A provocative look at how and what Americans eat and why--a flavorful blend of The Omnivore's Dilemma, Salt Sugar Fat, and Freakonomics that reveals how the way we live shapes the way we eat.
Food writer and Culinary Institute of America program director Sophie Egan takes readers on an eye-opening journey through the American food psyche, examining the connections between the values that define our national character--work, freedom, and progress--and our eating habits, the good and the bad. Egan explores why these values make for such an unstable, and often unhealthy, food culture and, paradoxically, why they also make America's cuisine so great.
Egan raises a host of intriguing questions: Why does McDonald's have 107 items on its menu? Why are breakfast sandwiches, protein bars, and gluten-free anything so popular? Will bland, soulless meal replacements like Soylent revolutionize our definition of a meal? The search for answers takes her across the culinary landscape, from the prioritization of convenience over health to the unintended consequences of "perks" like free meals for employees; from the American obsession with "having it our way" to the surge of Starbucks, Chipotle, and other chains individualizing the eating experience; from high culture--artisan and organic and what exactly "natural" means--to low culture--the sale of 100 million Taco Bell Doritos Locos Tacos in ten weeks. She also looks at how America's cuisine--like the nation itself--has been shaped by diverse influences from across the globe.
Devoured weaves together insights from the fields of psychology, anthropology, food science, and behavioral economics as well as myriad examples from daily life to create a powerful and unique look at food in America.
About the Author :
Sophie Egan is the Director of Health and Sustainability Leadership and Editorial Director at The Culinary Institute of America. Based in San Francisco, Sophie is a contributor to The New York Times' Well blog, and has written about food and health for Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bon Appétit, WIRED, and Sunset magazine, where she worked on The Sunset Cookbook and The One-Block Feast book. She holds a master of public health from the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on health and social behavior, and a bachelor of arts with honors in history from Stanford University. In 2016, she was named one of the UC Global Food Initiative's 30 Under 30.
Ann Richardson is an award-winning narrator. With a background of drama and music prevalent in her Midwestern upbringing, she delights in narrating fiction and portraying characters with a variety of accents, including Scandinavian and Southern U.S. Being of Swedish heritage is an important facet of Ann's life, as her father was a Swedish immigrant, and she travels to Sweden every few years to spend time with family and brush up on speaking the language. In her spare time Ann is a volunteer narrator for Learning Ally (formerly Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic), and also enjoys sculpting, painting, long-distance running, and hanging out with her family in Northern California.
Review :
"A wild and witty romp through the zaniness that infuses today's American culture of food."
-- "Michael Moss, New York Times bestselling author"
"An engaging anthropological guide...[that] reads more like a bonbon-studded TED talk than an eat-your-spinach slog."
-- "Seattle Times"
"Ann Richardson's persuasive narration sheds light on the paradoxes and perils of our nation's cultural food values.. Richardson's smooth tones reflect the consumers' naïveté and fascination with food...Richardson's inflections convey surprise, excitement, and dismay at the descriptions of food-related phenomena... Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award."
-- "AudioFile"
"Egan's...book is well written, her tone is upbeat, and she offers sound solutions to the tangled problems she discusses."
-- "Publishers Weekly"
"Entertaining...Humorous...[An] informative look at what Americans eat...and how our eating habits are changing who we are."
-- "Kirkus Reviews"
"Highlights what characterizes our country's approach to food and makes it unique."
-- "Bustle"
"It is only with this understanding of our food culture that we stand a chance of improving our food system. Devoured is a great contribution to this endeavor."
-- "Sam Kass, senior food analyst for NBC News"
"Reading [Devoured] could change the way you eat."
-- "San Jose Mercury News"
"Well researched, fascinating, and witty."
-- "Shelf Awareness"
