The End of Food, the one by Thomas Pawlick (I haven’t read the Paul Roberts book by the same name) was a huge eye opener for me. I think it was my gateway book into reading way too much about food issues that I sometimes wish I knew less about (now there’s a great testimonial for him).

If you like food adventure books (i.e. not nutrition), check out Bourdain’s A Cook’s Tour. I didn’t see the show but as I was reading the book I looked up the accompanying episodes on YouTube.

“In Bad Taste?” by Massimo Marcone of the University of Guelph was also a good read. Not the best writing, but good stories and insights. He wrote about civet coffee and other odd food discoveries. I read a library copy and then saw a copy at The Good Egg in Kensington Market that had better photos. [An aside: The Good Egg has a great selection of books, and drool-worthy Le Crueset cookware that's often on sale. I'd rather buy from them even though the bargain books section at Chapters and Indigo draws me in.]

For Canadiana, I liked Apples to Oysters by Margaret Webb. I’ve met her a couple of times. She’s cool. The book resulted in frustration though because I realized that I can’t find packaged Canadian seaweed such as dulse anywhere. It all comes from Japan or the US.

By the way, I can’t stop listening to “Bruises” by Chairlift…It’s now on my fave list too.

Ps. I just did a post on the Dr.Andrew Weil-Astragalus-FDA controversy…have you heard about it? It’s so outrageous! It’s the equivalent of arresting a j-walker when there is a murder happening around the corner…I’d really love to hear your thoughts though, so pop a comment on my blog if you get the chance! And spread the word!