Customer Reviews

A Movable Feast: Ten Millennia of Food Globalization

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book tracks human history and food from our earliest ancestors up to the present. It's loaded with information. If you've ever been curious about where foods come from and how they've changed the world, you should read this book. I enjoyed it.

This is a very frustrating book. The subject is fascinating,little known and relevant to anyone that has to eat food. Brief histories of nearly all foods are presented with an emphasis on how the various foods have traveled around the globe, often by accident.The problem is the writing. It is very dry reading, coming across as something between a very knowledgeable person's notebook and the first draft of a book for the public. It is several drafts away from being ready for a popular audience. Perhaps useful to look up something specific but too poorly written for casual reading.

A Movable Feast goes on my list of vastly disappointing books. I don't know a lot about the source material, but in the bits that I am familiar with, the writer often gets things wrong, including the spelling of the Jomon period (never mind diacritical and doubled vowel variations, which I'm very generous on, but putting an R in?), claiming that the term "tip" comes from "To Insure Prompt Service"--a linguistic myth that NO writer or researcher should take seriously--and so on. So I wonder how much of the other things are true. Sadly, the fault appears to lie in the source material, the Cambridge World History of Food, and the fact that the author didn't bother to verify any of it before producing this new work based on it. He footnoted "tip" to CWHF, but sorry, that doesn't make it true.

If I were undertaking this kind of endeavor, I would have made sure that the world hadn't moved on and improved the research since CWHF was produced, or that the original contributor hadn't made a mistake. I mean, just because something appeared in black and white with Cambridge's name on it doesn't make it true, and large compilations tend to contain errors (see Nature's report on the error rate in the Encyclopedia Britannica for an example).

Another drawback is that the book purports to have a global perspective (and Cambridge, of course, is British) but the book is heavily US-focused. That's marginally defensible on some topics, such as fast food, although it's bizarre that the book leaves you with the impression that there are literally no non-American fast food chains in the world. However, it's not at all defensible on other topics (do we need a history of regional cuisines in the US if we're not going to get it for Italy or Russia or China?).

A final drawback is the scattershot organization of the book, which doesn't seem to be organized by any guiding principle at all--not chronology, geography, ingredients, or other themes. There are a few places where organization emerges but it quickly vanishes again, so references to things like McDonalds' effects on an area are made before you get to the fast food section, and you have the rare pleasure of running into the phrase "see ahead" in the text. This should have been a clear sign to the the editor that changes needed to be made.

I would say "recommended with caveats" because some portions seem interesting, but since I can't say how trustworthy those portions are, I'm going to say "not recommended." I think it's better to look for a book by a specialist in the particular area you're interested in, even if you wind up having to read a dozen books. If you like to know that what you are reading is really based in fact, or at least good research, this book just won't do.

Kiple tells us a chapter of history that most historians forget to: Food Globalization.
With the discovery of the American Continent, the European dietary profited a lot in its caloric intake with better nutrients. Potato, corn, tomato, not to mention the variety of fruits found in Brazil, diversified tastes in Europe.
Sailors, as Columbus, were responsible for spreading the "new food" worldwide, this part of history is really delightful.
The author also dicusses the consequences of bad eating habits, especially in North America. If in the past the most important issue was to feed everyone, once achieved this goal regardless the quality of the food, mankind has to cope with endemic obesity levels.
This book really gets into you, it is hard to stop reading it. When you finish it, perhaps you have the same feeling I had, that this book deserves being read again.
To summarize in a couple of words: TWO THUMBS UP.

I had high hopes for this book - alas, 'twas in vain. The author is not shy about his belief that we all should be eating a high-protein & fruit/vegetable diet, and that farming has brought an an onslaught of disease and human misery to the world. Some tidbits, such as the origin and spread of different foods was interesting, but his focus was largely on proving his own theory--that the hunter-gatering lifestyle is far superior to our agricultural-based existence, and how the spread of food-stuffs and preservation methods only made everything worse.

I would have appreciated a tone that was more celebratory of food, and more information about how and why things were prepared and preserved the way they were, the cultural implications of such, etc. Apparently that is for another book (any recommendations?!).

Scholarly yet clear, fast and easy paced. You do not need to be a foodie to read this book. Anyone with any interest in knowledge in human interaction will find this book invaluable.

A Movable Feast: Ten Millennia of Food Globalization
A very interesting book. Well researched and well written. Gives you a history of our food, from almonds to zucchini, where did they come from, who used them first and what for, and how their use expanded throughtout the world. A real best for food lovers, professional and amateur cookers, and any curious person (such as, did you ever wonder why no chicken or eggs, or potatoes, are ever mentioned in the Bible?).
Jose Olivares, Santiago, Chile

Great information, some very interesting stories, but not great writing. I agree that it was a bit dry at times, but as an academic work, it contained a wealth of information in a well-organized way. If you're looking for a particular food or era, the book is very accessible. There are also plenty of stories to add to classroom discussions, and some sections worth having kids read (Neolithic Revolution, Irish Potato Famine).

REad about it in the economist- everything I was hoping for- people's interaction with what grows on this earth that they can eat.

What a unique and creative title!
Gee, Mr. Kiple, don't you think it would have been a bit gracious to at least mention the fact that Mr. Hemingway had it first?
(and taking the "e" doesn't count!)