Overview

Coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the trailblazing restaurant Mother Courage of New York City, Ingredients for Revolution is the first history of the more than 230 feminist and lesbian-feminist restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses that existed in the United States from 1972 to the present. As key sites of cultural and political significance, this volume shows the essential role these institutions served for multiple social justice movements including women’s liberation, LGBTQ equality, and food justice, as well as for training women workers and entrepreneurs. This systematic study outlines the crucial steps it took to establish these businesses during eras when sexism was so institutionalized it was difficult for unmarried women to obtain a bank loan, while also showing the continuities and influences of past businesses on contemporary places. Through an examination of important establishments across America, Alex Ketchum first examines the foundational principles behind these businesses, noting key differences between cooperative, for-profit, and non-profit models. She then looks to issues of financing, labour, pay, food sourcing, and cultural programming to understand how these organizations reconciled feminist beliefs with capitalism and how they strove for more equitable and sustainable business practices. Brimming with illuminating archival research, interviews with influential restaurateurs, and illustrated with photographs, menus, posters, and calendars, Ingredients for Revolution is a fundamental work of women’s history, food history, and cultural history. 

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9781988111414

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Reviews

"""Ketchum's passion for her subject is clearly conveyed, meticulously documented, and entirely compelling. [...] For anyone interested in contemporary feminist history and how it continues continues to develop around food, this is a must-read.-- ""Culinary Historians of Canada"" ""The first history of the more than 230 feminist and lesbian-feminist restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses that existed in the United States from 1972 to the present. [With Ketchum] we dive into the ways these institutions provided spaces and community to tackle questions around the intersections between feminism, food justice, queer rights, and other social justice movements while serving as training grounds for women workers and entrepreneurs, as well as what the landscape of queer feminist restaurants looks like today.""-- ""History Is Gay"" ""Ketchum guides readers through case studies with strong, accessible writing (unsurprising, as she also authored Engage in Public Scholarship! A Guidebook on Feminist and Accessible Communication). Scholarship is supported through extended appendices composed of directories, notes, and references. Photographs and facsimiles of menus, posters, and ephemera are integrated throughout the text. Publishing this knowledge combats erasure while mapping queer and feminist history, both the savory and unsavory parts. Ingredients for Revolution is a catalyst for conversations about feminist cafe subculture, contextualizing its past and contributing to its preservation.""-- ""Montreal Review of Books"""

"""Ketchum's passion for her subject is clearly conveyed, meticulously documented, and entirely compelling. [...] For anyone interested in contemporary feminist history and how it continues continues to develop around food, this is a must-read.-- ""Culinary Historians of Canada"" ""The first history of the more than 230 feminist and lesbian-feminist restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses that existed in the United States from 1972 to the present. [With Ketchum] we dive into the ways these institutions provided spaces and community to tackle questions around the intersections between feminism, food justice, queer rights, and other social justice movements while serving as training grounds for women workers and entrepreneurs, as well as what the landscape of queer feminist restaurants looks like today.""-- ""History Is Gay"" ""Ingredients for Revolution beautifully tows a fine line of being incredibly accessible to a general leftist and queer audience but also a product of a timeless quest for primary sources and combination of multiple methods to excellent effect . . . Ingredients for Revolution can certainly stand alone as a product of serious historical research, but it is also a powerful repository of feminist stories. I hope these stories will serve not just as lessons for would-be feminist restauranteurs but also to inspire the next generation of loyal customers to support spaces like the ones brought to life in this book.""-- ""Gastronomica"" ""Ketchum guides readers through case studies with strong, accessible writing (unsurprising, as she also authored Engage in Public Scholarship! A Guidebook on Feminist and Accessible Communication). Scholarship is supported through extended appendices composed of directories, notes, and references. Photographs and facsimiles of menus, posters, and ephemera are integrated throughout the text. Publishing this knowledge combats erasure while mapping queer and feminist history, both the savory and unsavory parts. Ingredients for Revolution is a catalyst for conversations about feminist cafe subculture, contextualizing its past and contributing to its preservation.""-- ""Montreal Review of Books"""

Author Information

Alex D. Ketchum is the Faculty Lecturer in the Institute of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies of McGill University and the author of Engage in Public Scholarship! A Guidebook on Feminist and Accessible Communication.

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