Customer Reviews

Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History)

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I'm partial, I know. I prefer local foods purchased at Farmers Markets to any store bought goods. Andrew F. Smith, author of Eating History and professor of food studies at the New School University in New York City holds a contrary opinion. Even though American express a preference for organic produce raised on local farms and meals made from scratch, the author points out that "the total market share of organic food in the United States is only a little more than 3 percent; and somewhere between 25 and 40 percent of Americans eat at fast-food outlets every day."

I was prepared to sputter in indignation as I read how Americans arrived at a food system that emphasizes "convenience, superabundance, low cost and consumer choice" - and is largely based on industrial agriculture. I quickly became fascinated by the push and pull of historical forces and how they stack up for or against a local food network at various turning points of United States history.

The opening of the Eire Canal (Turning Point #2) in 1825 flooded the eastern market with cheap wheat grown in the upstate New York and the mid-west. In other words, Americans learned early that food from a distance can be cheaper than local food. We also learned early to heed the call of food advertisers. Campbell Soup added labels with cute kids to their canned products. Quaker Oats (#12) boxed its cereal and enlisted a pious preacher to create an early brand. Cracker Jacks (#14) advertised heavily, included a small toy in each box and quickly replaced dried fruits or nuts as the snack of choice. Now, according to the author, "the modern American diet is largely a result of the advertising and marketing industries."

The first supermarket chain (#19), King Kullen, gradually led to the demise of small local stores and open-air markets. The author admits that "supermarket chains developed symbiotic relationships with ... factory farms, which today supply most of their produce, meat, and poultry ...."
Other interesting turning points Smith discusses are the assembly-line production of food perfected by McDonalds (#24); the introduction of the microwave oven (#22); the gradual conversion of food preparation from everyday necessity to spectator sport by way of Gourmet magazine (#20), the French Chef (#25) and the Food Network (#28); and the rise of what the author calls "transgenic" crops beginning with the Flavr Savr tomato (#29). Smith carefully avoids the more commonly used term, GMOs or genetically modified organisms when he states that "between 70 ad 75 percent of all processed foods in United States grocery stores may contain ingredients from transgenic plants."

While I enjoyed the author's choices of turning points, here are others I would like to have seen him cover. The invention of high fructose corn syrup in 1957 and how/why its consumption rose to 39 lbs per person by 2009. Victory Gardens, the ultimate local food story when, for three years during World War II, American families turned to their gardens and collectively produced almost half of all homeland produce. And finally, a question: What turning point launched us into the world of huge food portions and super-sized drinks? After all, the original McDonalds hamburger was only 1.5 oz.

The concept of this book is good. However, the execution is somewhat plodding. It feels like a text book, rather than a good, relaxing read. Each chapter starts wtih a summary of the chapter, then a fuller exposition of the events, and ends with the ultimate fate of the people most involved. I will say that I did learn a bit of interesting background.

Grat book, nicely put together, and cheaper by far that place i heard him speakEating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History)

Bravo Andy! I await my copy to grace the shelf filled with your brilliant writing. Your new book, once read will have fine company next to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink, Ed.,1. Cheers! wb