Microbes are curious creatures, both everywhere and nowhere we can easily see. And yet, a growing number of scholars are turning their attention to studying these critters. Microbes can be found all around the food system, from causing animal and plant diseases, to fermenting food and drink, to digesting waste. Besides their more familiar role in fermented cuisines, microbes also play weird, awkward parts: they feed snails, moisturise our elbows, and make high fructose corn syrup from an enzyme found in the black spots of onion skins. Whether we notice them or not, microbes and humanity have a relationship stretching to the beginning of our species—and we literally could not live without them. Check out our short UC Press Blog post discussing "why microbes" and the recent Gastronomica special issue that I was part of.
UC PRESS BLOG: Meeting Microbes Halfway
April 20, 2026