Paul E. Minnis is a professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma now living in Tucson, Arizona, where he is a visiting scholar in the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. He is the author or editor of fifteen books, including Famine Foods: Plants We Eat to Survive, and numerous articles.

Robert L. Freedman received a BA in Oriental studies and cultural anthropology from the University of Arizona. In 1996, Freedman created The Famine Foods Database, which is hosted by Purdue University's New Crops website.

Plants for Desperate Times is an introduction to the foods that have saved millions of lives during lethal food shortages. While not a field guide, it addresses questions about what famine foods are and why they are important.