Rooted in America: Foodlore of Popular Fruits and Vegetables

by David Scofield Wilson

Book Overview

From the exotic appeal of oranges to the joy of home-grown tomatoes, many fruits and vegetables have come to play key roles in our gardening, cooking, and eating habits. This book explores ten familiar cultivars--apples, bananas, corn, cranberries, peppers, oranges, pumpkins, tobacco, tomatoes, and watermelons--to show how they have become intimately entwined with the American way of life.

Through recipes and superstitions, jokes and urban...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1572330538
• ISBN13: 9781572330535
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Univ Tennessee Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Food for Thoughts

This book is a fascinating study of the historical and cultural contexts for everyday foods. Each chapter looks at the history of a fruit or vegetable that is a common part of American foodways. The writers fill out the historical background with intriguing discussions of the social and cultural norms that are associated with nine different foods and also with tobacco use. Readers can find out the real scoop on Johnny Appleseed and also discover why the cities of Fulton and South Fulton host a banana festival in two towns that straddle the border of Kentucky and Tennessee. The book is an excellent resource for information about common foods in Americans' diets, but it also provides a model for writing a social history of significant aspects of everyday life. You'll never eat an orange or a slice of watermelon in quite the same way after reading this interesting and well-written book that presents solid folklife scholarship in a digestible format.