Food

Tom Standage is known for his 2005 book "A History of the World in 6 Glasses," which begins with the invention of beer in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia and works up to the United States and its love of Coca-Cola. His latest project, "An Edible History of Humanity," takes a similarly long view. Beginning with the shift from nomadic hunter-gatherer culture to farming, the book considers early food surpluses (which encouraged specialization and hierarchy), the way curiosity about food spurred global exploration and the modern use of food in warfare and politics.

Thanks to the smart, expertly shot documentary "Food, Inc.," I now know why it's so hard to find a supermarket tomato that tastes like, well, a tomato.

Anyone who's been to Taste of the Nation Los Angeles knows this is not the kind of fundraiser where one politely pays more for a dainty plate of food.

A French affair Splendor in the grass: Enjoy an afternoon of Francophile delight Sunday during the Picnic des Chefs Food & Wine Fair hosted by Club Culinaire of French Cuisine.

At a time when record numbers of people are losing their homes, unemployment is rising and a growing number of families are in need, California caterers, hotels and restaurants throw out roughly 1.

After years of frustration, allergists meeting in Washington proclaimed a small but significant victory against life-threatening peanut allergies. Five children, long urged to avoid peanuts like the plague, today tote peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches in their lunchboxes, blithely share candy with friends and accept snacks at other people's homes without quizzing their hosts on the treats' ingredients.

The School of Essential Ingredients A Novel Erica Bauermeister Putnam: 242 pp., $24.95 "Lillian believed in food the way some people do religion.

Some of them are said to be big enough to accommodate railroad cars. They may reach a depth of 50 feet, and are reported to be equipped with cables and electric motors that move food, fuel -- and probably some of the heaviest rockets that Hamas aims at Israel.