Food as World History: Broadening the Horizon and Reach of Historical Research

Through its detailed analysis of three recent books on food, this article offers an overview of the rapidly growing field of food studies. It notes the field's promise for increasing the depth and broadening the reach of historical research. It argues that food represents a particularly important vehicle for comprehending changes in world history. Food intimately relates to every aspect of human life and existence, and as cuisines and individual foodstuffs it constantly crosses physical and cultural boundaries. Its broad appeal, however, also increases the difficulty for studies of food to become a coherent field of intellectual inquiry.