Changes

''This review is published with the agreement of the journal ''Histoire & Sociétés Rurales'', in which it was originally printed in French (2020, 53, p. 171-176). Cozette Griffin-Kremer translated the text into English. Additional information and bibliographical references appear in the notes – and in brackets – in the English version. Illustrations have also been added for this translation.''

The re-edition of this book, which could only be found in libraries, is to be welcomed. Adam Maurizio’s text has remained a reference work as an essay in the global history of vegetable foods, in spite of some aspects that have become out-dated. The Introduction and Annexes for the new edition, written by the agronomist and ethno-botanist Michel Chauvet, enable the reader to see the work in its historical context. Maurizio’s innovative project was nonetheless too demanding for a single researcher to undertake, which led him to make certain thematic and geographical choices. These limits do not call into question his contribution to the analysis of food cultures. Nor do they deny its resonance with present-day preoccupations: interest in cuisine based on cereal grain, vegetables and leguminous plants, the concern with rediscovering a biodiversity eroded by industrial agriculture, and the environmental stakes involved in producing plant and animal resources.