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Fear of Food: A History of Why We Worry about What We Eat
An “entertaining and enlightening” history of the scares, scams, and pseudoscience that have made food a source of anxiety in America (The Boston Globe). Are eggs the perfect protein, or cholesterol bombs? Is red wine good for my heart, or bad for my liver? Will pesticides and processed foods kill me? In this book, food historian Harvey Levenstein encourages us to take a deep breath, and reveals the people and vested interests who have created and exploited so many worries surrounding the subject of what we eat. He tells of the prominent scientists who first warned about deadly germs and poisons, and those who charged that processing foods robs them of life-giving vitamins and minerals. These include Nobel laureate Eli Metchnikoff, who advised that yogurt would enable people to live to 140, and Elmer McCollum, the “discoverer” of vitamins, who tailored his warnings about deficiencies to suit the food producers who funded him. He also highlights how companies have taken advantage of these concerns—by marketing their products to the fear of the moment. Fear of Food is a lively look at the food industry and American culture, as well as a much-needed voice of reason; Levenstein expertly questions these stories of constantly changing advice, and helps free us from irrational fears so we can rediscover the joy of eating. “Guides us through an entertaining series of obsessions—from the outsized fear of flies spreading germs (leading to the 1905 invention of the fly swatter) to a panic about germ-ridden cats infecting human food (which led to a 1912 Chicago public health warning that felines were ‘extremely dangerous to humanity’)…[a] roster of American food nuttiness.”—TheBoston Globe “[Takes] readers through a succession of American fads and panics, from an epidemic of ‘germophobia’ at the start of the twentieth century to fat phobia at its end. He exposes the instigators of these not only the hucksters and opportunists but also the scientists and health experts.”—Times Literary Supplement
230 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 14, 2012
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January 3, 2021
Free ebook from University of Chicago press - found two amusing typos:
"weeldong" for "weeklong" and "arroz con polio" The two I found in the footnotes weren't nearly as amusing.
This is a history of America's dysfunctional relationship with food, not an advice book. He may have other books on that.
I enjoyed this because it fits in with my worldview. Should probably cop to being raised in a *Prevention* magazine and Adelle Davis household, but even I find it darkly amusing that J. I. Rodale keeled over on Dick Cavett's show. Mom shopped at a health food store in the 60s and 70s, and we took all sorts of supplements. While my mother died at age 87 (beating out her own mother by four years), my dad was 101. In his case it looks like genes, though. I take a multi-vitamin now because I know I don't eat properly. I eat what I enjoy.
But that seems to be the message of this book: eat what you enjoy because no one, not even the so-called experts know what sort of diet is best for you. The food mania in this country is driven, according to Levenstein (and I believe him), by force of personality, politics, and commerce rather than science. Oh, they pay lip service to science, but there are too many other factors to consider in how food gets from nature to our table. And there's too much to know about what foods/chemicals do to or for us to get a sensible idea of what is best for us. You certainly can't trust what you read/hear so, Levenstein suggests we wait ... and wait some more. Dietary advice keeps changing, swinging wildly in some cases. Just eat what you like in moderation.
"weeldong" for "weeklong" and "arroz con polio" The two I found in the footnotes weren't nearly as amusing.
This is a history of America's dysfunctional relationship with food, not an advice book. He may have other books on that.
I enjoyed this because it fits in with my worldview. Should probably cop to being raised in a *Prevention* magazine and Adelle Davis household, but even I find it darkly amusing that J. I. Rodale keeled over on Dick Cavett's show. Mom shopped at a health food store in the 60s and 70s, and we took all sorts of supplements. While my mother died at age 87 (beating out her own mother by four years), my dad was 101. In his case it looks like genes, though. I take a multi-vitamin now because I know I don't eat properly. I eat what I enjoy.
But that seems to be the message of this book: eat what you enjoy because no one, not even the so-called experts know what sort of diet is best for you. The food mania in this country is driven, according to Levenstein (and I believe him), by force of personality, politics, and commerce rather than science. Oh, they pay lip service to science, but there are too many other factors to consider in how food gets from nature to our table. And there's too much to know about what foods/chemicals do to or for us to get a sensible idea of what is best for us. You certainly can't trust what you read/hear so, Levenstein suggests we wait ... and wait some more. Dietary advice keeps changing, swinging wildly in some cases. Just eat what you like in moderation.
