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The American Way Of Eating: Undercover At Walmart, Applebee's, Farm Fields And The Dinner Table (2012)

by Tracie McMillan(Favorite Author)

3.55 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1439171963 (ISBN13: 9781439171967)

languge

English

genre

Food & Cookbooks

publisher

Scribner

review 1: I couldn't decide whether to give this book 3 stars or four. One the one hand, it does its job beautiful, illuminating the dark underbelly of our nation's food from field to table. I will take a few things to heart as I continue to try to improve the way that I eat. But part of the book was more about work than food, how hard it was working in a field picking fruits and vegetables, how hard it is working in a restaurant, or stocking at Walmart. Part of the book was about the low wages these jobs pay and how difficult it is to live on such meager crumbs. But I've already read that book: Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed, a masterful work that this one doesn't quite match in tone or pathos. Still, this was a pretty good book, and as I lately seem to be reading a lot ... moreof material about the way things REALLY work, this book is a success. I would recommend it to people who are looking to see the big picture when it comes to our food, our bodies, or communities, and our future.
review 2: I loved this book. I'm a big fan of food and talking and reading about it and agriculture. So much of this discussion usually revolves around methods of production of food (organic, biodynamic, permaculture, intensive agriculture, etc etc) and on individual choices (like eat whole foods, mostly plants) but not on the disconnect between knowing what to eat and actually doing it. This book examines through the lived experiences of its author and the people that she lived and worked with why it is not enough to assume that people simply need to be told what to eat, that we as an entire society must make it easier for people to afford good food in both money, time, and energy. We have set up a system that blames people for making "easy" choices like eating processed, prepared foods but does not enable people to easily access affordable produce on a regular basis. The content in this book must be part of the discussion around sustainable agriculture and food ethics or it is not a conversation worth having. less

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