In Person Author Talk: Christina Ward, Holy Food

Did you pre-order Holy Food from us and want to attend the event? Please purchase a ticket, then email us!

Book Larder is thrilled to welcome back Christina Ward in celebration of her new book, Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat! We will host Christina for an presentation, Q&A, and book signing at our store on Thursday, October 5, at 6:30pm.

You'll have two options for joining us: a book-included ticket includes a copy of the $32.95 book, or you can join us for the author talk only. Both ticket types include applicable sales tax and a .75c transaction fee. All sales are non-refundable. Can't attend but still want a signed book? Order here for shipping or in-store pickup.

About the Book: Religious beliefs have been the source of food "rules" since Pythagoras told his followers not to eat beans (they contain souls), Kosher and Halal rules forbade the shrimp cocktail (shellfish are scavengers, or maybe G-d just said "no"). A long-ago Pope forbade Catholics from eating meat on Fridays (fasting to atone for committed sins). Rules about eating are present in nearly every American belief, from high-control groups that ban everything except air to the infamous strawberry shortcake that sated visitors to the Oneida Community in the late 1800s. Only in the United States—where the freedom to worship the God of your choice and sometimes of your own making—could people embrace new ideas about religion. It is in this over-stirred pot of liberation, revolution, and mysticism that we discover God cares about what you put in your mouth.

Holy Food looks at how the explosion of religious movements since the Great Awakenings (the nationwide religious revivals in the 1730s-40s and 1795-1835) birthed a cottage industry of food fads that gained mainstream acceptance. And at the obscure sects and communities of the 20th Century who dabbled in vague spirituality that used food to both entice and control followers. Ward skillfully navigates between academic studies, interviews, cookbooks, and religious texts to make sharp observations with new insights into American history in this highly readable journey through the American kitchen.

Holy Food features over 75 recipes from religious and communal groups tested and updated for modern cooks. Also includes over 100 historic black-and-white images.

About the author: Christina Ward is an author, editor, and seeker. She is also the Vice President and Editor of Feral House, a publisher noted for their books on outré topics. She had the distinct pleasure of riding around town in the Wienermobile with Padma Lakshmi on the hottest day in July of 2019 for "Taste the Nation."

Her previous book, American Advertising Cookbooks-How Corporations Taught Us To Love, Spam, Bananas, and Jell-O, earned positive notice from Florence Fabricant in the New York Times, Christopher Kimball of Milk Street Radio, and numerous other journalists and readers.

Ward makes regular guest expert on public radio stations across the United States, delighting in 'working blue' before 8 am. In her spare time, she is the certified Master Food Preserver for Southeast Wisconsin and always picks up the phone to answer pressing questions about jelly that won't set and soft pickles.