Leftovers : A History of Food Waste and Preservation

Author(s): Barnett, Eleanor,
Binding: Paperback,
Date of Publication: 06/03/2025,
Pagination: 352 pages,
Series: N/A,
Imprint: Apollo,
Published By: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC,
Book Classification: History: specific events & topics,
Dimensions: 197 x 130 x 28
ISBN13/EAN/SKU: 9781803281582

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‘Bingeable’ – The Telegraph‘A book for our time’ – The Spectator‘[Barnett’s] an indefatigable researcher’ – The Mail on SundayA richly entertaining and topical history of food preservation and waste in Britain from the Elizabethan kitchen to the present day.

At a time when a third of the food we produce globally is wasted, Eleanor Barnett opens a window on the everyday experiences of ordinary people in the past to reveal how factors such as religion, class and gender have historically shaped attitudes towards food waste.

Leftovers deploys a wide historical lens to link the many ingenious ways in which our ancestors sought to extend the life of food – encompassing Tudor household management, Victorian public health initiatives and two World Wars – to such contemporary anxieties as climate change, globalisation, scientific advancement, poverty and inequality.