Appetite for Change: How the Counterculture Took on the Food Industry [Paperback]

Warren James Belasco (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1993

In this engaging inquiry, originally published in 1989 and now fully updated for the twenty-first century, Warren J. Belasco considers the rise of the "countercuisine" in the 1960s, the subsequent success of mainstream businesses in turning granola, herbal tea, and other "revolutionary" foodstuffs into profitable products; the popularity of vegetarian and vegan diets; and the increasing availability of organic foods.From reviews of the previous edition:"Although Red Zinger never became our national drink, food and eating changed in America as a result of the social revolution of the 1960s. According to Warren Belasco, there was political ferment at the dinner table as well as in the streets. In this lively and intelligent mixture of narrative history and cultural analysis, Belasco argues that middle-class America eats differently today than in the 1950 because of the way the counterculture raised the national consciousness about food."-Joan Jacobs Brumberg, The Nation"This book documents not only how cultural rebels created a new set of foodways, brown rice and all, but also how American capitalists commercialized these innovations to their own economic advantage. Along the way, the author discusses the significant relationship between the rise of a 'countercuisine' and feminism, environmentalism, organic agriculture, health consciousness, the popularity of ethnic cuisine, radical economic theory, granola bars, and Natural Lite Beer. Never has history been such a good read!"-The Digest: A Review for the Interdisciplinary Study of Food"Now comes an examination of . . . the sweeping change in American eating habits ushered in by hippiedom in rebellion against middle-class America. . . . Appetite for Change tells how the food industry co-opted the health-food craze, discussing such hip capitalists as the founder of Celestial Seasonings teas; the rise of health-food cookbooks; how ethnic cuisine came to enjoy new popularity; and how watchdog agencies like the FDA served, arguably, more often as sleeping dogs than as vigilant ones."-Publishers Weekly"A challenging and sparkling book. . . . In Belasco's analysis, the ideology of an alternative cuisine was the most radical thrust of the entire counterculture and the one carrying the most realistic and urgently necessary blueprint for structural social change."-Food and Foodways"Here is meat, or perhaps miso, for those who want an overview of the social and economic forces behind the changes in our food supply. . . . This is a thought-provoking and pioneering examination of recent events that are still very much part of the present."-Tufts University Diet and Nutrition Letter

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Appetite for Change is a definitive account of how the sixties' counterculture changed the way we eat."-Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma

"Appetite for Change is a wry, masterful work of culinary anthropology."-David Kamp, The United States of Arugula --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Warren J. Belasco is Professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the author of Meals to Come: A History of the Future of Food and Americans on the Road: From Autocamp to Motel and the coeditor of Food Nations: Selling Taste in Consumer Societies. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr; Updated edition (July 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801481287
• ISBN-13: 978-0801481284
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,987,124 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We are what we eat!, August 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Appetite for Change: How the Counterculture Took on the Food Industry (Paperback)

I read this several years ago in an anthropology course and it was truly enlightening. It describes how elements of the counterculture in the 60's came to view the mass production of food as the fundamental basis of industrial economy. They sought to decentralize, communalize and humanize this massive "combine." Unfortunately, they were co-opted, by the giant corporations that today continue to shovel their bitter porridge into our gaping pie holes. This book is more than about food production, but how corporate capitalism manufactures values, and disires and marginalizes those who threaten to provide viable alternatives. An excellent book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This examination considers both sides of the health food industry's rise, March 11, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Appetite for Change: How the Counterculture Took On the Food Industry (Paperback)

APPETITE FOR CHANGE: HOW THE COUNTERCULTURE TOOK ON THE FOOD INDUSTRY appears in its second updated edition to appeal to college-level students of American culture, particular that of the 1960s - as well as students of culinary history. Food and eating habits changed as a result of the social revolution of the 1960s: this examination considers both sides of the health food industry's rise, charts the rise of ethnic cuisine, and establishes strong connections between social movements and eating habits. APPETITE FOR CHANGE originally appeared in 1989 and is updated here to reflect new alternative diets and organic food's rise.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch

5.0 out of 5 stars Search for the Authentic, January 26, 2012

By 

Andrew Platek (New York, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Appetite for Change: How the Counterculture Took On the Food Industry (Paperback)

After I finished this book I finally understood the word told to Benjamin Braddock from The Graduate: "Plastics." I assumed the speaker was referring to some staid corporate job, but what I learned from this book is that the word "plastic" to the counterculture ear meant the inauthentic. Around the middle of twentieth century Americans were introduced to a whole different diet of foods. Its what we would call today processed foods but in the counterculture lexicon was dubbed plastic foods, e.g. Cheerios. The organic movement was suppose to be the antithesis of this industrial created food-like substance (to borrow a phrase from Michael Pollan's IN DEFENSE OF FOOD). It was grown on small farms and didn't use chemicals. It was suppose to be eaten in whole food form not processed, dessicated bits. The book is an eye opener on the origins of the organic movement, the consumer activism it spawned, and how corporations and their well-endowed marketing arms tried to steer consumers back to their products by mimicing organic foods, e.g. granola bars that are closer to candy than real granola. I highly recommend it.