Diet for a Hot Planet
“My mother was adamant about our eating dinners together as a family. She always shared with us what she was working on, so from an early age I was curious about where our food comes from, and how that connects us to people all around the world,” recalls Anna Lappé, whose mother Frances wrote the classic, Diet for a Small Planet back in 1971. Now, in today’s climate-stressed world, Lappé investigates the destruction brought about by industrial farming in her insightful book, Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It (Bloomsbury). “I see Diet for a Hot Planet as the next part of a 40-year-long conversation my mother sparked. In her book, she exposed the social and ecological costs of our industrial food system, especially feedlot meat. In Diet for a Hot Planet, I continue that conversation, sharing another hidden cost: the cost to our climate.” Her book offers hope, and she is buoyed by growing literature documenting the ability of organic and agro-ecological farming practices to heal ecosystems, foster biodiversity, and build healthy soils.” www.smallplanet.org
Chiva-Som Thai Spa Cuisine
Those who manage to carve out time for a stay at Chiva-Som, the luxury health resort in Hua Hin, Thailand, return feeling invigorated and inspired to eat healthier, thanks to the bountiful, aromatic spa cuisine served up by Executive Chef Paisarn Cheewinsiriwat. For those who can’t jet to Asia, the new Chiva-Som Thai Spa Cuisine Cookbook allows you to create the magical setting in your own kitchen. In this 135-page book Chef Paisarn singles out the best herbs and spices for the body—turmeric to relieve inflammation and pain, ginger to soothe the intestinal tract, and sweet basil to alleviate headaches. Chef Paisarn’s favorite recipe for those Indian summer evenings: Yam Hua Plee, banana blossom salad with chicken breast and coconut flakes. “Banana blossom contains lots of nutrient value such as vitamin B, calcium, and iron,” he points out. “It is an excellent source of crude fiber and plays an important role in maintaining the health of the digestive system.” www.chivasom.com