Food Finance

There is a major disconnect between what we wear and our knowledge of its impact on land, air, water, labor, and human health. Even those who value access to safe, local, nutritious food have largely overlooked the production of fiber, dyes, and the chemistry that forms the backbone of modern textile production. While humans are 100 percent reliant on their second skin, it’s common to think little about the biological and human cultural context from which our clothing derives.

For decades, a single free market philosophy has dominated global economics. But this is bland and unhealthy—like British food in the 1980s, when best-selling author and economist Ha-Joon Chang first arrived in the UK from South Korea. Just as eating a wide range of cuisines contributes to a more interesting and balanced diet, so, too, is it essential we listen to a variety of economic perspectives. In Edible Economics, Chang makes challenging economic ideas more palatable by plating them alongside stories about food from around the world.

The story of the "Lentil Underground" begins on a 280-acre homestead rooted in America's Great Plains: the Oien family farm. Forty years ago, corporate agribusiness told small farmers like the Oiens to "get big or get out." But 27-year-old David Oien decided to take a stand, becoming the first in his conservative Montana county to plant a radically different crop: organic lentils. Unlike the chemically dependent grains American farmers had been told to grow, lentils make their own fertilizer and tolerate variable climates, so their farmers aren't beholden to industrial methods.

Learn about Food Security with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation defines Food Security as a state when “all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”.

Where Am I Eating? shows how what we eat affects the lives of the people who produce our food, and explores the global food economy including workers' rights, the global food crisis, fair trade, and immigration. Where Am I Eating? does not argue for or against the globalization of food but personalizes it by observing the hope and opportunity, and sometimes the lack thereof, that the global food economy gives to the world's poorest producers.

Long before the advent of conventional farming methods - which have focused on constant growth, human intervention, and genetic homogeneity - the apple had already grown to become the ubiquitous all-American symbol it is today. Known for their hardiness, ability to adapt to new environments, natural diversity, and plentiful bounty, wildly grown apples were once known as “America’s fruit” throughout the trading world.

Bottled & Sold shows how water went from being a free natural resource to one of the most successful commercial products of the last 100 years - and why we are poorer for it. It's a big story and water is big business. Every second of every day in the United States, a thousand people buy a plastic bottle of water, and every second of every day a thousand more throw one of those bottles away. That adds up to more than 30 billion bottles a year and tens of billions of dollars of sales. Are there legitimate reasons to buy all those bottles?

Mobile vending is one of the easiest, least risky, and least expensive home based businesses to start up. And it’s fun! It is quite different, however, from other conventional businesses. Festival vendors and food truck operators need specialized techniques to succeed. There are hurtles you may not have anticipated that can kill your new enterprise before you finish one season. The techniques in this audiobook will smoothly propel you to a successful food truck or merchandise vending operation.

Recent public-health crises raise urgent questions about how our animal-derived food is raised and brought to market. In Animal Factory, best-selling author and investigative journalist David Kirby exposes the powerful business and political interests behind large-scale factory farms and tracks the far-reaching fallout that contaminates our air, land, water, and food.

50 Things to Know About Saving Money on Groceries, by Susan Kinchen, offers an expert penny pincher’s advice on saving at the grocery store.

Farm animals have been disappearing from our fields as the production of food has become a global industry. We no longer know for certain what is entering the food chain and what we are eating - as the UK horsemeat scandal demonstrated. We are reaching a tipping point as the farming revolution threatens our countryside, health, and the quality of our food wherever we live in the world.

Leading animal rights activist Gene Baur examines the real cost of the meat on our plates - for both humans and animals alike - in this provocative and thorough examination of the modern farm industry.

The story of dairying in Wisconsin is the story of how our very landscape and way of life were created. By making cows the center of our farm life and learning how to care for them, our ancestors launched a revolution that changed much more than the way farmers earned their living - it changed us. In Creating Dairyland, journalist, oral historian, and former dairyman Ed Janus opens the pages of the fascinating story of Wisconsin dairy farming.

How to be Money Smart is directed toward 18-30 year olds who want to build wealth and live well. Easy to read, and quick to implement, this guide explains how to buy a car, whether to rent or buy a house, how to develop an effective saving and spending plan, and how and where to invest. Dr. Mary Kelly was once asked if she was afraid of the risk involved with investing. Mary's answer was, "I am far more afraid of having to buy cat food when I don't have a cat." This became part of the many personal finance courses Mary has taught for three universities to thousands of students. Money Smart ...

In Catching Hell, longtime seafood mogul Allen Ricca and author Joe Muto take listeners behind the scenes of the high-end restaurant world and the international market for seafood, and how that industry has been impacted perhaps like no other due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reduce, reuse and recycle – the nineteenth century way! This book is packed full of helpful hints and recipes from the early 1800s to the early 1900s, when the United States and Canada expanded their frontiers and intrepid pioneers set up frugal, self-reliant homesteads. It is not just for homesteaders or self-sufficiency purists – whether you live in a country cottage, a city apartment or a college dorm, this book contains a wealth of hints to help you save money, live a greener lifestyle and ‘downsize’.

From the beginning, Stonyfield Farm turned conventional business practices on their head and grew to become the world's largest organic-yogurt producer. This book will appeal both to consumers who want quality and a better world, and companies who want steady profits and growth.

In Extreme Wine, wine economist and best-selling author Mike Veseth circles the globe searching for the best, worst, cheapest, most expensive, and most over-priced wines. Mike seeks out the most outrageous wine people and places and probes the biggest wine booms and busts. Along the way he applauds celebrity wines, tries to find wine at the movies, and discovers wines that are so scarce that they are almost invisible.

Huw Richards set himself a challenge - to grow his own fruit and veg for free for a year. He succeeded, and now wants to help you do the same. With 15 years' experience growing organic, sustainable food in his family's garden, Huw Richards has seen that cost is often a barrier to people growing their own food, so he wants to help everyone grow fruit and veg sustainably and inexpensively. Huw's YouTube channel has over 168,000 subscribers and his videos have over 25 million views in total.

This book explores the idea that table activities - the mealtime rituals of food preparation, serving, and dining - lay the foundation for a proper education on the value of civility, the importance of the common good, and what it means to be a good citizen. The arts of conversation and diplomatic speech are learned and practiced at tables, and a political history of food practices recasts thoughtfulness and generosity as virtues that enhance civil society and democracy.