A culinary and cultural history of plant-based eating in the United States that delves into the subcultures and politics that have defined alternative food—Diet for a Small Planet for a new generationThe vegan diet used to be associated only with eccentric hippies and tofu-loving activists who shop at co-ops and live on compounds. We’ve come a long way since then. Now, fine-dining restaurants like Eleven Madison Park cater to chic upscale clientele with a plant-based menu, and Impossible Whoppers are available at Burger King. But can plant-based food keep its historical anti-capitalist energies if it goes mainstream? And does it need to?
In No Meat Required, author Alicia Kennedy chronicles the fascinating history of plant-based eating in the United States, from the early experiments in tempeh production undertaken by the Farm commune in the 70s to the vegan punk cafes and anarchist zines of the 90s to the chefs and food writers seeking to decolonize vegetarian food today.
Many people become vegans because they are concerned about the role capitalist food systems play in climate change, inequality, white supremacy, and environmental and cultural degradation. But a world where Walmart sells frozen vegan pizzas and non-dairy pints of ice cream are available at gas stations – raises distinct questions about the meanings and goals of plant-based eating.
Kennedy—a vegetarian, former vegan, and once-proprietor of a vegan bakery—understands how to present this history with sympathy, knowledge, and humor. No Meat Required brings much-needed depth and context to our understanding of vegan and vegetarian cuisine, and makes a passionate argument for retaining its radical heart.
“Though not a traditional cookbook in any sense of the word, everyone who loves to cook is excited about No Meat Required, food writer Alicia Kennedy’s contribution to the conversation about plant-based eating. In her signature evocative and thoughtful prose, Kennedy asks the reader to join her in questioning meat’s role in our culture.”
—Vogue
“One of the pleasures of reading this book is that it prompts us to think about nature’s variety and abundance, and about how that abundance can show up on our plates.”
—The Atlantic
“No Meat Required serves up a well-researched look at American veganism and lays the groundwork for plant-based cuisine.”
—Chicago Review of Books
“A compelling and highly informative exploration of the meatless movement in the United States.”
—Vigour Time
“No Meat Required was always going to be a hugely important book, but it didn’t have to be a total pleasure. This is what happens when a writer as curious, compassionate, and truth-seeking as Kennedy goes all out on a subject that she knows matters deeply, to her and to the world.”
—Lauren Collins, staff writer, The New Yorker
“In a dietary discourse starved for historical and cultural context, Alicia’s work and analysis on the politics of eating meat (or not!) have been enduringly informed and insightful, punctuated by No Meat Required. There’s no one else I’d rather read on the subject!”
—Stephen Satterfield, host of High on the Hog and founder of Whetstone Media
“Everyone, whether vegan, vegetarian, or omnivorous, needs to read this elegantly written, thought-provoking treatise.”
—Nigella Lawson
“An impressively exhaustive look at where vegetable-centered eating comes from and where it might head, and a vital reminder that today’s dominant idea of veganism tells very little of the story.”
—Tamar Adler, author of An Everlasting Meal
Introduction
CHAPTER 1
Diet for Whose Planet?
CHAPTER 2
Meat’s Meaning
CHAPTER 3
Foundations of a New American Cuisine
CHAPTER 4
Toward a Political Palate
CHAPTER 5
Punk Goes Mainstream (Sort Of)
CHAPTER 6
Meatless Plurality
CHAPTER 7
Wheatgrass and Wellness
CHAPTER 8
Non-Dairy Dairy
CHAPTER 9
The Future of Food
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Notes
Index
- “The Best Books of 2023 on the History and People Behind How We Eat,” Food & Wine, listed in reading roundup
- “Alicia Kennedy’s No Meat Required,” LARB Radio Hour, interview
- “Our Anti-Capitalist, Plant-Based Eating History Is Our Food Future,” Beacon Broadside, Q&A
- “Cookbooks, Gift Guide 2023,” Bookshop.org, included in cookbooks gift guide roundup
- “Laurie’s Library November 2023,” Medium, write-up
- “What is ‘plant-based’ food and how is it different from vegan or vegetarian food,” ABC Everyday (Australia), mention and author comment
