grandfather, who lives with them, suffers from Alzheimer, and he is gradually forgetting more and more as the disease progresses. It's becoming difficult to keep hum safe.

Raúl loves to play music, and his favorite thing is to play guitar for the elderly. It helps them remember their lives' happy events and memories. And it lets Raúl forget that his mother has been in prison for the last two years. Raúl and his uncle travel to old folks' homes, and also play in people's homes. This is how he ends up at Danna's house, and a spark is lit between the two of them.

When Danna comes across a journal he wrote in his youth about the places he visited with his wife and the wonderful foods they ate, Danna decides she will prepare those dishes, with the hope that it will spark a memory and help slow her grandfather's descent into a deeper state of Alzheimer. Raúl, meanwhile, is dealing with his mother being released early from prison. The two years she was gone were rough, but now she's a changed person, and not necessarily for the better. 

As Raúl and Danna navigates the waters of a budding relationship while dealing with dramatic family issues, can they rely on each other to get through these changes?

Uncertain Harvest: The Future of Food on a Warming Planet

Mosby, Ian, Sarah Rotz, and Evan Fraser. Uncertain Harvest: The Future of Food on a Warming Planet. 2020. 280p. ISBN 9780889777200.

What impact will climate change have on our agriculture? Everyday, the world needs to produce enough food to feed billions of people, and as the global population continues to grow, more food needs to be grown. Changes in temperature and precipitations are affecting the quality and the quantity of food being produced. The depletion of soils has to be counteracted with fertilizers, which requires fossil fuels to make. This fertilizer in turn polluted waterways and contributes to climate change. We already exploit too many animals for their meat consumption, and a sustainable world would require drastically altering the diet of the average American.

Eight foods that play a significant role in the world's diet are examined, and the impact of climate changes on these are explored. From rice to crickets, these food staples can provide enough caloric input, but will require a change in the mentality and the perception of what is food. Politicians, scientists, and chefs will all be confronted with this dilemma. How do you grow more food while reducing the impact on our planet? nothing short of a global discussion and international measures will help prepare for the future. 

Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit

Estabrook, Barry. Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit. 2011. 240p. ISBN 9781449401092.

Most of us enjoy a red juicy tomato, especially when it comes from the garden. However, there are times where we need to purchase them from the store, and for the most part, those tomatoes are pale imitations of the vegetable we think of when we think tomato. The grocery store tomato industry is a $5 billion enterprise based in Florida that takes many shortcuts in order to achieve profitability, at the expense of both its workers and its customers. 

Among some of the practices that are deleterious to health, tomato fields are sprayed with more chemical per square foot than any other vegetable, and the safety application procedures are often ignored because they slow down the work. Tomatoes are harvested while they are still green, and are then artificially turned red by the use of additional chemicals in warehouses, before being shipped to the grocery store. Today's grocery store tomatoes have measurably less amounts of calcium and vitamins A and C, while containing over fourteen times the amount of sodium than tomatoes from thirty years ago.

Workers are also being exploited on tomato farms, with most of the workforce being undocumented. Workers are at the mercy of work gang chiefs, who exploit and oppress their laborers, leading to several documented court cases and guilty pleas of modern-day slavery.

Readers who enjoy knowing where the food in their plate came from will appreciate this sordid tale of exploitation, and may make better informed choices when they go to the grocery store. Consider taking a look at The Dorito Effect or The Truth Behind Factory Food for additional looks at this topic.

Choosing a Career in the Restaurant Industry

 Beal, Eileen. Choosing a Career in the Restaurant Industry. Part of the World of Work series. 1999. 64p. ISBN 0-8239-3002-5. Available at 647.96 BEA on the library shelves.

Working in a restaurant can be a very rewarding career, and it is one of the few where someone can begin working with no experience and make it to the top. It is possible to go to school to acquire managing or culinary experience. There are three categories of positions within a restaurant: the front of the house, the back of the house, and the top of the house. Front the house positions include servers, busboys, host, and other more exotic positions. Back of the house positions include chefs, cooks, and dishwashers. Top of the house include managers, accountants, and purchasers. 

One of the dreams of people going into the restaurant business is to own their own restaurant, but this is a very demanding job that requires work 7 days a week. Dedicated owners can make is a success, but they need to put in the work and control all aspects of their business. Ways to find out more about the business are also explained. Food lovers and people who think they may be interested in working in a restaurant will appreciate the thoroughness of the information presented here.

