LEFTOVERS: a hISTORY OF food waste & Preservation
A topical, informative and entertaining history of food preservation and waste in Britain from the sixteenth-century kitchen to the emergence of food justice movements in the present day.
In Leftovers, Eleanor Barnett explores the many ingenious ways in which our ancestors sought to extend the life of food through preservation, the culinary reuse of leftovers and the recycling of food scraps. Embracing a broad historical lens, the book spans Tudor household management; the world-changing inventions in food preservation of the Industrial Revolution from the tin can to artificial refrigeration; the growth of public health initiatives and organised food waste collected in the Victorian era; state promotion of thrifty eating during the two World Wars; and the politics and packaging waste in the modern era of sustainability.
Opening a window on the everyday experiences of ordinary people in the past, Leftovers reveals how factors such as religious belief, class identities and gender have historically shaped attitudes towards food waste. At a time when a third of the food we produce globally is wasted, Leftovers links its central historical focus to humanitarian and environmental issues of urgent contemporary interest - including climate change, globalisation, scientific advancement, poverty and inequality.
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Official reviews
‘Meticulously researched and full of good things, Eleanor Barnett makes leftovers into a real feast’ Annie Gray, food historian
‘Leftovers ‘couldn’t be timelier than right now… a very readable deep dive into everything from pickles and canning to what we did during Covid-19 and what we should do in the future’ Olive Magazine
'Barnett excels at choosing specific, often funny examples that demystify the past, a skill she’s honed from running her popular Instagram account, @historyeats. Her nimble, confident writing makes Leftovers bingeable (as it were), without coming at the expense of rigour or depth. It’s clear that she loves her subject material, and her enthusiasm is contagious'. The Telegraph
'I gobbled this delicious book as hungrily as a plate of bubble and squeak with damson chutney’ Tristram Stuart, leading food waste activist
‘An academic who can really write’ Dan Jones, author of Power and Thrones
‘lEFTOVERS IS MORE THAN JUST A HISTORICAL RETROSPECTIVE; IT IS A BOOK FOR OUR TIME’ THE SPECTATOR
‘A THOUGHT-PROVOKING AND ENTERTAINING EXAMINATION OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD from tudor times right up to the food banks and covid lockdowns of more recent times’ THE BRISTOL POST
‘a FASCINATING EYE-OPENING READ’ Regula Ysewijn, author of Oats in the North Wheat from the South
‘[Barnett is] an indefatigable researcher. And she keeps the reader’s spirits up with some splendid stories’ The Mail on Sunday
‘It is a story of vinegars and jams and e-numbers and freezers, and Eleanor Barnett tells it well in her engaging new book, Leftovers, [with a] knack for linking different eras with thematic threads’ TLS
‘As timely as it is facinating… informative and entertaining’ Delicious Magazine
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Customer reviews
“There is so much to learn and to take from this book. A firm new favourite, I could go on!”
“Fabulous book, well researched and very readable, with no boring lists of stats but instead a well-thought-out and addictive book. I would definitely recommend this.”
“So glad I bought this book. An overdue look at an every day occurrence with deep historical research”
“It’s a wonderful book and I love it.”
“Really interesting and particularly welcomed the last chapter on the present too. A Brilliant book.”
“We particularly enjoyed how a book with such an academic air flew off the pages with anecdotes and people stories. It never falls into preachiness, and we are so thankful to Eleanor for giving us hope for the future by looking into our past. If you haven’t got your copy of Leftovers yet, we can only recommend you do. It’s a stunning book complete with recipes, plates, a timeline, and a rich bibliography”
“Her research, her love of her subject, and her passion pull you in [...] do buy her book that is a jewel and maybe you can learn from some of these stories how to cut down on food waste”
“Well, what an incredible book! I never thought the history of food leftovers could be such an interesting read. I cannot recommend this book enough, it is informative, witty, and wildly entertaining”
“Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in history, food or waste!”
“It’s really good! It answered questions I didn’t even realise I had [...] It is an educational dive into the British history to 2023 of food preservation and food waste; how people of different eras have made the efforts to eliminate waste.”
“I couldn’t put this book down. I was hooked from the introduction when the author described the Great Nottingham Cheese riots of 1766- a historical even that was not covered in any detail when I was [in] school”
“One of the most interesting foodie books! So fascinating”
“‘Leftovers’ inspires without grandstanding or falling into clichés [...] incredibly engaging [...] a revelation”
