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Slow Books

Slow Books is a curated list of books and resources that speak to Slow Food values. We hope to connect readers with food writing that inspires thought and discussion about the food you love, diverse food cultures, historical foodways, food justice and the joy of eating.

SLOW Books recommends

We use bookshop.org to host our booklist because their sales support independent bookstores. Plus, Slow Food USA will receive 10% of the sale of every book sold via our booklist, which will support our efforts to achieve good, clean and fair food for all.

THIS MONTH’S RECOMMENDATIONS

MARCH 2023 BOOK OF THE MONTH
MARCH 2023 YOUTH BOOK OF THE MONTH

“Though its prose leans academic, the premise of Eating Beside Ourselves: Thresholds of Foods and Bodies is worth the effort for enlightenment. Heather Paxson and a collective of researchers ask us to consider an ontological shift that blurs the lines between our concept of self and what we have categorized as our food. The contributors deftly tease apart ideological constructs we use to map out the world, enlightening us on the mechanics by which we separate ourselves from our non-human kin. The implications are profound and fascinating.”

— Cedar

The illustrations in this book are alive—it is impossible to sufficiently describe their beauty with words. ‘The berries sing to us, glowing like little jewels.’ I gasped as I turned each page. The story itself is sweet, speaking to reciprocity and how relationship to the land is passed along through generations. You’ll meet so many new berries, and even what recipes to cook up with them! The final pages include descriptive details about each berry. Berry song is a quick read that’s gorgeous, fun, and informative. A Caldecott Honor Book.

— Cedar

2022 Holiday Book Gift Guide

CURATED BY SLOW FOOD USA'S SLOW BOOKS TEAM Looking for books for the foodies on your list, or for yourself? Here are a small selection of some of our favorites of 2022, plus others we are looking forward to! They include cookbooks, an anthology, memoir, fiction, and a...

Slow Books Announces Abra Berens’ “Grist” as Third Annual Network-Wide Read-Along

Maybe you’ve joined Slow Books for our read-along programming for “How to Be An Antiracist” or “Braiding Sweetgrass,” or perhaps this will be your first read-along. Either way — we’re glad you’re here!

Discussion Guides

For the 2022 Network-Wide Read-Along, the Slow Books team chose Grist: A Practical Guide to Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds, and Legumes by Abra Berens. Here are some additional reading materials to enhance your enjoyment of this epic ode to some of our favorite foods.

 

PUBLISHER’S WEBSITE

AUTHOR’S WEBSITE

PURCHASE THE BOOK FROM BOOKSHOP!

In 2020, Slow Books hosted a virtual discussion group to discuss How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. The Slow Books Curators developed a trio of discussion guides for the book—A Reading & Discussion Guide, A Moderator’s Guide and a Virtual Book Club Toolkit—so you can host your own discussion group! Download all three here.
Suggest a Book

The Slow Food Book Curators

Tammy Maitland

Tammy Maitland

Tammy is a coastal Massachusetts transplant who has been living in the high desert of New Mexico for the past 16 years. She has mainly worked in the field of education, either as a 4th grade teacher, substitute teacher, or environmental educator. In the last few years her love of food has blossomed right along with her growing obsession with books. Tammy has been a board member of Slow Food Albuquerque for about a year. You can find her on Instagram as @quibit_the_cat.
Katie Johnson

Katie Johnson

Katie discovered her local Slow Food chapter in Chicago five years ago while working at a commercial food broker, scratching her head at the gap between the midwest-grown blueberries they sold across the nation and local food markets. She got involved with the Chicago chapter as a blog writer and is now a chapter leader, having taken on many roles over the years, including program manager for the chapter’s food book club. Katie officially added the title of “librarian” to her resume, graduating in May of 2019 with a MSLIS. So it is only fitting that those two worlds collide in establishing Slow Food Books! You can find out more about Katie on her website or instagram @katydid_katiejohnson.
Cedar Schimke

Cedar Schimke

Cedar is a chef, community gardener, farmer, writer, singer, artist. They devour books both fiction and nonfiction that help them imagine emergent worlds. Their favorite ingredients to cook with are chilies, and they love exploring recipes as a way to apprentice themselves to culture, tradition, and place. Cedar’s favorite genre of book is magical realism, especially when written by folks who use storytelling to offer alternatives to the current systems of hierarchy and dominance.

 

Margaret Woodruff

Margaret Woodruff

Margaret Woodruff first learned about Slow Food while researching local foods for library programs at her library in Vermont.  Since that time, she has been part of the Slow Food Vermont board and worked to fold Slow Food initiatives into libraries across the state, including Plant-a-Seed gardens at the Charlotte Library where she serves as director.  Books and food seem like such a natural combination!

To get involved in Slow Food Books as a curator or partner, contact books@slowfoodusa.org