July 27, 2025
چگونه از غذا خوردن نترسیم
پایان: ۱۴۰۴/۵/۵
این کتاب جالبی بود. این کتاب تاریخچهای از غذا، ترس مردم از غذا هست. از سال ۱۸۵۰ حدودا شروع کرده و تا سال ۲۰۱۰ ادامه داده.
این کتاب علمی، تاریخی و افشای اتفاقهای هست که در اون دوران رخ داد و چه حرفهایی زده شد که همهشون دروغهایی بیش نبودند، البته بعضیها هم کشفهای مهمی در کل دنیا و حوضهی دارو و غذا شدن.
ما هم بعضی از این دروغها رو بطور کامل توی ایران باور داریم و بعضیها به شدت درگیر هستند، درست مثل مردم آمریکا در اون دههها (حتی الان) مثال جنون ویتامینخواهی.
درکل اگر به معقولهی غذا و رژیمهای درمانی علاقمند هستند این کتاب خوبه.
خود این کتاب اگه الان قرار بود از سال ۲۰۱۰ تا همین ۲۰۲۵ رو بگه خودش یک جلد کامل رو دربرمیگرفت، که امروز، روز به روز بیشتر و بدتر میشه و توی ایران هم همینجوری داره سرایت پیدا میکنه.
یکی از دلایل، فضای مجازی و دنیای آزاد میشه لحاظ کرد. همه به اطلاعات دسترسی دارن اما اطلاعات نادرست، لحظهای و بدون گشتن برای منابع و نکتههاش. مردم فقط یک تیکههاش رو گوش میکنن، انجام میدن و فکر میکنن همون تیکه و از همون آدم شنیدن یعنی همهچی.
پایان: ۱۴۰۴/۵/۵
این کتاب جالبی بود. این کتاب تاریخچهای از غذا، ترس مردم از غذا هست. از سال ۱۸۵۰ حدودا شروع کرده و تا سال ۲۰۱۰ ادامه داده.
این کتاب علمی، تاریخی و افشای اتفاقهای هست که در اون دوران رخ داد و چه حرفهایی زده شد که همهشون دروغهایی بیش نبودند، البته بعضیها هم کشفهای مهمی در کل دنیا و حوضهی دارو و غذا شدن.
ما هم بعضی از این دروغها رو بطور کامل توی ایران باور داریم و بعضیها به شدت درگیر هستند، درست مثل مردم آمریکا در اون دههها (حتی الان) مثال جنون ویتامینخواهی.
درکل اگر به معقولهی غذا و رژیمهای درمانی علاقمند هستند این کتاب خوبه.
خود این کتاب اگه الان قرار بود از سال ۲۰۱۰ تا همین ۲۰۲۵ رو بگه خودش یک جلد کامل رو دربرمیگرفت، که امروز، روز به روز بیشتر و بدتر میشه و توی ایران هم همینجوری داره سرایت پیدا میکنه.
یکی از دلایل، فضای مجازی و دنیای آزاد میشه لحاظ کرد. همه به اطلاعات دسترسی دارن اما اطلاعات نادرست، لحظهای و بدون گشتن برای منابع و نکتههاش. مردم فقط یک تیکههاش رو گوش میکنن، انجام میدن و فکر میکنن همون تیکه و از همون آدم شنیدن یعنی همهچی.
March 8, 2015
There are so many things about this book to love. I think it's the first book I've read on food fads and food history that doesn't seem completely biased one way or another. Definitely eye opening to look at our eating habits over the course of history and see just how much science (or lack thereof) has been behind our eating patterns as Americans. No matter what your stance is on what constitutes a healthy diet, I highly recommend taking the little time it takes to read this book. It's short, it's well written, and most importantly it's very educational.
September 25, 2023
slicing the salami
My headline is a metaphor in academia where too often we are asked to prove how much we have published, not whether it's any good, so we divide our research or mine it for more publications than is strictly necessary.
If you've read Levenstein's books on American food, this book is a new perspective on old material. It's a fun read and I don't regret reading it, but it's going to work best if you haven't read the other two books (and you should because they are superb.
So my 4 stars acknowledge the qualities of this book as a stand-alone. The minus star is because had I bought it in paper I'd be a bit cheesed off.
My headline is a metaphor in academia where too often we are asked to prove how much we have published, not whether it's any good, so we divide our research or mine it for more publications than is strictly necessary.
If you've read Levenstein's books on American food, this book is a new perspective on old material. It's a fun read and I don't regret reading it, but it's going to work best if you haven't read the other two books (and you should because they are superb.
So my 4 stars acknowledge the qualities of this book as a stand-alone. The minus star is because had I bought it in paper I'd be a bit cheesed off.
March 22, 2017
Much more readable than I had anticipated. Downright interesting, in fact. I sincerely recommend this for anyone who is interested in eating more healthful foods and learning who to listen to regarding what is healthful.
May 29, 2018
Survey of history of dietary fads and fears, everything from germs to fat phobia. Science, medicine, and government have investigated to find that claims range from true, to misunderstood, to highly exaggerated.
September 7, 2025
#Binge Reviewing my previous Reads #Food History
Harvey Levenstein’s Fear of Food is both witty and sobering, a book that peels back the layers of our modern anxieties about eating and shows just how long we’ve been collectively fretting over what’s on our plates.
While contemporary conversations about gluten-free diets, superfoods, or genetically modified organisms may feel like uniquely modern preoccupations, Levenstein reminds us that food paranoia has been with us for more than a century.
The book traces the American story of food fears beginning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when industrialisation changed how food was produced and consumed. Suddenly, what had once been local and recognisable began arriving in packages, cans, and bottles, raising suspicion. The rise of “scientific nutrition” and its constantly shifting dogmas only added to the confusion. Eggs were healthy, then dangerous, then healthy again; butter gave way to margarine, which was later demonised in turn. Coffee was alternately a stimulant to be feared and a harmless indulgence. The result? A culture primed to worry, constantly.
Levenstein’s real gift is showing how food worries have often been tied not just to health, but to class, morality, and identity. Diet reformers in the early 20th century promoted plain, “rational” eating not only as a path to better bodies but also as a mark of civilised restraint. Immigrant foods—from garlic-laden Italian pastas to fiery Mexican dishes—were dismissed as dangerous or unwholesome, reflecting broader prejudices disguised as nutritional advice.
The narrative is filled with lively anecdotes: the crusade against ketchup, the obsession with “pure” milk, the rise and fall of fad diets, and the curious authority of self-proclaimed experts who shifted public opinion with alarming ease. Reading about the constant back-and-forth of nutritional advice—much of it driven by faulty science, commercial interests, or sheer moral panic—feels eerily familiar in an era of wellness influencers and viral health scares.
What makes Fear of Food stand out is Levenstein’s dry humour and scepticism. He never ridicules people for worrying—after all, food safety is serious business—but he does show how fear has been manipulated, exaggerated, and often misplaced. The book invites us to see our current food debates not as new dilemmas but as the latest chapters in a very long saga of anxiety, aspiration, and contradiction.
By the end, one feels a mix of relief and resignation: relief that some of our worries (like spoilt milk or adulterated canned goods) led to genuine improvements in public health, but resignation that we seem destined to keep inventing new things to be afraid of. From calories to cholesterol to carbs, the story keeps repeating itself.
Fear of Food is essential reading for anyone interested in food history, cultural studies, or simply trying to make sense of why we’re so conflicted every time we sit down to eat. Levenstein’s work reassures us that we’re not alone in our confusion—it’s just part of the American way of thinking about food.
Harvey Levenstein’s Fear of Food is both witty and sobering, a book that peels back the layers of our modern anxieties about eating and shows just how long we’ve been collectively fretting over what’s on our plates.
While contemporary conversations about gluten-free diets, superfoods, or genetically modified organisms may feel like uniquely modern preoccupations, Levenstein reminds us that food paranoia has been with us for more than a century.
The book traces the American story of food fears beginning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when industrialisation changed how food was produced and consumed. Suddenly, what had once been local and recognisable began arriving in packages, cans, and bottles, raising suspicion. The rise of “scientific nutrition” and its constantly shifting dogmas only added to the confusion. Eggs were healthy, then dangerous, then healthy again; butter gave way to margarine, which was later demonised in turn. Coffee was alternately a stimulant to be feared and a harmless indulgence. The result? A culture primed to worry, constantly.
Levenstein’s real gift is showing how food worries have often been tied not just to health, but to class, morality, and identity. Diet reformers in the early 20th century promoted plain, “rational” eating not only as a path to better bodies but also as a mark of civilised restraint. Immigrant foods—from garlic-laden Italian pastas to fiery Mexican dishes—were dismissed as dangerous or unwholesome, reflecting broader prejudices disguised as nutritional advice.
The narrative is filled with lively anecdotes: the crusade against ketchup, the obsession with “pure” milk, the rise and fall of fad diets, and the curious authority of self-proclaimed experts who shifted public opinion with alarming ease. Reading about the constant back-and-forth of nutritional advice—much of it driven by faulty science, commercial interests, or sheer moral panic—feels eerily familiar in an era of wellness influencers and viral health scares.
What makes Fear of Food stand out is Levenstein’s dry humour and scepticism. He never ridicules people for worrying—after all, food safety is serious business—but he does show how fear has been manipulated, exaggerated, and often misplaced. The book invites us to see our current food debates not as new dilemmas but as the latest chapters in a very long saga of anxiety, aspiration, and contradiction.
By the end, one feels a mix of relief and resignation: relief that some of our worries (like spoilt milk or adulterated canned goods) led to genuine improvements in public health, but resignation that we seem destined to keep inventing new things to be afraid of. From calories to cholesterol to carbs, the story keeps repeating itself.
Fear of Food is essential reading for anyone interested in food history, cultural studies, or simply trying to make sense of why we’re so conflicted every time we sit down to eat. Levenstein’s work reassures us that we’re not alone in our confusion—it’s just part of the American way of thinking about food.
February 7, 2019
While Levenstein's book is an important overview of food anxieties and fears in the 20th c. industrialized food system, it was frustrating to find it so sparse on details about how those anxieties were formulated and argued over time. In the course of 10 chapters, he outlines the parameters by which middle-class Americans negotiated with an array of food "fears"--first emerging out of the science of the late 19th century in the twinned spectres of germ theory and microbes (to be combated by compulsory pasteurization), then turning from external threats to internal processing by way of anxieties around autointoxication (precursor of gut bacteria) and then the fears of beef from Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle to more contemporary problems surrounding E. coli. The questions surrounding tainted food then gave rise to the question of what had been added—and subtracted—from food to make it nutritionally deficient (a “hidden hunger”) or deficient when compared to the rest of the world (which Rodale argued benefited from a more natural, less processed diet.) Nutrition creates a new spectre of fear, as fears of fat and its cousin cholesterol birthed a new era of middle-class dietary anxiety—and profits within big food producers. This produced a yo-yo effect for those consumers looking to locate—and those producers hoping to capitalize upon—the next big argument from the food science experts.
I found Levenstein’s argument persuasive, yet perhaps by virtue of its slimness this volume fails to consider many important points and places necessary to understand the constant anxiety of the American food system. For one, his discussion of how health & nutrition messaging continue to scapegoat poor—and often immigrant—Americans for the most dangerous (i.e. dirty) or undesirable (i.e. unhealthy) dietary habits. He only briefly touches on the ways in which ideal foods were framed within the context of a modern, scientific, and highly whitened/elitist network of choices and spaces (i.e. Keys’ note that his wife and he benefited from eating more slowly, with candlelight and classical music). Perhaps most frustratingly, Levenstein provides almost no in-line referencing to the many secondary sources and other food scholars who have done work on this very subject, often in much greater detail and with greater consideration of American psychologies and anxieties not directly tethered to food. While he provides extensive endnotes at the end of the book, this lack of conversation within each chapter makes it appear as though consumers’ anxieties around food and diet emerged in a vacuum, unconnected to the rest of each era, and as such it is easy to lose track of the book’s chronology and argument. It’s a fine overview, but there are better in-depth chapters to teach elsewhere.
I found Levenstein’s argument persuasive, yet perhaps by virtue of its slimness this volume fails to consider many important points and places necessary to understand the constant anxiety of the American food system. For one, his discussion of how health & nutrition messaging continue to scapegoat poor—and often immigrant—Americans for the most dangerous (i.e. dirty) or undesirable (i.e. unhealthy) dietary habits. He only briefly touches on the ways in which ideal foods were framed within the context of a modern, scientific, and highly whitened/elitist network of choices and spaces (i.e. Keys’ note that his wife and he benefited from eating more slowly, with candlelight and classical music). Perhaps most frustratingly, Levenstein provides almost no in-line referencing to the many secondary sources and other food scholars who have done work on this very subject, often in much greater detail and with greater consideration of American psychologies and anxieties not directly tethered to food. While he provides extensive endnotes at the end of the book, this lack of conversation within each chapter makes it appear as though consumers’ anxieties around food and diet emerged in a vacuum, unconnected to the rest of each era, and as such it is easy to lose track of the book’s chronology and argument. It’s a fine overview, but there are better in-depth chapters to teach elsewhere.
