"An outstanding food and cultural history . . . details how the concept of health food [evolved and] inspired the food co-ops and whole food stores [of] today." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
Food writer Jonathan Kauffman journeys back more than half a century—to the 1960s and 1970s—to tell the story of how a coterie of unusual men and women embraced an alternative lifestyle that would ultimately change how modern Americans eat. Impeccably researched, Hippie Food chronicles how the longhairs, revolutionaries, and back-to-the-landers rejected the square establishment of President Richard Nixon's America and turned to a more idealistic and wholesome communal way of life and food.
From the mystical rock-and-roll cult known as the Source Family and its legendary vegetarian restaurant in Hollywood to the Diggers' brown bread in the Summer of Love to the rise of the co-op and the origins of the organic food craze, Kauffman reveals how today's whole-foods staples—including sprouts, tofu, yogurt, brown rice, and whole-grain bread—were introduced and eventually became part of our diets. From coast to coast, through Oregon, Texas, Tennessee, Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Vermont, Kauffman tracks hippie food's journey from niche oddity to cuisine that hit every corner of this country.
"An astute, highly informative food expose that educates without bias." —Kirkus Reviews
"Alongside playful prose the great joy of Hippie Food is its rich cast of characters." —Wall Street Journal
"Fascinating." —NPR's The Salt
"Briskly entertaining . . . I thought I knew this story, but Kauffman has added a lot to it, in the way of both fresh information and narrative verve." —Michael Pollan for the New York Times