Hippie Food: How Back-to-the Landers Changed the Way We Eat

In his new book, Jonathan Kauffman set out to trace the history of 1970s counterculture staples like brown rice, tempeh, alfalfa sprouts, and carob and ended up profiling the health gurus, cult leaders, and diverse fringe movements who created a new and distinctly American cuisine. Tapping into a hundred years of resistance to the industrialization of America's food supply, back-to-the-landers and activists rejected capitalism as well as meat and white sugar. Kauffman traces the vibrant network of food co-ops, communes, and organic farms that emerged in tiny towns and major cities, introducing once-unfamiliar foods into the mainstream.