at ease under trees

research for second semester: Sculpture in Context

Food Conservation: An Annotated Bibliography

Putting Surplus Food to Good Use. July 2006. Environmental Protection Agency. 26 February 2007. .

This valuable resource from the EPA informs food service providers how to make better choices about dealing with surplus food. It includes interesting statistics about how much food is really going to waste, and offers ideas for easily reducing these amounts. It provided many other links relating to my topic as well.


Waste Not, Want Not: Feeding the Hungry and Reducing Solid Waste Through Food Recovery. Environmental Protection Agency. 26 February 2007. .

This article focuses on three important ideas: feeding the hungry, saving disposal costs, and protecting the environment. It is an extremely in-depth and reliable article, and provided me with an understanding of the position of those putting out so much waste.


Don’t Throw Away That Food: Strategies for Record-Setting Waste Reduction. 30 June 2006. Environmental Protection Agency. 26 February 2007. .

A list is provided here of nine premium examples of programs that succeeded in reducing significantly their amount of food waste, ranging from 50 percent to 100 percent recovery of food discards. This provided me with many insights on how much use discarded food can really be put to.


Madden, Etta and Finch, Martha. 2006. Eating in Eden: Food and American Utopias. University of Nebraska Press.

A compilation of essays is included in this book that gives a wide perspective of how food and culture is perceived in America. This book provides me with the basic overall knowledge of food from an American consumer perspective.


Changing Structure of Global Food Consumption and Trade. 30 May 2001. USDA. 26 February 2007. .

This site is packed with information and analyses of global food consumption patterns and the results of these changes. This knowledge is useful for gaining a world perspective of how large of an impact consumption has on the whole earth.

Beardsworth, Alan. 1997. Sociology on the Menu: An Invitation to the Study of Food and Society. Routledge, New York.

This book explores the social dimensions of food consumption, stating that humans “eat with the mind as much as with the mouth.” This provided a diverse look at our present food system.


Magdoff, Fred. 2000. Hungry for Profit: The Agribusiness Threat to Farmers, Food, and the Environment. Monthly Review Press, New York.

This book presents an overview of the global agricultural struggle. It is beneficial to my research in that it pinpoints reasons why there is so much hunger in the mist of such great amounts of food being disposed of.


Allen, Patricia. 2004. Together at the Table: Sustainability and Sustenance in the American Agrifood System. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pennsylvania.

This book most likely will not be a main source of research for me, but it did provide me
with some interesting details about sustainable agriculture and other alternatives.


Albers, Susan. 2003. Eating Mindfully: How to End Mindless Eating and Enjoy a Balanced Relationship with Food. New Harbinger Publications, Oakland, California.

Eating Mindfully especially targets college students, and their lack of attention to the importance of what they are consuming. It might be interesting to focus my artwork on this perspective, since I see this lack of mindfulness all around me, every day.


Elkington, John. 1990. The Green Consumer. Penguin Books, New York.

This book has been revised to focus directly on American consumers who wish to make their purchases with the least amount of impact on the environment. Environmentally conscious companies and organizations are featured.

Population: Global Food Supply Near the Breaking Point. 2007. Inter Press Service News Agency. 26 February 2007. .

This article goes into specific detail into the intense hunger experienced around the globe, and the frightening facts about how quickly our food resources are being depleted. It suggests that simply switching to local crops could save the world’s food supply. It brings about a sense of extreme, serious urgency that is not experienced in many of these other resources.


Goodall, Jane. 2005. Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating. Warner Books, New York.

Despite this topic being of such global relevance, Goodall realizes the responsibility of the individual, for each one of us is taking bites and making choices, good and bad. She provides answers to how each one of us can have some power over the food industry. I feel that this book will be a valuable resource in my research.


Blatt, Harvey. 2005. America’s Environmental Report Card: Are We Making the Grade? MIT Press, Massachussetts.

This assessment of America’s harm to the environment is not as pertinent to my specific topic of food waste, yet it reveals a full perspective of the American attitude towards the environment. This is helpful to my project, as I should be stepping back to understand the full spectrum of issues concerning wastefulness of resources.


Graham, Mark. 2005. Sustainable Agriculture: A Christian Ethic of Gratitude. Pilgrim Press, Cleveland.

Graham’s book offers an honest take on the present agricultural/food system, and makes the suggestion of an alternate, more sustainable and morally justifiable agricultural practice. Keeping in mind to maintain a safe and consistent food supply, sustainable communities, and environmental prosperity, Graham’s ideas are ones I would keep in mind throughout my project.


Taylor, Gary and Scharlin, Patricia. Smart Alliance. Yale University Press, New Haven.

This book details the transformation of Chiquita Brands International from environmentally apathetic to a proud example of corporate responsibility by forming a partnership with the Rainforest Alliance. Corporations are huge culprits in producing food waste and doing overall harm to the environment, so this book is a great model for me to understand what must happen to go about solving these issues.


Hughes, Alex and Reimer, Suzanne. 2004. Geographies of Commodity Chains. Routledge, New York.

This book takes an interesting perspective on how commodities are exchanged globally, and the links between producers and consumers. The effect of these interactions are analyzed in regards to economies, cultures and politics, which provides me with a vast amount of concepts to work with, all relating in some way to my topic.

posted by kristine @ 10:02 PM