The Best American Food Writing 2023

Mark Bittman, Silvia Killingsworth

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9780063322523
• eBook ISBN: 9780063322530
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Literary Essays
• Index: Politics & International Relations

"Excellent....Taken as a whole, the volume moves beyond food’s sensory pleasures to investigate it as a cultural vessel, a symbol of inequality, and more. It’s a standout addition to the series." —Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

A collection of the year’s top food writing, selected by prolific food writer and author of How to Cook Everything Mark Bittman.

"In almost any culture, at any time, you can find food writing,” writes guest editor Mark Bittman in his introduction. “Food means growing and hardship, and health and medicine, and work and holiday. In its abundance it is a gift and a joy, and in its absence a curse and a tragedy. If a culture has writing, that culture has food writing.” The stories in this year’s Best American Food Writing are brilliant, eye-opening windows into the heart of our country’s culture. From the link between salt and sex, to Syrian refugees transforming ancient Turkish food traditions, to the FDA’s crusade on alternative non-dairy milk options, to Black farmers in Arkansas seeking justice, the scope of these essays spans nearly every aspect of our society. This anthology offers an entertaining and poignant look at how food shapes our lives and how food writing shapes our culture. 

THE BEST AMERICAN FOOD WRITING 2023 INCLUDES JAYA SAXENA • LIGAYA MISHAN • MARION NESTLE TOM PHILPOTT • WESLEY BROWN • ALICIA KENNEDY CAROLINE HATCHETT • AMY LOEFFLER and others  

Table of contents

• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Restriction as Possibility; Lifestyle as Politics
• Salt and Sex
• Border Lines
• What Counts as Fresh Food?
• The Double Life of New York’s Black Oyster King
• The Elusive Roots of Rosin Potatoes
• Detroit’s Chinatown and Gayborhood Felt Like Two Separate Worlds. Then They Collided
• Time Is Strong
• Foraging New York City’s Wild, Edible Margins with Journei Bimwala
• He Knew It All
• Is the “Future of Food” the Future We Want?
• Kimchi with a Side of Whale
• There Is No Such Thing as Italian Food
• “You Don’t Look Anorexic”
• Teach a Man to Fish
• Thanksgiving Is an RPG
• Effortless Anonymity
• What We Write About When We Write About Food
• On the Road, a Taste of Home
• Regulating the Food Industry: An Aspirational Agenda
• The FDA Is Coming for Your Almond Milk
• Tales of an Accidental Cooking Club
• Black Farmers in Arkansas Still Seek Justice a Century After the Elaine Massacre
• Contributors’ Notes
• Other Distinguished Food Writing of 2022
• About the Editors
• Guest Editors of The Best American Food Writing
• About Mariner Books
• Copyright
• About the Publisher