Based on interviews conducted by the University of Kentucky's Family Farm Project and supplemented by archival research, photographs, and recipes, Food and Everyday Life on Kentucky Family Farms, 1920-1950 recalls a vanishing way of life in rural Kentucky. Focusing on the family farm in the first half of the twentieth century, John van Willigen and Anne van Willigen illuminate how the revolutionary change from subsistence to market-based agricultural production that was prompted by economic stress and government policy altered not only the production, preparation, and consumption of food in Kentucky, but the social relations within the state's rural communities.

John van Willigen is a professor of anthropology at the University of Kentucky. His books dealing with rural life in Kentucky include Tobacco Culture: Farming Kentucky's Burley Belt and Gettin' Some Age on Me: Social Organization of Older People in a Rural American Community. His daughter and coauthor, Anne van Willigen, is a regional consultant for the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.

Reviews:

"Food and Everyday Life on Kentucky Family Farms, 1920-1950, vividly recounts the story of this era and the changes it wrought through the voices of those who lived it...The authors' choice to remain in the background not only gives voice to the 'lived experience' of those they interviewed, it also makes for a poignant and powerful memoir. This book is not just about farming; it is also a delectable testimony to Kentucky's foods and foodways...Scholars interested in the history and culture of the Upper South, food studies, and oral history will find this book a welcome addition to their library. Anyone who grew up in rural or small-town Kentucky in the middle years of the twentieth century will recognize these people and their stories. They will enjoy reliving their own memories, which this book is sure to summon forth. John and Anne van Willigen have made a lasting contribution to the collective memory of Kentucky, and for that we should all be grateful."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

"Food and Everyday Life on Kentucky Family Farms, 1920-1950, vividly recounts the story of this era and the changes it wrought through the voices of those who lived it... John and Anne van Willigen have made a lasting contribution to the collective memory of Kentucky, and for that we should all be grateful."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

"This book admirably details the round of daily life on Kentucky family farms from 1920 to 1950, a transformative era in agriculture. The authors' accounts of daily work and play... offer a valuable record of what life was like on family farms in this region; they invite comparison to other regions as well as consideration of the forces that effected profound changes in the texture of society. Recommended."--Choice

"This is a readable story about foodways and folkways, but, most of all, it is a story of a people. Their voices recall a way of life that, though past, is certainly not forgotten, nor should it ever be."--James C. Klotter, State Historian of Kentucky

"What makes this book outstanding and essential is the clarity of the voices of the individuals. The authors are to be commended for allowing those voices to ring strong and clear."--Ronni Lundy, author of Shuck Beans, Stack Cakes, and Honest Fried Chicken: The Heart and Soul of Southern Country Kitchens

"Food and Everday Life. . . gives a strong flavor of how life was for individuals on Kentucky farms before mid-century."--Agricultural History