You'll find a few examples on food-related topics listed below. You can find others by searching in the library catalogue. Just add the word encyclopedias or dictionaries to your search keywords.
Scholarly encyclopedias usually provide "mini-essays" written by experts on a certain topic. They also include references to important books and articles on the subject.
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Wikipedia can be a great place to start your research: to find basic background information and to define terms. Use it cautiously, though. Anyone can add information to Wikipedia, so you really don't know whether you can trust it. Always verify facts and claims in another source. The references provided can be excellent pointers to scholarly sources. |
Archaeology of Food: An Encyclopedia
The encyclopedia serves as a reference for scholars and students in archaeology, food studies, and related disciplines, as well as fascinating reading for culinary historians, food writers, and food and archaeology enthusiasts.
Encyclopedia of Food and Culture
This new three-volume set presents 600 articles on food and its place in human culture and society, covering everything from agronomy to zucchini. Students, academics and general researchers will find entries on everything from food preparation, distribution and storage to holidays and festivals, nutrition and health, and cultures and cuisines.
From Famine to Fast Food: nutrition, diet, and concepts of health around the world
The foods eaten by a nation's population play a key role in shaping the health of that society. This book presents country-specific information on how diet, food security, and concepts of health critically impact the well-being of the world's population.
Green Food: An A-to-Z Guide
Laying out the contours of the field of agri-food studies, this book draws on scholars of political ecology, rural sociology, geography, and environmental studies to paint a picture of agriculture and food, and provides readers with an understanding of the institutions, practices, and concepts to identify what is green food.
Leung's Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients used in Food, Drugs and Cosmetics
The third edition of the unparalleled reference on natural ingredients and their commercial use .... includes the most recent research findings on a wide variety of ingredients, giving readers a single source for understanding and working with natural ingredients.
The Oxford Companion to Food
The study of food and food history is a new discipline, but one that has developed exponentially in the last twenty years. ... [This book explores] the meaning of food in the daily lives of people around the world, and [seeks] to introduce food and the process of nourishment into our understanding of almost every compartment of human life, whether politics, high culture, street life, agriculture, or life and death issues such as conflict and war.
The Sage Handbook of Environment and Society
"Presents readers in social science and natural science with a manual of the past, present and future of environment-society links." Includes chapters on aquaculture, green food consumption, sustainable agriculture and food systems, and more.
Specialized dictionaries help you to define terms and understand how they are used in a specific scholarly discipline.
Food: a dictionary of literal and nonliteral terms
A unique resource traces the history and use of many food-related terms.
Food and Feasting in Art
Includes a section on the symbolic meanings of individual foods and drinks depicted in art.