Flavorings, Colorings, and Preservatives

Perritano, John. Flavorings, Colorings, and Preservatives. Part of the Know Your Food series. 2018. 64p. ISBN 978-1-4222-3736-6. Available at 641.2 PER on the library shelves.

Most readers have fond memories of colorful breakfast cereal that would change the color of milk. Or of attractive shades of orange on chips and other finger foods. Even the inside of some bakery products are very visually appealing, with bright and vivid colors rarely seen in nature. Of course, these colors are additives, chemical elements that were manufactured by humans and then used in foods to alter a specific aspect, such as color, flavor, or length of time it can live on a shelf. Flavorings, colorings, and perservatives are thus a big business, and they are present in just about everything we eat.

The history behind these chemicals is a fascinating one, from humble developments by chemists searching ways to make food taste better and last longer to the public outcry that followed as some of these turned out to be unsafe for humans. The science behind flavorings, colorings and preservatives is explained, and its various uses are described. Learn about what makes the food you eat so colorful!

Flavorings, Colorings, and Preservatives

Perritano, John. Flavorings, Colorings, and Preservatives. Part of the Know Your Food series. 2018. 64p. ISBN 978-1-42223736-6. Available at 641.3 PER on the library shelves.

Food additives are some of the more pernicious ingredients we consume. Found in just about everything, additives fulfill the important role of preserving food so that it lasts longer. They also offer a variety of colors to be visually pleasing or distinctive, and affect the flavor of food. Many questions arise out of the overabundance of use of food additives. Are they safe for human consumption? How are they created? Why are they used?

This book describes how the history of food additives. It explains why they were created, how they were tested (if they even were), and how the ended up having a pervasive presence in our diet. There are ways to avoid some of these additives and maintain a healthy diet, but it's up to you to know what is good for your body and what isn't. 

Fans of good nutrition will appreciate the thoroughness and science presented in this book and will be better equipped to make decisions on what they eat.

A Pixie’s Promise

Sanchez, Dianna. A Pixie’s Promise. 2018. 250p. ISBN 9781940924342. Available at FIC SAN on the library shelves.

Petunia the Pixie is thrilled to be heading to her friend Millie the witch’s house for the next ten days. At home, Petunia never has a moment’s peace, and even her mother mistakes her for one of her many siblings. Millie is heading to the Logical World, where humans live, so she can spend time with her father. Millie’s mother, Bogdana the witch, is staying at the house. While she is gone, Petunia helps nurse and educate Thea the tree, and she also prepares the meals that Millie left behind for her and for for her mother. Bogdana is unpleasant and treats Petunia like a servant, and denies her access to her witch’s laboratory. 

When a contagious disease spreads quickly through the town of Pixamitchie, Bogdana soon finds her healing potion crafting abilities overwhelmed, and reluctantly asks Petunia to help. When Bogdana herself comes down with an illness, it is up to Petunia to stop the contagion and save the village!

Fats and Cholesterol

Perritano, John. Fats and Cholesterol. Part of the Know Your Food series. 2018. 64p. ISBN 978-1-4222-3734-2. Available at 613.2 PER on the library shelves.



Over the last forty years, Americans have been getting bigger. Obesity is now considered a national issue, and several policies have been passed to address a large increase in overweight people. The rest of the world is also affected by this problem, and fingers have pointed at a diet rich in fats and carbohydrates. But what are fats? How do they affect humans?

This short book discusses the role that fat plays in the average human diet. Fats are defined and explained, and their impact on levels of cholesterol are described. The history of fat is then presented. Of particular interest is how the problem of fat being perishable was solved by the creation of margarine, which lasted longer and cost less than butter. This led to several "butter wars" in the 1880s and 1890s, until laws were passed imposing color restrictions to ensure that people would not confuse margarine and butter. The process of hydrogenating oil under intense heat and pressure created Crisco, a cooking fat which doesn't spoil and can be used as an alternative to butter. Crisco and margarine became more popular during the Second World War, when severe shortages of butter led to rationing. The growth of the fast-food industry also provided more demands for fats, increasing their overall presence in our food supply.

Medical concerns related to fats are then reviewed. Though our body absolutely needs fats to survive, too much of them lead to an increase in both the number of fat cells as well as the overall size of the cells. Finally, fat consumption is discussed, including problems with low-fat diets and school cafeteria lunches. Possible solutions to decrease fat consumption are presented. Readers interested in where our food comes from and how we can eat better will appreciate the information in this book.

The Truth Behind GMOs

Smundak, Katharina. The Truth Behind GMOs. Part of the Factory to Table: What You're Really Eating series. 2018. 48p. ISBN 978-1-4994-3929-8. Available at 338.17 SMU on the library shelves.

