Free (DRM-Free PDF) Budget & Vegetarian Cookbooks + Charity Kickstarter [DIY Food]

[ATDrake]

So, Leanne Brown is an expat fellow Canadian currently studying in the States, and as some sort of project for her master's degree in food studies from New York University, she's put together a low-income cookbook project full of recipes designed to help economically disadvantaged persons with limited culinary experience feed themselves healthily for just $4 USD per day in typical US urban not-completely-food-desert areas.

In accordance with this goal, said budget cookbook, Good and Cheap is available as a free downloadable PDF on her website, and there's also a charity Kickstarter project meant to outright donate X number of print versions of the cookbook to low-income persons who could use a physical copy due to lack of Internet/home computer/e-reader, as well as heavily subsidize the distribution of even more copies to non-profit organizations worldwide for $4 apiece (+ shipping) to low-income persons whom they believe will benefit from it.

The DRM-free PDF download of Good and Cheap (and an earlier vegetarian beginner cookbook, From Scratch) can be found directly on Brown's personal website. These are really rather nicely laid out, with pleasant photographs and helpful background information, as well as some very reasonable-looking easy recipes. Including poutine!

Here's the link for the Kickstarter, which ends on Sunday the 13th, and $5 USD will get you a credit in the final book (and technically also a copy of the PDF, which is already being offered totally free), as well as further subsidizing the stretch goals of underwriting additional print copy donations to the needy (currently up to 4,400 donated copies and 17,000 $4-for-non-profit copies, and hoping to reach 4,600/18,000).

Myself, I have literally paid more than the CAD equivalent of that in library overdue fines this season alone, so I figure trying harder to return/renew my books on time and putting the anticipated ensuing funds towards helping those with fewer socioeconomic resources than I is A Good Thing™, so I will be pledging shortly once I've finished posting this. Plus, I get my name in the credits.

Happy reading (and cooking, and eating)!

(But try not to do too much of said cooking and eating of the poutine, which we up here in Canada lovingly refer to as "heart attack in a cup" for reasons which you probably don't want to discover personally.)

[piperclassique]

Thank you. It's actually a pretty decent cookery book. Nothing earthshaking, but pleasant everyday food.

[koland]

A laudable goal and good pics, but atrocious formatting, if that two-column is enforced for all devices. Even on a tablet, it'll be to small to read without constant zooming and hopeless on any eInk device. Bad enough on my large widescreen laptop.

[ATDrake]

I think the PDFs are designed mostly to go to print? These aren't really targeted towards the general e-reader-owning demographic, but they're readable at zoom-to-fit size without squinting on my 13" MacBook.

Anyway, it might be worth suggesting to the author that a consistent single-page variant instead of the current double-page spreads would be a handier and more versatile option for the e-book freebie.

[koland]

I may drop her an email. I'm sure that's the "to print" version, but I've also seen authors that simply don't read on any digital device and they really don't understand that a single page format opens up their readership tremendously. Readers that simply won't pony up for the paper copy or don't want them cluttering their space (I tossed another big box of paper from the house today, so....)

Then again, I have major publishers drop that same formatting on me for review galleys (thus ensuring I don't read them completely, often, as it is just too much trouble and I can read on my iPad while "watching" TV).

[ATDrake]

Well, the post-Kickstarter version of Good and Cheap is now officially out and updated with 20 new recipes (and my name* in the credits!).

Both cookbooks still free (and designed for print/large-screen viewing).

* Okay, actually just my internet handle. But it's close enough.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by koland

A laudable goal and good pics, but atrocious formatting, if that two-column is enforced for all devices. Even on a tablet, it'll be to small to read without constant zooming and hopeless on any eInk device. Bad enough on my large widescreen laptop.

Hmm . . . the books look just fine on my widescreen (17") laptop.

Good thing, too, because this laptop is for all practical purposes all that I've got right now to read ebooks with.

I'm not computer illiterate, but I'm certainly not an expert, but I wonder if the native resolution, graphics processor, or something might make a difference?

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Hmm . . . the books look just fine on my widescreen (17") laptop.

Good thing, too, because this laptop is for all practical purposes all that I've got right now to read ebooks with.

I'm not computer illiterate, but I'm certainly not an expert, but I wonder if the native resolution, graphics processor, or something might make a difference?

You must have pretty good eyes. It's too small on my 23 inch widescreen. It's got nothing to do with resolution, it's just ridiculous to force it to a two page view for anything.