21 Cookbooks For a Better Food System By Kate Reed Food Tank has selected 21 cookbooks that reflect a growing and transforming food system. From local and sustainable to delicious and creative, these 21 books include dishes and anecdotes that are perfect for any food activist looking for creative eats. The authors and editors that have contributed to this list make up some of the world’s leading experts in sustainable eating. Food Tank hopes the facts and information in these books will inspire people to get involved in the food movement and also encourage readers to share and educate others. 1. The Age GRACE fully Cookbook: The Power of FOODTRIENTS to Promote Health and Well-being for a Joyful and Sustainable Life by Grace O.
Aging, is a collection of enticing and nourishing recipes that promote health and well-being for a joyful and sustainable life. The recipes are built on the foundations of modern scientific research and ancient knowledge of medicinal herbs and natural ingredients from cultures all around the world.
2. Black Trumpet: A Chef’s Journey Through Eight New England Seasons by Evan Mallett
Black Trumpet features 250 innovative recipes that take seasonal cooking to a whole new level while also addressing key food issues that drive Mallett’s food sourcing philosophy, including biodiversity, food waste, food security, processing regulations, sustainable fisheries, and community development.
3. The Chefs Collaborative Cookbook by Ellen Jackson
The Chefs Collaborative network includes more than 12,000 top American chefs who have been a significant force in the food revolution that’s improved the way Americans eat. The cookbook celebrates the tenets of sustainable food production into actual recipes that most any home cook can prepare.
4. The CSA Cookbook: No-Waste Recipes for Cooking Your Way Through a Community Supported Agriculture Box, Farmer’s Market or Backyard Bounty by Linda Ly and Will Taylor
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs have connected farms to consumers and made people more in tune with where their food comes from, but still leave many stumped beyond the conventional uses for their produce. The CSA Cookbook will help readers cook their way through a CSA box (or farmers’ market or backyard bounty) with 105 seasonal recipes that utilize every edible part of the plant, from leaves and flowers to stems and seeds.
5. The Broad Fork by Hugh Acheson
Acheson was inspired by the most-asked question at the market: “What the hell do I do with kohlrabi?” He answered the question in this cookbook that provides a seasonal narrative that covers approximately 50 unique ingredients.
6. The Farmers Market Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to Enjoying Fresh, Local, Seasonal Produce by Julia Shanks and Brett Grohsgal
Farmers’ Markets and CSAs are among the best places to find high-quality, diverse, and exciting vegetables and fruits. This cookbook provides detailed produce descriptions and storage tips, preparation techniques, and over two hundred flavorful recipes.
7. Good Fish: Sustainable Seafood Recipes from the Pacific Coast by Becky Selengut
Selengut helps readers discover the good fish of the Pacific Coast, which includes the fish that are good for you and good for the environment. The cookbook includes over seventy-five recipes that can appeal to cooks of varying capabilities.
8. The Green Southwest Cookbook: Fresh, Zesty, Sustainable by Janet E. Taylor
The Green Southwest Cookbook helps readers set a healthy sustainable table by providing tips and recipes to not only eat healthier but help our planet along the way. It includes tips on how to use seasonal ingredients, garden as well as support local agriculture.
9. The Insect Cookbook: Food for a Sustainable Planet by Arnold van Huis, Henk van Gurp, and Marcel Dicke
Created by two entomologists and a chef, The Insect Cookbook contains everything you ever wanted to know about insect protein. Insect’s high protein content, widespread availability, traditional usage in some regions make bugs a food source worth considering. Recipes are paired with extensive information on sourcing, purchasing, and storage.
10. Modern Native Feasts: Healthy, Innovative and Sustainable Cuisine by Andrew George
Full of healthy, delicious, and thoroughly North American fare, Modern Native Feasts is the first Native American foods cookbook to go beyond the traditional and take a step into the twenty-first century.
11. The New Sustainable Kitchen Cookbook by Stuart Stein CEC, CCE
Stein created a cookbook that allows readers the ability to create the thrill of tasting fine cuisine as well as using the best seasonal ingredients that are grown locally. This cookbook is designed for people who want to make food choices that promote the economic, environmental and social health of their communities, this book gives seasonal cuisine new flair using recipes adapted for exciting home cooking.
12. The Real Meal Revolution: The Radical, Sustainable Approach to Healthy Eating by Tim Noakes, Jonno Proudfoot, and Sally-Ann Creed
The Real Meal Revolution debunks this lie and shows us the way back to restored health through eating what human beings are meant to eat.
13. Root to Leaf: A Southern Chef Cooks Through the Seasons by Steven Satterfield
While Satterfield is dubbed the “vegetable shaman” by The New York Times, Root to Leaf is not a vegetarian cookbook. However, it is a cookbook that celebrates the world of fresh produce. His mouthwatering recipes make the most of the available produce from local markets which are arranged by season.
14. Root-to-Stalk Cooking: The Art of Using the Whole Vegetable by Tara Duggan
Typically carrot tops, broccoli stalks and potato peels are among the discarded items during cooking. Tara Duggan created a cookbook that uses these trimmings and turns them into delicious meals.