- “A new book considers a world where meat isn’t at the center of the plate,” Good Food on KCRW (LA NRP affliate), interview
- “Fake Meat isn’t the Answer to the Climate Crisis, Says Alicia Kennedy,” KQED Forum, interview
- “23 Must-Read Books that Will Transform How You Think about Food and the World,” FoodTank, featured in reading roundup
- “Is an All-Meat Diet What Nature Intended?” The New Yorker, author and book mention in piece by Manvir Singh
- “Want to Eat Less Meat? Try Something Sour,” The New York Times Magazine, recipe in Ligaya Mishan Sunday magazine column
- “Alicia Kennedy – No Meat Required,” Great Taste: KICI 105.3 FM, interview
- “How Plant-Based Cuisine Challenges the Authenticity Trap,” Bon Appetit, adapted excerpt
- “No Meat Required, less meat critical,” FoodPrint, “What You’re Eating” podcast interview
- “Alexa Just Got an AI Makeover,” WIRED, Gadget Lab, recommended in podcast interview
- “Alicia Kennedy considers the cultural history of vegetarian cuisine,” Earth Eats on WFIU (Bloomington, IN NPR), interview
- “Le végétarisme, des hippies à la culture populaire,” CBC News MLT - Mordu, coverage in French
- “Reframing Vegetarian Eating with Alicia Kennedy,” Reframeables, podcast interview
- “Reading with . . . Alicia Kennedy,” Shelf Awareness, “Reading With” feature
- “Eating Banana Blossoms,” Edible Magazine, excerpt
- “From me to your inbox: 33 of the best Substack newsletters,” The Guardian, mention in newsletter roundup
- “On Our Nightstands: September 2023,” Public Books, included in reading roundup
- “Meatless Abundance: The Joy of Plant-Based Eating,” YES! Magazine, write-up
- “Read,” The Ann Friedmann Weekly, newsletter mention
- “Flavor Zone: The Best Cookbooks That Dropped in August,” VICE, included in best cookbooks of August roundup
- “Alicia Kennedy on Plant-Based Eating’s History and Future,” Eat. Drink. Think. (Edible Communities), podcast interview
- “Alicia Kennedy on navigating the thorny terrain of food writing,” Literary Hub, Craft of Writing newsletter feature
- “Alicia Kennedy’s No Meat Required Is Out to Challenge Your Preconceptions About Plant-Based Cooking,” Vogue, interview
- “No Meat Required: The Cultural History and Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating,” Stone Soup, excerpt
- “New Book Releases – Week of 14 August 2023 – Andrew Whitehead, more . . .” Englewood Review of Books, featured in August 15 new titles listing
- “Alicia Kennedy Rules The ‘No Meat Required’ World: The Food Writer Talks To Green Queen About Her Debut Book,” green queen, interview
- “The New Atlantic Indie Bestseller List,” The New Atlantic, book landed on Bestseller list at #12 for Nonfiction
- “Cowboys and vegetarians: why American rightwingers see beef as a birthright,” The Guardian, first serial/adapted excerpt
- “How the radical history of plant-based eating illuminates our future,” Vox, “Future Perfect” Q&A
- “‘We Have a Deep Hatred of Taking Food Seriously’: An Interview with Alicia Kennedy,” Hazlitt, interview
- “The Wild History of Not Eating Meat,” Atlas Obscura, author conversation
- “What does a plant-based diet look like? Absolutely nothing like tech companies would have you believe,” Fast Company, interview
- “The Radical Roots of Plant-Based Eating,” Notes from America with Kai Wright on WNYC, interview
- “If interest in meatless burgers is waning, how can plant-based eating be sustained?” CBC Radio The Sunday Magazine, interview
- “When It Comes to Vegan Dining, New Yorkers’ Appetites Have Changed,” Eater NY, article
- “How Alicia Kennedy Became a New Type of Food Writer,” Harper’s Bazaar, interview
- “Ordinary home cooks gain celebrity status on TikTok,” KCRW Press Play, interview
- “11 Cookbooks We Can’t Wait to Break Out This Fall,” Vogue, book included in cookbook roundup
- “6/8/2023,” Chef Deborah Reid, blog piece
- “Ten Questions For: Alicia Kennedy,” Jill Filipovic, substack Q&A ran for paid subscribers
- “No Meat Required looks at future of vegetarianism through its history,” Portland Press Herald, feature
- “Alicia Kennedy Is Trying to Clear Out Her Fridge ‘I’m very anti—food waste,’” New York Magazine, Grub Street diet column
- “Our Summer 2023 Food and Farming Book Guide,” Civil Eats, book included in summer reading roundup
- “Alicia Kennedy,” TASTE, podcast inteview
- “What to Read to Better Understand Puerto Rico in the Wake of Hurricane Fiona,” Beacon Broadside, cross-post of author’s newsletter essay