The Meaning of Food - Hardcover

No matter who we are or where we live, our lives revolve around food. Much more than simple sustenance, food is part of our culture and our traditions. Everything about eating - including what we eat, how it tastes, who prepares it, and who's at the table - is a form of communication rich with meaning.
This beautifully illustrated, thought-provoking book explores the role of food in our lives. Paralleling a three-part PBS series hosted by acclaimed New York chef Marcus Samuelsson, The Meaning of Food goes on location to twenty ethnic communities across the United States and examines, through stories, pictures, and interviews, the many ways that food is an expression of our humanity. It shows how our attitudes, practices, and rituals around food reflect our most basic beliefs about our world and ourselves. Included in this book are the recipes from the television series and 200 color photographs, many of them captured from the series footage.
From an Italian-American wedding in San Diego, to a Mexican-American family's Christmastime tradition of making tamales, to a South Carolina woman's exploration of her Geechee heritage, The Meaning of Food sheds light on who we are as Americans.
"We do not sit at the table only to eat, but to eat together."
- plutarch

The complete three-hour PBS broadcast of The Meaning of Food is available from PBS Home Video on DVD and VHS. Order your copy anytime at www.shoppbs.com or by calling 1-800-645-4727.

Patricia Harris and David Lyon are the authors of several books and hundreds of articles about food and travel, including several articles and radio pieces about food anthropology. They were the founding restaurant reviewers for Microsoft's "Boston Sidewalk." They live in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sue McLaughlin, president of Pie in the Sky Productions, is the series creator and executive producer of the PBS series "The Meaning of Food." She has more than a decade of experience overseeing large-scale national and international documentary series. She lives in Seattle, Washington.