15. Savor: Rustic Recipes by Forest, Field and Farm by Ilona Oppenheim
Illona Oppenheim helps readers experience the bounty of nature cooking meals created from foraging, gardening and fishing in her cookbook.
16. Seagan Eating: The Lure of a Healthy, Sustainable Seafood + Vegan Diet by Amy Cramer and Lisa McComsey
This cookbook will help readers maximize an individual’s nutrient intake with plant-based, nutrient-dense foods along with omega 3 rich fish. In addition, the cookbook provides healthy replacement for popular “guilty pleasures.”
17. The Sparkle Kitchen Cookbook: 72 Gluten-Free & Dairy Free Recipes for Shining Health and Sustainable Living by Brittany Barton
The Sparkle Kitchen Cookbook has 72 gluten-free and dairy-free recipes for shining health and sustainable living This cookbook has something for all dietary needs. Anyone will feel good eating these recipes! Every Sparkle Kitchen recipe is: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Refined Sugar-Free, Soy-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Seed-Free, Corn-Free
18. The Sustainable Table by Cassie Duncan and Hayley Morris
The Sustainable Table a sustainable food manual which includes a collection of recipes and stories from notable chefs, farmers, producers, winemakers, gardeners and everyday people who are reducing their impact on the environment by altering their food choices. These inspiring people eat seasonally, shop locally, buy organic, reduce food waste, purchase ethically and make backyards and public spaces productive.
19. True Food: Seasonal, Sustainable, Simple, Pure by Andrew Weil, Sam Fox, and Michael Stebner
This cookbook showcases fresh, high-quality ingredients and simple preparations with robust, satisfying flavors, the book includes more than 125 original recipes from Dr. Weil and chef Michael Stebner. TRUE FOOD supports this mission with freshly imagined recipes that are both inviting and easy to make.
20. Two if By Sea: Delicious Sustainable Seafood by Barton Seaver
Seaver’s second sustainable seafood cookbook includes over 150 recipes featuring responsibly caught seafood that is not in danger of overfishing. Readers are given simple cooking techniques to instill confidence in cooking delicious seafood dishes at home as well as a guide to buying sustainable seafood.
21. Wasted: How America is Losing Up to 40% of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill by Dana Gunders
Gunders’ cookbook is packed with checklists, practical strategies, and simple recipes, and is the ultimate tool for reducing food waste at home. Readers are given tips on; how to grocery shop smarter, plan meals better, decode expiration dates, use the refrigerator to the full potential as well as cook with leftover ingredients
| 1. | The Age GRACE fully Cookbook: The Power of FOODTRIENTS to Promote Health and Well-being for a Joyful and Sustainable Life by Grace O.
Aging, is a collection of enticing and nourishing recipes that promote health and well-being for a joyful and sustainable life. The recipes are built on the foundations of modern scientific research and ancient knowledge of medicinal herbs and natural ingredients from cultures all around the world. | | 2. | Black Trumpet: A Chef’s Journey Through Eight New England Seasons by Evan Mallett
Black Trumpet features 250 innovative recipes that take seasonal cooking to a whole new level while also addressing key food issues that drive Mallett’s food sourcing philosophy, including biodiversity, food waste, food security, processing regulations, sustainable fisheries, and community development. | | 3. | The Chefs Collaborative Cookbook by Ellen Jackson
The Chefs Collaborative network includes more than 12,000 top American chefs who have been a significant force in the food revolution that’s improved the way Americans eat. The cookbook celebrates the tenets of sustainable food production into actual recipes that most any home cook can prepare. | | 4. | The CSA Cookbook: No-Waste Recipes for Cooking Your Way Through a Community Supported Agriculture Box, Farmer’s Market or Backyard Bounty by Linda Ly and Will Taylor
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs have connected farms to consumers and made people more in tune with where their food comes from, but still leave many stumped beyond the conventional uses for their produce. The CSA Cookbook will help readers cook their way through a CSA box (or farmers’ market or backyard bounty) with 105 seasonal recipes that utilize every edible part of the plant, from leaves and flowers to stems and seeds. | | 5. | The Broad Fork by Hugh Acheson
Acheson was inspired by the most-asked question at the market: “What the hell do I do with kohlrabi?” He answered the question in this cookbook that provides a seasonal narrative that covers approximately 50 unique ingredients. | | 6. | The Farmers Market Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to Enjoying Fresh, Local, Seasonal Produce by Julia Shanks and Brett Grohsgal
Farmers’ Markets and CSAs are among the best places to find high-quality, diverse, and exciting vegetables and fruits. This cookbook provides detailed produce descriptions and storage tips, preparation techniques, and over two hundred flavorful recipes. | | 7. | Good Fish: Sustainable Seafood Recipes from the Pacific Coast by Becky Selengut
Selengut helps readers discover the good fish of the Pacific Coast, which includes the fish that are good for you and good for the environment. The cookbook includes over seventy-five recipes that can appeal to cooks of varying capabilities. | | 8. | The Green Southwest Cookbook: Fresh, Zesty, Sustainable by Janet E. Taylor