When people hear the words "genetically modified organism," they immediately think of Frankenfoods, foods whose genetic codes have been altered to transform them into something else. The reality is much simpler, and a lot less interesting. Genetically modified organisms are foods whose DNA has changed to provide it with a new characteristic, generally either being more insect repellant or better able to survive diseases.

Without the advent of GMOs, it would have been impossible to produce enough food to feed a growing world population. Humans have been selectively breeding plants and animals for thousands of years, and GMOs are only the latest scientific advance. Thousands of studies have shown there is no risk to consumer of these foods, yet people continue to be fearful of these types of food. Analyzing the science behind GMOs, this book also explores how food was produced before and how farmers cultivate their lands today, the history behind GMOs, and what the future holds.

Readers who enjoy knowing more about their food will appreciate this well-researched book and will gain a better understanding of the role GMOs play in our food supply chain.

Other books in this series include:

• The Truth Behind Manufactured Foods
• The Truth Behind Soft Drinks
• The Truth Behind Antibiotics, Pesticides, and Hormones
• The Truth Behind Snack Foods
• The Truth Behind Factory Foods

The Truth Behind Soft Drinks

Quinlan, Julia J. and Adam Furgang. The Truth Behind Soft Drinks. Part of the From Factory to Table: What You're Really Eating series. 2018. 48p. ISBN 978-1-47778992-6. Available at 663.62 QUI on the library shelves.

Over the last fifty years, soft drinks have evolved from an expensive treat seldom consumed to an ubiquitous beverage consumed by billions of people. Brand names like Coca-Cola and Pepsi have become part of the cultural lexicon everywhere. But soft drinks, which displaced healthier drinks like milk and water, have contributed to worldwide epidemic of obesity striking rich and poor countries alike.

This book reveals how soft drinks are made. Emphasis is placed on the fact that there are over ten teaspoons of sugar in every can of regular soft drinks, while diet drinks contain ingredients known to cause cancer. From acid to benzene, the list of ingredients contained in soft drinks represent a chemical nightmare, yet people continue to consume soft drinks. Health issues related to consuming soft drinks are explored, possible consequences are advanced.

A warned consumer is always better than someone who doesn't know. If you like soft drinks, read this book to know what it is you consume!

Other books in this series include:

• The Truth Behind Manufactured Foods
• The Truth Behind GMOs
• The Truth Behind Antibiotics, Pesticides, and Hormones
• The Truth Behind Snack Foods
• The Truth Behind Factory Foods

The Truth Behind Antibiotics, Pesticides, and Hormones

Smundak, Katharina. The Truth Behind Antibiotics, Pesticides, and Hormones. Part of the From Factory to Table: What You’re Really Eating series. 2018. 48p. ISBN 978-1-4994-3922-9. Available at 615.32 SMU on the library shelves.

Since the 1950s, the world’s food production has increased dramatically, outpacing the growth in total population and enabling billions of people to be fed. This increase is due in part to modern antibiotics, pesticides, and hormones, which have allowed faster growth in plants and animals alike. Unfortunately, these modern tools are also negatively influencing the environment, leading some to wonder whether we should continue to use them in our food supply.

Used to treat illnesses caused by bacteria, antibiotics were first developed to help humans, but quickly were adapted to treat animals. An over reliance on and over prescription of antibiotics has meant that there are now several bacteria which are resistant to treatment. This resistance threatens humans by removing one avenue of healing. Pesticides were developed to kill bugs and other pests that infect plants and animals, but their spreading ensure that they are present in the food chain through bigger animals eating smaller ones, and they end up in human diets Hormones occur naturally in the body, but can be manipulated to increase the growth rate. Traces of these hormones then transfer to humans through eating, and may lead to a decrease in the age at which puberty starts, especially for girls.

Anyone concerned about the food supply should read this book to discover how these aids to agriculture and food production are affecting not only what we eat, but our own bodies as well.

Other books in this series include:

• The Truth Behind Manufactured Foods
• The Truth Behind GMOs
• The Truth Behind Soft Drinks
• The Truth Behind Snack Foods
• The Truth Behind Factory Foods

The Truth Behind Snack Foods

Quinlan, Julia J. and Adam Furgang. The Truth Behind Snack Foods. Part of the From Factory to Table: What You’re Really Eating series. 2018. 48p. ISBN 978-1-49943936-6. Available at 664.07 QUI on the library shelves.

