Keep Reading!

One of the compelling, if not enjoyable features of the Amazon.com web catalog, is its ability to show what other books and media its customers are purchasing in addition to the title with which you began your search—thereby supplying a handy way to discover items of related interest.

An Amazon query on the campus common book selection, In Defense of Food, reveals the following selection of titles, among many others.

Ettlinger, S. (2008). Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated into What America Eats. Plume.
Kingsolver, B., Kingsolver, C., & Hopp, S. L. (2008). Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Harper Perennial.
Menzel, P. (2007). Hungry Planet: What the World Eats (illustrated edition.). Material World.
Nestle, M. (2007b). Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition, and Health, Revised and Expanded Edition (2nd ed.). University of California Press.
Patel, R. (2008). Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System (398th ed.). Melville House.
Petrini, C. (2007). Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, And Fair. Rizzoli Ex Libris.
Planck, N. (2007). Real Food: What to Eat and Why. Bloomsbury USA.
Roberts, P. (2009). The End of Food (Reprint.). Mariner Books.
Schlosser, E. (2005). Fast Food Nation. Harper Perennial.
Shiva, V. (2000). Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply (Soft Cover.). South End Press.
Simon, M. (2006). Appetite for Profit: How the food industry undermines our health and how to fight back (1st ed.). Nation Books.
Wansink, B. (2007). Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. Bantam.
Wilson, C., & Schlosser, E. (2007). Chew On This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food. Sandpiper.
Woolf, A. (2008). King Corn. DVD, DOCURAMA.

Speak with your campus librarians for assistance locating these and any other related titles.

With thanks to Bob S for this blog post.

Children of the Corn Belt

As corny as it may seem, we really should spend some time thinking about corn.

As a child, a corn field could frighten me. Once it surpassed "knee high by the Fourth of July" and my diminutive height, the rustle of the stalks and the greenish cast of the field would set my imagination on high alert—running wild with thoughts of that lurking beyond the first row. (Weirdly, as an adult, though, I enjoy Shyamalan’s movie, "Signs" for how brilliantly he captures that eeriness of a stand of corn).

These musings aside, the transformation from successful grass to commodity crop generates another kind of awe and proves to be an interesting history--and one that is well-documented within library collections. Among these collections are the titles listed below. Speak with your librarians for assistance locating these and related titles. Additional search terms, for use in the MadCat catalog and the journal indexes, include: maize, teosinte, and zea mays.

Title: Handbook of Maize: Its Biology / edited by Jeff L. Bennetzen, Sarah C. Hake.
Publisher: New York: Springer, 2009.
Description: ix, 587 p.: ill. (some col.) ; 25 cm.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: SB191 M2 H3 2009

Title: Corn: Origin, History, Technology, and Production /editors, C. Wayne Smith, Javier Betrán, E.C.A. Runge.
Publisher: Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, c2004.
Description: xi, 949 p., [8] p. of plates: ill. (some col.) ; 26 cm.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: SB191 M2 C6 2004

Author: Fussell, Betty Harper.
Title: The Story of Corn / Betty Fussell.
Publisher: New York: Knopf, 1992.
Description: 356 p.: ill. ; 25 cm.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [335]-344) and index.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: SB191 M2 F87 1992

Remember the Milk

If you can appreciate a fun, yet useful, web application, enhanced by dairy reference and whimsical cow graphic, then “Remember the Milk” is for you.

This free application enables you to list your necessary tasks, set priorities and email reminders, and establish dates for when you anticipate (or need) to complete your tasks.

Once you have remembered to use this application, you will not be forgetting to pick up that quart on the way home!

Eating is an Agricultural Act

"I begin with the proposition that eating is an agricultural act."*

The Wisconsin Book Festival, in partnership with the Aldo Leopold Foundation, has announced that Wendell Berry will join the festival as one of its featured speakers. While the specific date and venue for his presentation have yet to be posted, do mark your calendars for the festival, October 7-11, 2009.

Michael Pollan draws inspiration from Berry, citing him in several passages from In Defense of Food. Texts cited include "The Pleasures of Eating" in What Are People For?: Essays* and The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture.

Many of Wendell Berry’s essays, novels and poetry can be found in campus library collections. Speak with your librarians for assistance.

Social Cataloging

Social networking meets your personal library with free applications that enable you to document the contents of your personal library (drawing descriptive information from libraries and booksellers).

Organize your “shelves” to indicate what you are reading and plan to read next, browse the personal libraries of those who may have titles in common with you, rate books, write reviews, and share recommendations with friends in group forums.

Several library staff members, who are avid users, have developed a chart comparing the features of four popular products: LibraryThing, Shelfari, Book Army, and GoodReads.

Check them out today!