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The future of our food depends on tiny seeds in orchards and fields the world over. In 1943, one of the first to recognize this fact, the great botanist Nikolay Vavilov, lay dying of starvation in a Soviet prison. But in the years before Stalin jailed him as a scapegoat for the country's famines, Vavilov had traveled over five continents, collecting hundreds of thousands of seeds in an effort to outline the ancient centers of agricultural diversity and guard against widespread hunger. Now, another remarkable scientist-and vivid storyteller-has retraced his footsteps.

In Where Our Food Comes From, Gary Paul Nabhan weaves together Vavilov's extraordinary story with his own expeditions to Earth's richest agricultural landscapes and the cultures that tend them. Retracing Vavilov's path from Mexico and the Colombian Amazon to the glaciers of the Pamirs in Tajikistan, he draws a vibrant portrait of changes that have occurred since Vavilov's time and why they matter.

In his travels, Nabhan shows how climate change, free trade policies, genetic engineering, and loss of traditional knowledge are threatening our food supply. Through discussions with local farmers, visits to local outdoor markets, and comparison of his own observations in 11 countries to those recorded in Vavilov's journals and photos, Nabhan reveals just how much diversity has already been lost. But he also shows what resilient farmers and scientists in many regions are doing to save the remaining living riches of our world.

It is a cruel irony that Vavilov, a man who spent his life working to foster nutrition, ultimately died from lack of it. In telling his story, Where Our Food Comes From brings to life the intricate relationships among culture, politics, the land and the future of the world's food.

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Why does food taste better when you know where it comes from? Because history-ecological, cultural, even personal-flavors every bite we eat. Whether it's the volatile chemical compounds that a plant absorbs from the soil or the stories and memories of places that are evoked by taste, layers of flavor await those willing to delve into the roots of real food. In this landmark book, Gary Paul Nabhan takes us on a personal trip into the southwestern borderlands to discover the terroir-the taste of the place-that makes this desert so delicious.

To savor the terroir of the borderlands, Nabhan presents a cornucopia of local foods-Mexican oregano, mesquite-flour tortillas, grass-fed beef, the popular Mexican dessert capirotada, and corvina (croaker or drum fish) among them-as well as food experiences that range from the foraging of Cabeza de Vaca and his shipwrecked companions to a modern-day camping expedition on the Rio Grande. Nabhan explores everything from the biochemical agents that create taste in these foods to their history and dispersion around the world. Through his field adventures and humorous stories, we learn why Mexican oregano is most potent when gathered at the most arid margins of its range-and why foods found in the remote regions of the borderlands have surprising connections to foods found by his ancestors in the deserts of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. By the end of his movable feast, Nabhan convinces us that the roots of this fascinating terroir must be anchored in our imaginations as well as in our shifting soils.

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The Edible Flower Garden is a beautiful collection of flowers that can be used for cookery: from candied violets and roses to decorate appetizers and cakes, to nasturtiums for a colorful shrimp salad, to daylily buds, pink clover and wild mustard flowers that are tossed together in a spectacular stir-fry.

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In 1987, John Robbins published Diet for a New America and started a food revolution. That book would grow into The Food Revolution, first published in 2001. The book remains one of the most frequently cited and talked about works on food politics. It was one of the first to expose the dangers inherent in our factory farming system, to advocate a complete plant-based diet, and to discuss the negative health effects of eating genetically modified foods and animal products of all kinds.

The book garnered endorsements by everyone from Paul Hawken to Neale Donald Walsch, Marianne Williamson to Julia Butterfly Hill. After 10 years in print, The Food Revolution is timelier than ever … and a very compelling read.

This 10th anniversary edition has an updated, contemporary look and a new introduction by the author.

