food and drink

"The Cooking Gene" author Michael W. Twitty presented at Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) President's Program "Dining from a Haunted Plate" on June 25 at the 2018 ALA Conference in New Orleans.

Michael W. Twitty: Author, Culinary Historian, and an “Agent of Change”

By | June 26, 2018

Although sharing that his favorite Southern foods include barbecue, buttermilk pie, gumbo, and jambalaya, The Cooking Gene author Michael W. Twitty said he never intended to write a cookbook; instead, he wanted to research and document the journeys of his ancestors in the American South through the evidence of their foods and cooking methods. “I think we’re … Continue reading Michael W. Twitty: Author, Culinary Historian, and an “Agent of Change” →

Michael W. Twitty

Newsmaker: Michael W. Twitty

By | April 27, 2018

Twitty serves as honorary chair of Preservation Week, held April 22–28, which focuses this year on cooking and community archiving. American Libraries spoke with him about what can be learned about the past through food and about his work with Preservation Week. What drew you to food and its history? Going to living-history sites like Colonial … Continue reading Newsmaker: Michael W. Twitty →

Congregating in the Kitchen

By | February 10, 2018

As the session’s attendees engaged in conversation and shared what they learned about their table-mates, the point of the exercise emerged: Talking about food and cooking food together allows people to learn about each other. Liz Fitzgerald, the administrator of the Free Library of Philadelphia Culinary Literacy Center, expanded on the idea that culinary literacy … Continue reading Congregating in the Kitchen →

These wine labels are part of the Shields Library's special collection at University of California, Davis. Some labels list the names of people who shared bottles with viticulture and enology professor Maynard Amerine. Photos: © UC Davis Library/Special Collections

Preserving the Vintage

By | March 1, 2017

One could expect that wine libraries are concentrated in California, the top-producing state, but wine collections and digital archives are also popping up in places like Indiana, New York, and Oregon. Institutions are providing for the information needs of wine enthusiasts of all stripes, and in doing so are reinventing and reinvigorating the meaning of … Continue reading Preserving the Vintage →

Claudia Alstrom, president of the Adult Library Garden Club at Sacramento (Calif.) Public Library's Rancho Cordova branch, teaches children about vegetables in the Read and Feed garden. Photo: Sacramento (Calif.) Public Library

Library to Farm to Table

By | November 1, 2016

For some libraries serving vulnerable populations, food-producing gardens and nutrition initiatives are born out of necessity. Others have launched programs to advance the causes of sustainability and education. When David Mixdorf was named director of the South Sioux City (Neb.) Public Library in 2009, he was well positioned to establish the library’s first community garden. … Continue reading Library to Farm to Table →

Tiah Edmunson-Morton, archivist of the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives at Oregon State University Photo: Krista Joy Johnson

Hoppy Days

By | May 1, 2016

Edmunson-Morton had been at OSU Libraries for seven years and had the itch to do something different. So in 2013, she pitched the idea of collecting and telling the intertwined story of hops and beer—the first such archive in the US—and within a couple of months it became reality. The first hops were planted on … Continue reading Hoppy Days →