Devoured

March 28, 2016
Egan, a food writer and director of the Culinary Institute of America, has a front row seat on the machinations of the American food industry and Americans’ bizarre eating habits, and in this engrossing study she shows how the sturdy American values of work, freedom, and progress have negatively influenced the industrial food system. She explains that the quest for convenience has created a “muddle of the modern meal”; delves into the phenomenon of desktop dining, now the norm for 40% of American office workers; and chronicles the marketing of low-fat, natural, and gluten-free foods (the “selling of absence”), which may not always be the healthiest way to eat. A disturbing chapter on “stunt foods” illustrates how social media has contributed to such products as Burger King’s bacon sundae and what these freakish amalgamations say about Americans. And who would have ever imagined that fake food shortages (such as the rumor of insufficient avocados for Super Bowl parties), promoted by clickbait headlines, would become merely another path for generating revenue? The well-organized narrative combines insights from behavioral economics, food science, psychology, and Egan’s personal observations. Her book is well written, her tone is upbeat, and she offers sound solutions to the tangled problems she discusses, but this is not an appetizing picture of America.

April 15, 2016

This engaging tour of contemporary American foodways considers several notable developments in culinary culture, including the blurring of "meal" and "snack;" the ascendancy of individuation (an abundance of choices at Starbucks); the ritualization of brunch and the Super Bowl party; and the success of junky cobranded innovations such as the Doritos Locos Taco. In America, we breakfast on the go, in stages (a protein bar during the commute or between meetings), and we lunch in the company of our desktop computers. We also pay a premium for provisions with ingredients such as fat, sugar, salt removed--and then guilt free, eat more of it. Widespread inconsistencies in food behaviors point to common tensions: health/indulgence, sustainability/convenience, pleasure/expediency, and familiarity/novelty. There's perhaps more to regret than to celebrate here, but Egan, a director in the strategic initiatives group at the Culinary Institute of America, keeps the tone generally light. VERDICT Egan's work encourages readers to slow down, savor, cook, and enjoy participating in America's innovative, multiethnic food culture. Recommended for all interested eaters, whether they are more invested in their own diets or in the macrolevel impacts of our food choices.--Janet Ingraham Dwyer, State Lib. of Ohio, Columbus

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