The consumption of food has polarised across the world so that huge numbers of people live with the daily threat of hunger whilst chronic obesity is increasing in Western countries. This fascinating atlas maps the current trends in food production and consumption, how the world markets work, the impact of new methods of farming, processing, transportation, additives, and retail. Index, refs, colour ill, maps, diags, tables, 128pp, UK . KOGAN PAGE.

Illuminates West, Southern, and Central African cuisine as well outlining how the diverse African peoples grow, cook, and eat food and how they celebrate special occasions and ceremonies with special foods. Index, bib, gloss, b/w photos, 191pp, USA. GREENWOOD PUBLISHING GROUP.

Presents a photographic study of families from around the world, revealing what people eat during the course of one week. Each family's profile includes a detailed description. Includes families in Mali, Chad and Egypt. A graphic reminder of the inequalities in access to basic commodities across the planet. Full colour illustrations. 286pp, USA. TEN SPEED PRESS.

Collection of essays on food and history written by Dr Leipoldt during the 1940s. Includes a glossary, a list of scientific names and their modern equivalents. and botanical and culinary textual notes by Barbara Knox-Shaw. Winner of the 2005 International Gourmand World Cookbook Award (Rest of the World category). Index, b/w photos, 222pp, SOUTH AFRICA. CEDERBERG PUBLISHERS.

The African bird's eye Chilli is rich in contradiction: from its magical role in ancient African tribal healing to its undeniable presence among emerging 21st Century food trends. It makes for heated conversation. This title converts some of the myths surrounding this little scarlet pod to fact, by researching and providing the science behind the many (mis)perceptions and beliefs. The African bird's eye chilli is an especially pungent little chilli that evokes a level of passion that is inversely proportional to its size. 248pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

Africa's art of cooking is a key part of its history. All too often Africa is associated with famine, but here, James C. McCann describes how the ingredients, the practices, and the varied tastes of African cuisine comprise a body of historically gendered knowledge practiced and perfected in households across diverse human and ecological landscape. McCann reveals how tastes and culinary practices are integral to the understanding of history and more generally to the new literature on food as social history. 240pp, USA. OHIO U P.

Now in paperback. A history of sugar, from the domestication of a wild grass in New Guinea to its role in shaping the European empires, fuelling slavery, and its impact on the economy of the modern world. Index, bib, x, 246pp, UK. VIRGIN BOOKS LTD.

An investigation into the history of tea, looking at the impact of the trade on the development of the British Empire and shows how in the quest for profits, people in India, Ceylon and Africa were bought and sold like slaves. Index, bib, gloss, maps, b/wb illus, 271pp, UK. ROBINSON, 1841199176

The Igbo proverb has it that 'Wealth is not what you own, but what you give away'. This is the territory explored here, through the themes of hospitality, food and manners, in fourteen interviews with African men and women. 185pp, GERMANY. BAYREUTH AFRICAN STUDIES.

Now in paperback. At the centre of a secretive multimillion dollar trade is vanilla, one of the world's most valuable commodities. Travelling through Mexico, Madagascar, Tahiti, Reunion, the Seychelles and Europe, the author traces the history of the mysterious plant whose secret was unlocked for Europeans in 1841 by a twelve year old African slave. Illustrated with b/w photographs. Bib, 278pp, UK. PENGUIN BOOKS.

2005 2004 014101153X Paperback