Paradox of Plenty : A Social History of Eating in Modern America

Offering a sweeping social history of food and eating in America, Harvey Levenstein explores the economic, political, and cultural factors that have shaped the American diet from 1930 to the present. He begins with the Great Depression, describing the breadlines, slim-down diets, and the waveof "vitamania" which swept the nation before World War II, and goes on to discuss wartime food rationing and the attempts of Margaret Mead and other social scientists to change American eating habits. He examines the postwar "Golden Age of American Food Processing," led by Duncan Hines and otherindustry leaders, and the disillusionment of the 1960s, when Americans rediscovered hunger and attacked food processors for denutrifying the food supply. Finally he discusses our contemporary eating habits--the national obsession with dieting, cholesterolphobia, "natural" foods, demographics offast-food chains, and the expanding role of food processors as a source of nutritional information. Both colorful and informative, this chronicle of American eating habits offers a window for viewing a land blessed with an abundance of food and a national diet marked by stark contrast andparadox.