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Nobody knows when the next disaster will hit, whether hurricane, earthquake or civil unrest. To survive these inevitable catastrophes, every family must be able to feed itself for days, weeks, maybe even months. The Prepper's Cookbook shows how to fully prepare an emergency food supply that does just that. This lifesaving book teaches how to maintain a family's diet using jarred, canned and dried goods, as well as common emergency staples. The book first details how to stock, organize and maintain a proper emergency food supply. There are also tips on home canning and other do-it-yourself techniques for making high-quality, shelf-stable foods. Next, The Prepper's Cookbook presents 101 recipes that turn these stored foods into delicious meals the entire family will enjoy eating. It teaches readers how preserves that last a lifetime can maintain their flavors and how even the most basic items can be turned into solid meals.

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You've probably never thought of beer as having healing and healthful properties before. Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers explores the mystery, folklore and healing power of ancient fermentation. This is the first comprehensive book ever written on the sacred aspects of indigenous, historical psychotropic and herbal healing beers of the world.

Including 120 recipes for ancient and indigenous beers and meads from 31 countries spanning six continents, this unique book also provides the most complete evaluation of honey ever published.

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In Vegetable Literacy, Deborah Madison reveals the surprising relationships between vegetables, edible flowers and herbs within the same botanical families, and how understanding these connections can help home cooks see everyday vegetables in a new light.

This groundbreaking new cookbook celebrates the diversity of the plant kingdom. Destined to become the new standard reference for cooking vegetables, it shows cooks that, because of their shared characteristics, vegetables within the same family can be used interchangeably in cooking. It presents an entirely new way of looking at vegetables, drawing on Madison's deep knowledge of cooking, gardening and botany. For example, knowing that dill, chervil, cumin, parsley, coriander, anise, lovage and caraway come from the umbellifer family makes it clear why they're such good matches for carrots, also a member of that family. With more than 300 classic and exquisitely simple recipes, Madison brings this wealth of information together in dishes that highlight a world of complementary flavors. The recipes showcase combinations that are simultaneously familiar and revelatory, such as:

• Griddled Artichokes with Tarragon Mayonnaise
• Tomato Soup and Cilantro with Black Quinoa
• Tuscan Kale Salad with Slivered Brussels Sprouts and Sesame Dressing
• Kohlrabi Slaw with Frizzy Mustard Greens
• Fresh Peas with Sage on Baked Ricotta

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Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley, tequila from agave, rum from sugarcane, bourbon from corn. Thirsty yet? In The Drunken Botanist, Amy Stewart explores the dizzying array of herbs, flowers, trees, fruits and fungi that humans have, through ingenuity, inspiration and sheer desperation, contrived to transform into alcohol over the centuries.

Of all the extraordinary and obscure plants that have been fermented and distilled, a few are dangerous, some are downright bizarre, and one is as ancient as dinosaurs-but each represents a unique cultural contribution to our global drinking traditions and our history.

This fascinating concoction of biology, chemistry, history, etymology and mixology-with more than 50 drink recipes and growing tips for gardeners-will make you the most popular guest at any cocktail party.

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At last, here's a book that serves up addictive flavors and a breakthrough method for making creamy, scoopable ice cream at home. Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, from the proprietor of the nationally acclaimed Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams artisanal scooperies, allows foodies to create perfect ice creams, yogurts and sorbets in their own kitchens.

Since Jeni Britton Bauer opened her first shop in 2002, her treats have earned raves from scores of media outlets throughout the world, from Time to The Washington Post, Cooking Light to Saveur. Now, she's on a mission to help folks make their own sweet and cool creations, ones that are every bit as perfect as hers. Frustrated by icy and crumbly homemade ice cream, Bauer invested in a $50 ice cream maker and proceeded to test and retest recipes until she devised a formula to make creamy, sturdy, lickable ice cream at home. Filled with irresistible color photographs, this delightful cookbook contains 100 of her jaw-droppingly delicious signature recipes-from her Goat Cheese with Roasted Cherries to her Queen City Cayenne to her Bourbon with Toasted Buttered Pecans. Fans of easy-to-prepare desserts with star quality will scoop this book up.

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CLEARANCE ITEM. PREVIOUS RETAIL PRICE WAS $19.95 AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

Funny, poignant and wise, Mother Earth News contributing editor Joan Gussow blends theory, practicality and friendly candor to show that we can eat a rich, full diet of locally grown, organic foods year-round. As seen in the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog.