Root Cause: Championing Beets, Turnips, Rutabagas, and Other Unfairly Maligned Vegetables
Andy Boynton
12 pages
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Root Cause is a full-colour, quarter-sized zine about unfairly maligned vegetables in the grocery store and recipes for how to enjoy them.
Andy had me at comparing the bin of ‘lesser known’ veggies to an Island of Misfit Toys. Poor beetroot.
Root Cause opens right on the inside cover with an introduction to the zine and about it. Andy lets the reader know that this zine isn’t mean to be totally comprehensive but rather an appetizer (ha! food pun for the win) to what can be done with these root veggies.
Each veggie featured has the name, a personal introduction from Andy, a drawing of the veggie, and a recipe to try out. Truly living up to the ‘appetizer’ description given in the introduction.
I must say (or rather, write) that I was surprised to see carrots in amongst this group of veggies. Two words: carrot cake. Even so, I appreciated the inclusion for the carrot muffin recipe that will enjoy trying out. (And eating.)
As someone who enjoys trying new things, cooking, and baking, this is definitely a zine for me. But I also appreciate its existence for the more serious side of things too. We are, by and large, visual creatures, and food wastage is a big problem in a lot of places. Not to mention the health side of things.
A zine that encourages people to try new things they might easily pass over otherwise is definitely a good thing. I liked that it didn’t lecture or berate, rather celebrating that which isn’t often celebrating. Definitely a keeper.