The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook

The Farm is an intentional community founded in 1971 in Lewis County, Tennessee. Their diet is vegan, which at the time was uncommon in the United States. UNICEF, seeing an opportunity to examine a large group all eating the same diet, sent nutritionists to the community. When the UNICEF experts checked the members' nutritional intake, they found it provided adequate protein but fell short in providing carbohydrates, fats, and calories. Recipes were developed to provide community members with guidance in following the experts' advice, and then collected to become the cookbook. According to its publisher it was the first completely vegan cookbook published in the United States. Louise Hagler wrote several books on soy foods. She became a vegetarian in 1969. ==Contents==

The book emphasizes soy products such as soymilk, tofu, and tempeh, and gives guidelines for making them from scratch. Douglas Stevenson in The Farm Then and Now said it was one of the first cookbooks to provide "easy-to-follow, good-tasting" vegan recipes. The Farm leader Stephen Gaskin wrote in the introduction that the cookbook was not intended to be "cultish, faddish, or scare people off" but instead to educate readers and inform them that a vegetarian diet is based heavily on beans. ==Impact==

Academic Matthew Roth in Magic Bean:The Rise of Soy in America called it a staple in vegetarian kitchens. William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi said the book played an important role in introducing soy foods and a vegan diet to Americans, made a major contribution to "westernizing recipes previously Oriental in origin", and encouraged vegetarianism not only as a diet but as a lifestyle. Vegetarian Times said it pioneered vegan nutrition ==Reputation==

In 1990 Vegetarian Times called it a staple in vegetarian kitchens and in 1994 named it one of the five best vegan cookbooks. Food historians William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi called it pioneering and influential. The Fellowship for Intentional Community called it a classic. ==References==