Everyone enjoys a good snack during a sporting event or at a cookout. Snack foods are delicious, but the industrial processes involved in fabricating these have involved reducing costs while tricking the body to think these are delicious. Snack foods contain too much sugar and too much salt, often exceeding the daily recommended amount for a man’s diet, but most of us have no idea of the true health impact snacks have on our body.

The Truth Behind Snack Foods present how snack foods are created and why they taste so yummy, but how they are not healthy for you. Items such as chips and candy bars are obvious candidates, but so are fruit bars and other items that contain salt and corn syrup. Short and long-term health consequences, such as diabetes and hypertension, are examined. Techniques for better eating and healthy ideas are also reviewed.

Anyone interested in our food and how we eat will appreciate this book and will never look at snack food the same way.

Other books in this series include:

• The Truth Behind Manufactured Foods
• The Truth Behind GMOs
• The Truth Behind Soft Drinks
• The Truth Behind Antibiotics, Pesticides, and Hormones
• The Truth Behind Factory Foods

The Truth Behind Factory Foods

Quinlan, Julia J. and Paula Johanson. The Truth Behind Factory Foods. Part of the From Factory to Table: What You’re Really Eating series. 2018. 48p. ISBN 978-1-49943925-0. Available at 641.2 QUI on the library shelves.

Most of the food we now eat comes pre-packaged and is purchased at the grocery store, or is purchased in bulk and prepared at a fast-food restaurant. Packages and menus are well designed, pictures are attractive, and food names are descriptive. What we are eating, however, is not clear as even the nutritional label can be very confusing, with multiple ingredients sporting names like propylene glycol and silicon dioxide, whose functions and properties are unknown to the general public.

Such foods, which are cheap and easily accessed and consumed, are made by industrial conglomerates who make millions of portions using the cheapest ingredients they can find, and fill them with preservatives to keep them on shelves longer, and with chemicals to render them visually attractive as well as tasty. These processing foods are not as nutritious as homemade meals, and can contain high amounts of sugars and sodium, which in turn affects the health of those who consume them.

Providing a great overview of the processed food industry, this book clearly demonstrates that not all foods are created equal, and that those buying food must be aware of what they purchase both for health and for environmental reasons.

Other books in this series include:

• The Truth Behind Manufactured Foods
• The Truth Behind GMOs
• The Truth Behind Soft Drinks
• The Truth Behind Antibiotics, Pesticides, and Hormones
• The Truth Behind Snack Foods

The Truth Behind Manufactured Meats

Quinlan, Julia J. and Stephanie Watson. The Truth Behind Manufactured Meats. Part of the From Factory to Table: What You’re Really Eating series. 2018. 48p. ISBN 978-1499439328. Available at 641.3 QUI on the library shelves.

At some point in time, we’ve all heard the expression, “it’s like making sausage, you’re better off not knowing how it’s made.” Referring to the fact that most people would rather not know what is in the food they eat, this book explores the process of manufacturing meats for human consumption. Unlike a steak purchased at the grocery store, items such as chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and deli meats are all processed foods made from scraps and other fillers, along with sodium to enhance the taste, preservatives to ensure a long shelf life, and food coloring to make them more appetizing.

Though every food item sold in the grocery store contains a list of ingredients, most of us neither know what these ingredients are, nor what role they play in affecting human health. Ingredients such as nitrates, used to preserve food, have been linked to cancer. Food coloring is also linked to cancer. Sodium is linked to high blood pressure and heart attacks. Manufactured meats are engineered to be delicious and attractive to the eye, but they may not be the best and healthiest option available.

The Truth about Manufactured Meats informs the reader about what is in their plate, and encourages us to limit our consumption.

Other books in this series include:

• The Truth Behind Manufactured Foods
• The Truth Behind GMOs
• The Truth Behind Soft Drinks
• The Truth Behind Antibiotics, Pesticides, and Hormones
• The Truth Behind Snack Foods
• The Truth Behind Factory Foods

The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart

Burgis, Stephanie. The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart. 2017. 242p. ISBN 978-1-68119-343-4. Available at FIC BUR on the library shelves.

Life as a dragon can be very exasperating, especially when you have older siblings. Aventurine is tired of being hidden in the mountain by her parents. Her mother and grandfather have informed her on occasions too many to count that she can’t leave the mountain for it is dangerous out there, and humans could harm her. Only when her scales have thickened enough to protect her from most every bullet and magic will she be allowed out. But that’s in about a hundred more years, and she’s had enough playing with her older brother, who is more interested in reading human books anyway. Plus, Aventurine has an older sister who has left the mountain years ago, and she’s just so perfect that Aventurine can never compare in the eyes of her mother.