The Green Southwest Cookbook helps readers set a healthy sustainable table by providing tips and recipes to not only eat healthier but help our planet along the way. It includes tips on how to use seasonal ingredients, garden as well as support local agriculture. | | 9. | The Insect Cookbook: Food for a Sustainable Planet by Arnold van Huis, Henk van Gurp, and Marcel Dicke
Created by two entomologists and a chef, The Insect Cookbook contains everything you ever wanted to know about insect protein. Insect’s high protein content, widespread availability, traditional usage in some regions make bugs a food source worth considering. Recipes are paired with extensive information on sourcing, purchasing, and storage. | | 10. | Modern Native Feasts: Healthy, Innovative and Sustainable Cuisine by Andrew George
Full of healthy, delicious, and thoroughly North American fare, Modern Native Feasts is the first Native American foods cookbook to go beyond the traditional and take a step into the twenty-first century. | | 11. | The New Sustainable Kitchen Cookbook by Stuart Stein CEC, CCE
Stein created a cookbook that allows readers the ability to create the thrill of tasting fine cuisine as well as using the best seasonal ingredients that are grown locally. This cookbook is designed for people who want to make food choices that promote the economic, environmental and social health of their communities, this book gives seasonal cuisine new flair using recipes adapted for exciting home cooking. | | 12. | The Real Meal Revolution: The Radical, Sustainable Approach to Healthy Eating by Tim Noakes, Jonno Proudfoot, and Sally-Ann Creed
The Real Meal Revolution debunks this lie and shows us the way back to restored health through eating what human beings are meant to eat. | | 13. | Root to Leaf: A Southern Chef Cooks Through the Seasons by Steven Satterfield
While Satterfield is dubbed the “vegetable shaman” by The New York Times, Root to Leaf is not a vegetarian cookbook. However, it is a cookbook that celebrates the world of fresh produce. His mouthwatering recipes make the most of the available produce from local markets which are arranged by season. | | 14. | Root-to-Stalk Cooking: The Art of Using the Whole Vegetable by Tara Duggan
Typically carrot tops, broccoli stalks and potato peels are among the discarded items during cooking. Tara Duggan created a cookbook that uses these trimmings and turns them into delicious meals. | | 15. | Savor: Rustic Recipes by Forest, Field and Farm by Ilona Oppenheim
Illona Oppenheim helps readers experience the bounty of nature cooking meals created from foraging, gardening and fishing in her cookbook. | | 16. | Seagan Eating: The Lure of a Healthy, Sustainable Seafood + Vegan Diet by Amy Cramer and Lisa McComsey
This cookbook will help readers maximize an individual’s nutrient intake with plant-based, nutrient-dense foods along with omega 3 rich fish. In addition, the cookbook provides healthy replacement for popular “guilty pleasures.” | | 17. | The Sparkle Kitchen Cookbook: 72 Gluten-Free & Dairy Free Recipes for Shining Health and Sustainable Living by Brittany Barton
The Sparkle Kitchen Cookbook has 72 gluten-free and dairy-free recipes for shining health and sustainable living This cookbook has something for all dietary needs. Anyone will feel good eating these recipes! Every Sparkle Kitchen recipe is: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Refined Sugar-Free, Soy-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Seed-Free, Corn-Free | | 18. | The Sustainable Table by Cassie Duncan and Hayley Morris
The Sustainable Table a sustainable food manual which includes a collection of recipes and stories from notable chefs, farmers, producers, winemakers, gardeners and everyday people who are reducing their impact on the environment by altering their food choices. These inspiring people eat seasonally, shop locally, buy organic, reduce food waste, purchase ethically and make backyards and public spaces productive. | | 19. | True Food: Seasonal, Sustainable, Simple, Pure by Andrew Weil, Sam Fox, and Michael Stebner
This cookbook showcases fresh, high-quality ingredients and simple preparations with robust, satisfying flavors, the book includes more than 125 original recipes from Dr. Weil and chef Michael Stebner. TRUE FOOD supports this mission with freshly imagined recipes that are both inviting and easy to make. | | 20. | Two if By Sea: Delicious Sustainable Seafood by Barton Seaver
Seaver’s second sustainable seafood cookbook includes over 150 recipes featuring responsibly caught seafood that is not in danger of overfishing. Readers are given simple cooking techniques to instill confidence in cooking delicious seafood dishes at home as well as a guide to buying sustainable seafood. | | 21. | Wasted: How America is Losing Up to 40% of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill by Dana Gunders
Gunders’ cookbook is packed with checklists, practical strategies, and simple recipes, and is the ultimate tool for reducing food waste at home. Readers are given tips on; how to grocery shop smarter, plan meals better, decode expiration dates, use the refrigerator to the full potential as well as cook with leftover ingredients | Kate Reed is a Food Tank Intern, working towards her dual masters MPH and MBA. She is currently a registered dietitian in the Chicagoland area. She is passionate about nutrition, public health and improving the lives of others. FOOD TANK'S VISION + MISSION We’re building a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters. We aim to educate, inspire, advocate, and create change. We spotlight and support environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity, and poverty and create networks of people, organizations, and content to push for food system change. | |
