New history site want you to better understand your food

The two sites have little in common, save perhaps the fact that each was started by a small group of women who have developed deep expertise in their particular field of interest: American Food Roots on the history and evolution of U.S. gastronomy and Food Tank on the contradictory and problematic Western food system.

In early December, four D.C.-area food writers launched American Food Roots, led by NPR contributor Bonny Wolf , who conceived of the project years ago. Wolf recruited three other culinary scribes — Domenica Marchetti, Michele Kaya l and Carol Guensburg — to start building out the site in September 2011.

Together, the quarter have put together a charming and informative site that combines research into the cuisines of all 50 states with features, videos and recipes on all kinds of American cooking, whether the increasingly international flavor of the Thanksgiving spread or the decreasing presence of coddies in Baltimore. Trust me, if you read American Food Roots, you’ll learn something about the meals you eat, like the Christmas tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. (Is it an Italian tradition or an American one?)