Audiobook Review: The Ark of Taste: Delicious and Distinctive Foods That Define the United States by David S Shields and Giselle Kennedy Lord

About the Book

Explore and enjoy the heritage foods that give the United States its culinary identity, from heirloom tomatoes to Tupelo honey, in this visual volume for curious eaters, gardeners and home cooks.

The Ark of Taste is a living catalog of our nation's food heritage preserving treasures passed down for generations—some rare, some endangered, all delicious.

Created by Slow Food USA, the Ark shines light on history, identity, and taste through these unique food products, featuring recipes and the stories of how they reach our tables In these pages you'll learn about: 

  • Carolina Gold rice

  • Wellfleet oysters

  • Cherokee Purple tomatoes

  • The Moon and Stars watermelon

  • Black Republican cherries

  • Candy Roaster squash, and more

These foods reflect our country's diversity. By championing them, we keep them in production and on our plates, while promoting a more equitable alternative to industrial agriculture.

The Ark of Taste is a vital resource for all of us who spend the summer searching for that perfectly ripe peach or heirloom tomato—or who are simply looking for the next good thing to eat. 

Review

If you love food or just want to be more active in promoting and preserving farm to table, then this is an amazing book to look into. As an audiobook, I found this so interesting. The narrator had my interest from beginning to end. She was so wonderful to listen to. Her narration gave a voice to the past and present that brought these foods alive. Learning their origin, cultures, recipes and history of foods that were new to me truly inspired me to want to get the book.

In a time where food cost is on the rise, there’s no better time to invest in local farmers. With big corporations monopolizing the market and bioengineered foods replacing traditional ones, eating foods that grow in their intended natural habitat is something we should look more into exploring. There clearly is a wide world of food out there that many of us don’t know about that not only sounds delicious but has amazing stories and histories that need to be preserved. This book sounds like the perfect place to start.

Overall, I thought this was a wonderful audiobook that was not only interesting but informative and encouraging. This would be perfect for listeners who are visually impaired. I thought it was such a great touch to separate by regions. It allows those in those areas a great starting point to explore. This book hopefully will promote more interest in local farmers. For the food enthusiasts or if you love food from the farms to your tables, this will definitely inspire conversation and explorative interest the next time you go to the farmers market. 

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