The Curious Lives of Vegetables
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Vegetables have biographies, too. Food journalist Ali Francis looks beyond the supermarket produce aisle to uncover more than 125 stories of the plants we eat, tracing how migration, war, empire, scientific discovery, and generations of farmers and seed savers have shaped what survives on our plates today.
Her subjects range from ancient chickpeas and nearly extinct peppers to Nigeria’s ugu, the Paul Robeson tomato, amaranth, gourds, seaweeds, and other rare and overlooked varieties.
Francis travels from Arctic seed vaults to Indigenous farming traditions while exploring plant breeding, genetics, biodiversity, and the consequences of a food system increasingly dependent on a small number of crops. Along the way, individual vegetables become vehicles for stories about cultural memory, resilience, flavor, and preservation.
More than 100 botanical illustrations by artist Adriana Picker accompany the text, giving the book the character of an antique botanical volume while Francis considers a distinctly contemporary question: what disappears along with a vegetable when we allow a variety to vanish?
Hardcover. Color illustrations throughout.
Published on September 15, 2026
