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Winner of Library Journal’s Best Databases of 2023 Winner of Library Journal’s Best Databases of 2018
Bloomsbury Food Library draws from multiple disciplines (history, sociocultural studies, agriculture, culinary arts, literature, political science, and more) to offer a rich collection of food studies materials. The resource features content across three main collections: the Core Collection, Global Food Histories, and Food Sustainability and Security.
The new Global Food Histories collection adds an extra layer of resources with 123 ebooks (to date) on topics such as global cuisine, food history, and cultural food studies.
The home page offers a clean visual interface that encourages browsing and exploration. Users can explore the ebook collection, reference titles, the Object Lessons series, podcasts, images, research and learning tools, and collection highlights, including Topic in Focus and Author in Focus sections.
The Bloomsbury Food Library provides a fascinating look at the history of food, with broad interdisciplinary appeal. The Global Histories collection adds further value for subscribers, allowing users to explore niche aspects of food history and their wider implications in historical and sociocultural contexts. Banana art, anyone?
Gricel Dominguez is Associate Librarian at Florida International University
This is a delightful and comprehensive overview of the global history of food and food culture from pre-history to the present, with new content added regularly. Students and researchers of all levels who study food history and culture will benefit from this resource, but the simple interface and easy navigation make it appropriate for a public audience as well…
Who doesn’t love to read about food? This reviewer greatly enjoyed poring over historic restaurant menus.
Erin Gallagher is Director of Collection Services, Reed College Library
Bloomsbury’s Food Library is a comprehensive and reliable database of food-related content covering history, sociology, agriculture, anthropology, cultural studies, culinary arts, food studies, nutrition, and sustainability. It offers access to print works such as Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia, the Cambridge World History of Food, Bloomsbury’s Cultural History of Food, and the seminal reference Food History: Critical and Primary Sources. With more than 70 ebooks, images from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, and more, the Food Library is still something of a work in progress. In upcoming months, Bloomsbury will add more primary material, curated pedagogical resources, lesson plans, and images. Especially exciting are its plans to offer more historical recipes.
The database has a clean, modern look, with documents that are clear and easy to read. The interface is simple to navigate, and searches can be saved, shared, printed, or cited…
This superb resource will only improve, especially with the enhancement of historical recipes from throughout the world. Foodies, scholars, and students of culinary arts now have a high-quality source of contemporary and historical information to aid in the research of their favorite subject.
Rob Tench is Acquisitions & Resources Fulfilment Librarian, Old Dominion University
