Join us for an exploration of two books about food: the science of food, agribusiness, flavor engineering, the mystique of haute cuisine, and plenty of other juicy topics.

Book cover showing an artistic take of a mountain view through what appears to be surrounding terrain: including blue mountains and orange and red rocks obstructing the view in a framing matter. The words Land of Milk and Honey along with the authors name, C Pam Zhang are positioned in the middle of the photo in front of the scene.

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

Thursday, June 20, 2024, 4:00 pm ET

When the world’s food crops are devastated by a smog that blocks the sun, what can a chef do with her hard-earned skills? In desperation, our narrator takes a job in a remote mountaintop enclave where some of the world’s richest people have gathered to enjoy some of the last remaining delicacies. Over the course of one transformational year, she is able to richly indulge all her senses while keenly observing the lengths that people will go to for wealth, power, survival, and satisfaction.

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A book cover of Ingredients by George Zaidan. The center of the book is a top to bottom large image of a "Cheeto", large orange and textured. The words "The Strange Chemistry of What We Put in Us and On Us" Is sprouting out of the "Cheeto" left and right.

Ingredients: The Strange Chemistry of What We Put in Us and on Us by George Zaidan

Thursday, July 25, 2024, 4:00 pm ET Joined by author, George Zaidan

From our food to our cosmetics to our cleaning products, we live in a world filled with chemicals, both natural and artificial. How do those chemicals affect our bodies? Most of us can’t even pronounce the names of the ingredients we see on packaging, so luckily George Zaidan is here to help. A chemist trained at MIT whose job involves communicating science in plain English, George has written an entertaining book that romps through several common categories of chemicals ranging from processed food to swimming pool sanitizers. The author will join our conversation to help us all better understand what all these environmental chemicals mean for us!

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Please contact Molly Keener (keenerm@wfu.edu) with any questions.