The Literary Society

The Slow Food STL Literary Society will suggest Food Focused Books that Educate and Empower, as well as, Entertain our readers.

Please follow us on Facebook for our upcoming selections.

If you are enjoying the current book selections or would like to offer other suggestions please join our Reading Group list. Contact: Elizabeth at  literarysociety@slowfoodstl.org

Your contact information will allow us to communicate new reading materials, as well as, update you on dates and times for discussion gatherings.

All suggestions to enhance our reading group are always welcome.

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DECEMBER
This month we are inviting members to join us in reading

  • How To Be A Conscious Eater by Sophie Egan

A radically practical guide to making food choices that are good for you, others, and the planet.  
 
Is organic really worth it? Are eggs ok to eat? If so, which ones are best for you, and for the chicken—Cage-Free, Free-Range, Pasture-Raised? What about farmed salmon, soy milk, sugar, gluten, fermented foods, coconut oil, almonds? Thumbs-up, thumbs-down, or somewhere in between?

Using three criteria—Is it good for me? Is it good for others? Is it good for the planet?—Sophie Egan helps us navigate the bewildering world of food so that we can all become conscious eaters. To eat consciously is not about diets, fads, or hard-and-fast rules. It’s about having straightforward, accurate information to make smart, thoughtful choices amid the chaos of conflicting news and marketing hype. An expert on food’s impact on human and environmental health, Egan organizes the book into four categories—stuff that comes from the ground, stuff that comes from animals, stuff that comes from factories, and stuff that’s made in restaurant kitchens. This practical guide offers bottom-line answers to your most top-of-mind questions about what to eat.

 

NOVEMBER
This month we are inviting members to join us in reading

–Recipes For Respect by Rafia Zafar

This book illuminates the role of foodways in African American culture as well as the contributions of Black cooks and chefs to what has been considered the mainstream.

Find a copy at The Novel Neighbor or Left Bank Books. 

 
 
OCTOBER
This month we are inviting members to join us in reading
 
–The Cooking GeneA Journey through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty.
 
This book is an illuminating memoir of southern cuisine and food culture. This journey traces Twitty’s ancestry ~ both Black & White, through food, from Africa to America and slavery to freedom.
 
This fascinating book was the 2018 winner of The James Beard Award for Best Food writing and Book of the Year. A mix of genres that is sure to Educate and Empower. Find a copy at The Novel Neighbor or Left Bank Books. 
 
 
 
 
 
SEPTEMBER
 
 
 
 
AUGUST
This month the Slow Food STL Literary Society is celebrating “back to school” by recommending a book that cultivates the young minds of our future gardeners and farmers.
 
We are inviting members to join us in reading the bestelling book about the power of one kind act If You Plant A Seed by Caldecott Medal and Coretta Scott King. 
 
 
 
Look for this book at The Novel Neighbor, Left Bank Books, or your public library.
 
 
 
 
JULY

I wish I Was a Monarch Butterfly by Jennifer Bove 

Max & Mo’s Science Fair Surprise by Patricia Lakin.

 
 
JUNE
“People are always asking me, “What’s your favorite vegetable?” or “What’s your favorite herb or spice?” And the answer is always garlic. I couldn’t live without it.“
-Alice Waters, Chapter 3 “Queen of the Garden”. pg 36/37
 
 
Slow Food St. Louis board member and our new Literary Society coordinator, Elizabeth, has selected three upbeat books that focus on slow living values and principles. Choose one or choose all three, it’s up to you!
 
Also, in keeping with our new programs, Slow Food Starts At Home, we recommend books for children! We are focusing on books about plants and pollinators this month. We think your children will love these books.
 
Reach out to our friends The Novel Neighbor, Left Bank Books, the St. Louis Public Library or your favorite store for your copy.
 
As soon as we can, we will find dates to gather together and discuss. For now, let’s all stay home, stay safe and read together.
 
 
1. The Planter of Modern Life: Louis Bromfield and the Seeds of a Food Revolution. A biography by Stephan Heyman

2. Coming to My Senses, The Making of a Counter Culture Cook. This memoir is by Alice Waters, Slow Food International Vice President since 2002

3. The Warmest Room in the House: How the Kitchen became the Heart of 20th Century American Home by Steven Gdula.