Thoughtful, wide-ranging essays exploring food as a source of pleasure, practical creativity, and sustenance

Food is the primary way andrea bennett connects with the world. They worked in the restaurant industry for a decade, and though they don’t eat much meat and can’t eat gluten, they take as much pleasure in food as Jeffrey Steingarten, Anthony Bourdain, or Guy Fieri. When they want to show someone they care, they cook them a meal. The essays in Hearty offer a snapshot of the North American cultural relationship to food and eating. Hearty dives deep into specific foods, such as chutney, carrots, and ice cream, but also explores appetite and desire in food media, the art of substitution, seed saving and the triumphs and trials of being a home gardener, how the food system works (and doesn’t), and complex societal narratives around health and pleasure. Combining journalism, cultural commentary, and personal reflection, Hearty follows bennett’s curiosity into kitchens, gardens, fields, and factories, offering a compassionate and compelling perspective on food from seed to table.