Book excerpt: Food Matters explores questions about the seemingly simple concept of food: What is the purpose of food: sustenance, pleasure, health? What political, social, and cultural forces affect our food choices? What does it mean to eat ethically? How does our food system contribute to the climate crisis, and how can we make changes in our eating habits and in food production to protect the planet? What problems and possibilities will influence what the future of food? Readings by a range of essayists, scientists, journalists, farmers, activists, and ordinary citizens take up these questions and more. Questions and assignments for each selection provide a range of activities for students. The Bedford Spotlight Reader Series is an exciting line of single-theme readers, each reflecting Bedford’s trademark care and quality. An editorial board of a dozen compositionists at schools with courses focusing on specific themes assists in the development of the series. Each reader collects thoughtfully chosen selections sufficient for an entire writing course—about 35 pieces—to allow instructors to provide carefully developed, high-quality instruction at an affordable price. Bedford Spotlight Readers are designed to help students from all majors make sustained inquiries from multiple perspectives, opening up topics such as gender, happiness, intelligence, language, music, science and technology, subcultures, and sustainability to critical analysis. The readers are flexibly arranged in thematic chapters, with each chapter focusing in depth on a different facet of the central topic. Instructor support at macmillanlearning.com includes sample syllabi and additional teaching resources.