A study of feminist restaurants in the United States, from 1972 to the present. In 1972, a restaurant called Mother Courage opened in New York--followed by more than 230 feminist cafes, coffeehouses, and restaurants across the United States over the next fifty years. Ingredients for Revolution collects their stories for the first time, showcasing the vital role these institutions played in the fight for women's liberation, LGBTQ equality, and food justice. Alex D. Ketchum surveys these businesses' various financial models and dives into broader issues of labor, food sourcing, and cultural programming to understand how these women yoked feminist and capitalist commitments toward a more equitable marketplace. Brimming with archival research, interviews, and photographs, Ingredients for Revolution is a fundamental work of women's, food, and cultural history.

Includes a directory of past and current feminist, lesbian, queer, and women-centered institutions organized by state.

Introduction: Food for thought -- Feminist restaurants/Permanent space, 1972-1989 -- Cooking up alternatives: the creation of feminist businesses -- Financing feminist restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses -- Nourishing communities -- Feminist food and balancing concerns -- Feminist coffeehouses/temporary space, 1970s and 1980s -- Creating temporary space -- Coffeehouses and the feminist nexus -- Conclusions and legacies, 1989-2021 -- Legacies, conclusions, and new futures: feminist restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses beyond 1989 -- Methodological usage: visual and spatial history -- The directory of feminist restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses.