{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260417T204117Z-pairingsrefresh","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0358645522?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"0358645522","authors":["Mark Bittman"],"book_id":"9780358645528","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/animal-vegetable-junk-0358645522","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780358645528.jpg?v=20260417T204117Z-pairingsrefresh%3A2026-04-17T20%3A41%3A17Z","description":"From hunting and gathering to GMOs and ultra-processed foods, this expansive tour of human history rewrites the story of our species and points the way to a better future. The history of Homo sapiens is usually told as a story of technology or economics. But there is a more fundamental driver: food. How we hunted and gathered explains our emergence as a new species and our earliest technology; our first food systems, from fire to agriculture, tell where we settled and how civilizations expanded. The quest for food for growing populations drove exploration, colonialism, slavery, even capitalism. A century ago, food was industrialized. Since then, advancing styles of agriculture and food production have written a new chapter of human history, one that’s driving both climate change and global health crises. Best-selling food authority Mark Bittman offers a panoramic view of the story and explains how we can rescue ourselves from the modern wrong turn.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780358645528","publication_date":"20220426","publisher":"HarperCollins","slug":"animal-vegetable-junk","subtitle":"A History of Food, From Sustainable to Suicidal: a Food Science Nutrition History Book","title":"Animal, Vegetable, Junk"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"BUS070010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Agribusiness","score":0.8408,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070120","confidence_band":"medium","label":"The Food Business","score":0.8246,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"TEC003070","confidence_band":"high","label":"Sustainable Agriculture","score":0.7975,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"BUS070010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Agribusiness","score":0.8408,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070120","confidence_band":"medium","label":"The Food Business","score":0.8246,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"TEC003070","confidence_band":"high","label":"Sustainable Agriculture","score":0.7975,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"BUS023000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Economic History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"CKB030000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Food Writing & Memoir","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HEA048000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Nutrition","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS037000","confidence_band":"high","label":"World History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS039000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Civilizations","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS054000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Social History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SCI034000","confidence_band":"high","label":"History of Science","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC002010","confidence_band":"high","label":"How Cultures Work","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Agribusiness","score":0.8408,"slug":"agribusiness"},{"label":"The Food Business","score":0.8246,"slug":"the-food-business"},{"label":"Sustainable Agriculture","score":0.7975,"slug":"sustainable-agriculture"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Agribusiness","Good for readers who enjoy Agribusiness and The Food Business.","Strong fit for readers who prefer grounded, real-world context."],"related_lists":[{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-bus070120-food-industry","title":"Food Industry Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-bus070120-food-industry"},{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-bus070010-agribusiness","title":"Agribusiness Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-bus070010-agribusiness"}],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Jan Dutkiewicz","Gabriel N. 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