The Thrill Of A Good Food System Literary Deep Dive

Danielle Nierenberg

Danielle Nierenberg

Part of the reason food and agriculture systems are so intriguing—why so many of us devote our lives to the questions of what’s on our plates and how it gets there—is that there’s both breadth and depth. 

Food intersects with so many other social and cultural and economic systems; as we like to spotlight here at Food Tank, food and agriculture are the solution to an incredibly wide-ranging set of challenges. At the same time, food systems are full of fascinating pathways to explore, rabbit holes to dive into. 

Pick any specific topic you’re interested in, or maybe one you’ve never even considered before: I can assure you that very smart and passionate people around the globe are pouring time and energy into helping us understand more. I don’t know about you—I’m a nerd, after all!—but I think that’s so exciting.

The thrill of a good deep dive, across disciplines and cuisines and continents, is what animates our summer reading list. 

In “Consider the Anchovy,” food journalist Sudi Pigott asks us to do just that, arguing that the sometimes-maligned little fish plays a critical role not only in many global food cultures but also in protecting marine ecosystems. In “The Book of Coffee,” philosopher Julian Baggini explores why the beverage is so much more than just a wake-up jolt. In “Bitter Honey,” researcher Jennie Durant zooms in specifically on the bees pollinating California almond orchards to be able to more broadly explore the threats facing pollinators in an age of industrial agriculture, and in “Cheese Trekking,” cheesemaker Trevor Warmedahl takes us on a worldwide journey into the people and microbes keeping small, non-industrial food traditions alive.

And why stop there? We’ve got 23 books on this summer’s list, and each one is a telescope deep into a cultural cuisine, a specific food ingredient, a food justice movement, a challenge we need to address, or a social phenomenon shaping the way we eat.

Here are the books we’re reading this season:

•  Abiding Hunger: An American Paradox by Roger Thurow (forthcoming September 2026)

•  Bitter Honey: Big Ag’s Threat to Bees and the Fight to Save Them by Jennie Durant

•  Black Farmers in America: Fighting for an Equitable Food System by Mya O. Price (forthcoming August 2026)

•  Building a Sustainable Kitchen: A Practical Guide to Prioritizing the Planet from the Heart of Your Home by Naomi Hansen

•  Cheese Trekking: How Microbes, Landscapes, Livestock, and Human Cultures Shape Terroir by Trevor Warmedahl

•  Climate Change and Civic Engagement: The Origins and Future of the Climate Justice Movement by Paul Almeida (Forthcoming July 2026)

•  Consider the Anchovy: A Journey in Pursuit of the Little Fish with the Big Flavour by Sudi Pigott

•  Cooking the Borderlands: Spice and Smoke Between Mexico and the States by Claudette Zepeda

•  Eating on a Mountain at the End of the World: How I Found Love, Humor, and Beauty in My Quest for Ethical Food by Zackary Vernon

•  Eat to Hustle: 75 High-Protein Plant-Based Recipes by Robin Arzón

•  Fermenting for the Future: Japanese Pickles and Microbial Foodways by Aya Hirata Kimura

•  First Helpings: A History of Children and Food by Deborah Albon and Amy Palmer (forthcoming July 2026)

•  Food Policy Councils: Building Civic Engagement and Community Well-Being by Nessa J. Richman (forthcoming July 2026)

•  Ice Cream Queen: Flavors from Black America’s Past, Present, & Future by Lokelani Alabanza

•  It’s on You: How Corporations and Behavioral Scientists Have Convinced Us That We’re to Blame for Society’s Deepest Problems by Nick Chater and George Loewenstein

•  Our Knives Will Save Us: Dispatches from a White Mountain Apache Chef by Nephi Craig (forthcoming July 2026)

•  Plots and Deeds: Agrarian Annihilation and the Fight for Land Justice in Palestine by Paul Kohlbry

•  Soomaaliya: Food, Memory, and Migration: A Cookbook by Ifrah F. Ahmed

•  Spain My Way: Eat, Drink, and Cook Like a Spaniard by José Andrés and Sam Chapple-Sokol

•  The Book of Coffee: A Philosophy by Julian Baggini

•  The Farm Is Here by Jeff Tkach

•  Tin Can Coast: A History of Industry, Greed, and Fishing in the Golden State by Joseph Ogilvy (forthcoming July 2026)

•  Tiny Gardens Everywhere: A History of Urban Resilience by Kate Brown

You can learn more about all these books and how to add them to your shelf by CLICKING HERE.

As always, I love hearing from you. Email me a note at danielle@foodtank.com and share a book (or documentary, or podcast episode, or magazine article, or video) you’ve come across recently that pushed you to look at an aspect of the food system more deeply. I can’t wait to explore all your recommendations! 

(Danielle Nierenberg is the President of Food Tank and can be reached at danielle@foodtank.com)