bookhaus is delighted to be partnering with Coexist Community Kitchen for another event, following the success of their launch for At Home with Alva Gotby last year. Once again, an author joins to discuss her book over the course of a meal in the perfect setting.

In Leftovers: A History of Food Waste and Preservation, Eleanor Barnett explores the many ingenious ways in which our ancestors sought to extend the life of food through preservation, the culinary reuse of leftovers and the recycling of food scraps. Embracing a broad historical lens, the book spans Tudor household management; the world-changing inventions in food preservation of the Industrial Revolution from the tin can to artificial refrigeration; the growth of public health initiatives and organised food waste collection in the Victorian era; state promotion of thrifty eating during the two World Wars; and the politics of food and packaging waste in the modern era of sustainability.

Opening a window on the everyday experiences of ordinary people in the past, Leftovers reveals how factors such as religious belief, class identities and gender have historically shaped attitudes towards food waste. At a time when a third of the food we produce globally is wasted, Leftovers links its central historical focus to humanitarian and environmental issues of urgent contemporary interest – including climate change, globalisation, scientific advancement, poverty and inequality.

Join Eleanor at Coexist Community Kitchen, Mivart Street Studios, Unit 10 Epstein Building, Easton, Bristol BS5 6JF. Learn more about them on their website.

Eleanor wrote for our blog last year, delving into the centuries-long saga of food waste from Tudor England to present-day crises: read more.

Tickets cost £25 and include the talk and a three course meal that will be prepared using food that would otherwise go to waste. Presented by bookhaus.

Entry requirements: no age restrictions