I was pleased and flattered to learn that I am recipient of the 2021 Sophie Coe Prize for food history writing for my piece "From Cloth...

The recent racist attack on a Black man in Monroe County propels the classic midwestern college town of Bloomington (home to Indiana...

Trani 12 May 2019 I’m just wrapping up my first week in Trani (and so Puglia). I managed to visit five different properties/olive groves...

Milling of the olives began the morning after they had been harvested. The mill, Pacific Sun, is located in Tehama County in the northern...

There are days in the fall and winter months in northern California that are especially brilliant. Normally they come after a rain storm...

I spent Sunday as a judge for the Good Food Awards in San Francisco. I arrived at the venue, a multi-use office/meeting space in the...

IU Food Project report on Slow Food Nations in Denver I attended Slow Food Nations in Denver over the July 14-16 weekend. It was a...

Following nearly 5 years of planning, Alice Waters came to Bloomington for three packed days in April. She arrived Wednesday evening for...

This is a curious review in that about half is taken from my book and about half consists of the author's own anecdotes - I confess that...

My career as a blogger has languished throughout this (busy) academic year. Now as it gets busier still I will have a few things worth...

I have been a lazy blogger since getting back from Italy. But our academic year starts today so perhaps it is time to revive this page....

Italian food magazines, at least the four I looked at during my recent stay, are a disappointing lot and all seem to follow a pretty...

It looks as though there is no resolution in sight. Scientists at the University of Bari have established that Xylella does indeed cause...

A blog is not meant to be a diary (I think). But I am reaching the end of this Italian sojourn and if nothing else I need to reflect on...

I’ve been thinking this week much about the (last) Kingdom of Naples (1735-1861). In part because I have been travelling to several parts...

It’s not my intention to write a travelogue, but elements of that sort will undoubtedly enter in as long as I am in fact traveling....

Olive oil c. 1750 What follows is a description of olive cultivation and olive oil production in Calabria in the 18th c. It is taken from...

Riding the train northwards from Brindisi, the by now familiar ubiquity of olive trees is nonetheless striking: in any forgotten corner...

One of my last activities on this Salento trip was to attend a conference in Torchiarolo (just S of Brindisi) on the Xylella problem. I...

Americans tend to be skeptical regarding “conspiracy theories;” Italians less so. Here then is the cynical analysis of the xylella...