Waubonsee Community College

How America eats, a social history of U.S. food and culture, Jennifer Jensen Wallach

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

How America eats

bibliography

794361344

Jennifer Jensen Wallach

The American ways series

a social history of U.S. food and culture

This work, written by a food and social historian sheds a new and interesting light on American history by way of the dinner table. It is, at once, a study of America's diverse culinary history and a look at the country's unique and unprecedented journey to the present day. While undeniably a "melting pot" of different cultures and cuisines, America's food habits have been shaped as much by technological innovations and industrial progress as by the intermingling and mixture of ethnic cultures. By studying what Americans have been eating since the colonial era, we are further enlightened to the conflicting ways in which Americans have chosen to define themselves, their culture, their beliefs, and the changes those definitions have undergone over time. Understanding the American diet is the first step toward grasping the larger truths, the complex American narratives that have long been swept under the table, and the evolving answers to the question: What does it mean to be American?

The cuisine of contact -- Food and the founding -- Foodways in an era of expansion and immigration -- Technology and taste -- Gender and the American appetite -- The pious or patriotic stomach -- Food habits and racial thinking -- The politics of food

Social history of U.S. food and culture