Reference Reviews

Lawrence Looks at Books

The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food and Drink Industries, edited by Gary Allen and Ken Albala. 439p. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. 978-0-313-33725-3; 2007-26091. $85.

Food has always been a serious business. From the first hunter-gatherers to the present, most of humankind has lived at barely subsistence levels. Long before the true beginnings of agriculture, humans began to manipulate plants and animals for the sake of food. Dogs were domesticated to help with hunting. Sheep, goats, pigs and cattle, which could be easily herded, became the first domesticated food staples. Gathering grains to feed these animals and themselves, humans began extending the ranges of plants. With domestication of both plants and animals came the long, excruciating process of selecting varieties for greater yield and food production. That process of augmenting nature continues to this day with agribusinesses and genetic engineering. Despite all the criticism that such methods affecting food production get today, they are at the heart of human success at feeding the exploding populations of the industrial age.

This new encyclopedia explores the world of food production and distribution in the Twenty-first Century. Coverage ranges from truck and dairy farms to meat and poultry packing plants to farmer’s markets, fast food franchises and supermarkets. The scope is not just production methods and problems, but packaging, marketing, transportation and consumer issues as well. Thus, the 163 entries include basic foodstuffs, processing industries, advertising campaigns, government regulations and consumer outlets. From Betty Crocker to the Whole Foods Market, brand name companies have played a huge part revolutionizing the distribution of foods, and their innovations are highlighted here. Other articles examine health and environmental concerns such as additives, antibiotics, fertilizers, irradiation, mad cow disease and food poisoning. Ethical issues like labeling and marketing to children also are explored. The relevance of globalization, tariffs, commodity exchange, multinationals and finance on the food industry is explained. So too are the roles of government agencies, regulations and inspection programs. Each entry provides substantial suggestions for further research, and this guide will provide an excellent starting point for those researching all aspects of the food industry.
—John R.M. Lawrence