So when the opportunity presents itself, Aventurine sneaks out of the mountain to go hunting by herself. This task proves more complicated than she thought it would be, however, and she’s unable to catch prey. Until, that is, she smells a human sheltering in a cave. She follows the scent, only to discover that he’s cooking … hot chocolate. Entranced by the amazing smell, Aventurine agrees to spare the human’s life until the hot chocolate is ready. Unfortunately, he turns out to be a food mage, and as she drinks the hot chocolate, which is amazing and tastes nothing like she’s ever had, she is transformed into a puny human.

Unable to return home (grandfather tried to roast her when she approached the mountain), Aventurine makes her way to the capital of the kingdom in search of chocolate. She soons becomes an apprentice to the cantankerous Marina, whose uncompromising baking and cooking style and her infuriating personality fit perfectly with Adventurine’s own. Soon, she’s learning more about chocolate than she ever thought possible. But the dragons in the mountain have stirred, and they’ve been spotted as far as the outskirts of the capital. And when an entire flight of them bears down on the city, striking panic and fear in the inhabitants’ hearts, only Adventurine can save them all.

The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor

Schatzker, Mark. The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor. 2015. 259p. 498 mins. ISBN 9781476724218. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Older people often complain that the food they eat is bland and doesn’t taste like the food they used to eat when they were children. For the most part, they are right. Over the last one hundred years, humans have managed to tremendously increase the yield of food. Crops now produce five, ten, or sometimes twenty times the amount of food they did a few decades ago. Thanks to the green revolution, we are able to feed an ever increasing population. However, it comes with costs.

Eating chicken used to be an expensive proposition, but industrial processes now make chicken fatter quicker, all the while keeping the price cheap. However, much like the crops we eat, what has been lost in this industrialization and standardization is the taste these foods developed as they aged. To compensate for this, food companies developed flavoring compounds to ensure that the taste of any given product could be enhanced. The birth of the Dorito chip is symptomatic of this process. A perfectly good crunchy corn chip was made to taste like an entire taco, thus opening supermarket doors to this new product. But in the process our brains became tricked by these new flavors that are not related to the taste of the food.

In this book the author explores a growing gap between how the food taste (better and better) and the nutritional value it has (worse and worse). For examples, blueberry waffles in the frozen section of the grocery store contain no blueberries, yet the consumer is baited and switched to a product that taste just like blueberries, without the nutritional value of actually eating blueberries. Societies worldwide are experiencing this phenomena, which leads to higher rates of obesity and diseases.

Other countries have taken measures to address these issues, by banning flavoring, and by consumers being aware of the products they buy. Chicken is more flavorful in France because poultry is not grown on an industrial scale and is given more time to mature and acquire a taste. Italian pasta and heirloom vegetables continue to be the pride of specific regions and are jealously protected.

It is up to us, the consumer, to demand better tasting food grown through natural processes, and not enhanced by a flavor industry diminishing the nutritional value of food. Pair this book with The Omnivore’s Dilemma for a depressing yet hopeful overview of the whole food industry in the United States.

The omnivore's dilemma : a natural history of four meals

Pollan, Michael. The omnivore's dilemma : a natural history of four meals. 2006. 451p. ISBN 1-59420-082-3. Available on the library shelves at 394.1 POL.

When you go to a supermarket to buy food, the variety can be overwhelming. Each grocery store has on average over 100,000 different items available to satisfy any craving you might have. Unfortunately, variety of food does not mean a diversity of ingredients. In fact, Pollan argues that corn in all its forms has grown to occupy a central place in the American diet, both in its most well-known form, corn on the cob, but also as a sweet syrup, as filler and food for animals we in turn eat, as fuel to process and transport goods to market, and in a myriad of other industrial uses. Our diet has mainly become made up of corn and its derivatives.

In this provocative book, Pollan explores the disproportionate impact on the American diet, the American farm, and the American economy that corn has. From factoring farming to inhumane slaughterhouses, Pollan describes how corn and Second World War policies came to shape our current food supply and tastes. Using for basis four meals, from the industrial to the organic to the hunter-gatherer style, Pollan discusses what happens to his food from the moment it is planted to the time it arrives on his plate, and everything in between.

This book may change your mind about how and what you eat. And even if it doesn’t, at least you will understand how our food industry has so fundamentally transformed what and how we eat that our ancestors from even a hundred years ago would be hard pressed to recognize what it is a typical American meal today. Pollan literally provides food for thought on a subject most of us know next to nothing about.