"Food matters, not only as a subject of study in its own right, but also as a medium for conveying critical messages about capitalism, the environment, and social inequality to diverse audiences. Recent scholarship on the subject draws from both a pathbreaking body of secondary literature and an inexhaustible wealth of primary sources--from ancient Chinese philosophical tracts to McDonald's menus--contributing new perspectives to the historical study of food, culture and society, and challenging the limits of history itself. [This book] places existing works in historiographical context, crossing disciplinary, chronological, and geographic boundaries while also suggesting new routes for future research"--Publisher description.