March 5, 2025
عنوان اصلی کتاب: تاریخچهای درباره اینکه چرا ما در مورد چیزی که میخوریم نگران هستیم؟
ترجمه فارسی از نشر هنوز با عنوان «چگونه از غذا خوردن نترسیم» با ترجمه غزاله خطیبی منتشر شده؛ بنظرمن عنوان تغییر یافته اصلا مناسب نیست. من تصور میکردم قرارهست کتابی بخونم درباره رژیمهای مختلف غذایی یا مثلا اینکه ترسهای بیجا و بهجایی که در مورد مواد غذایی داریم کدومها هستند؟ اما همهش تاریخچه غذاهای مختلف در ایالات متحده بود! مثلا در فلان تاریخ در فلان ایالت مقالهای چاپ شد که گوشت گاو پر از میکروبه، بعد فروشش افت کرد، بعد فلان کمپانی فلان تبلیغات رو انجام تا دوباره فروش بره، چندسال بعد فلان کارخونه فلان محصول گوشتی رو داد بیرون و... همهش همینا. برای من دونستن این چیزها هیچ جذابیت و خاصیتی نداشت و بعد از ۴ فصل که دیدم کل کتاب درباره همیناست، گذاشتمش کنار و ادامه ندادم.
ترجمه فارسی از نشر هنوز با عنوان «چگونه از غذا خوردن نترسیم» با ترجمه غزاله خطیبی منتشر شده؛ بنظرمن عنوان تغییر یافته اصلا مناسب نیست. من تصور میکردم قرارهست کتابی بخونم درباره رژیمهای مختلف غذایی یا مثلا اینکه ترسهای بیجا و بهجایی که در مورد مواد غذایی داریم کدومها هستند؟ اما همهش تاریخچه غذاهای مختلف در ایالات متحده بود! مثلا در فلان تاریخ در فلان ایالت مقالهای چاپ شد که گوشت گاو پر از میکروبه، بعد فروشش افت کرد، بعد فلان کمپانی فلان تبلیغات رو انجام تا دوباره فروش بره، چندسال بعد فلان کارخونه فلان محصول گوشتی رو داد بیرون و... همهش همینا. برای من دونستن این چیزها هیچ جذابیت و خاصیتی نداشت و بعد از ۴ فصل که دیدم کل کتاب درباره همیناست، گذاشتمش کنار و ادامه ندادم.
March 6, 2020
The book didn’t do justice to the interesting topic it dealt with. Although it was easy to read and follow, there was no point that was trying to be conveyed across. It felt like l was reading an endless stream of who did what, without the slightest consistency in the narrative. I felt bombarded by different names and quotes. None of the chapters had any conclusion, or even a point; a little comment from the author or anything to leave you thinking: none. There were a couple of days where I didn’t even feel like picking the book up.
I gave it 2 stars because it is evident that a lot of research went into writing this book. But it’s a pity it turned out the way it did. Not recommended.
I gave it 2 stars because it is evident that a lot of research went into writing this book. But it’s a pity it turned out the way it did. Not recommended.
February 1, 2021
I would have scored this book higher if it had mentioned eating disorders. "We" always refers to the great collective, the buzz, the fads, the popular press, and not the individual "I can't eat..." He doesn't mention gluten at all, perhaps because most of the foods fads and fears the author describes start with a scientist. Has any scientist attacked gluten? Are not these random food fads also worth analyzing, considering how many people are obsessed with this ingredient or that?
By the way, I am afraid of caffeine. It keeps me awake, gives me headaches, makes me jittery. Why don't foods have to label their caffeine content?
By the way, I am afraid of caffeine. It keeps me awake, gives me headaches, makes me jittery. Why don't foods have to label their caffeine content?
March 11, 2023
The author looks at a variety of ways our concepts of food, health, and diet have changed. At times, the science has grown in fits and starts and that’s explained in a clear reader friendly way. The author shows how th great complexity of the human body is still coming to be understood.
May 8, 2018
I found it interesting to find about the history of some foods, and food issues.
April 8, 2023
Not a 5 as a reading experience but definitely so for the fascinating historical work and well-chosen presentation and, tone for the audience, just as with the equally excellent Paradox of Plenty.
April 29, 2023
The first few chapters were very interesting, then it got a bit boring.
December 20, 2012
Until I read Stephanie Lucianovic’s new book, Suffering Succotash: A Picky Eater’s Quest to Understand Why We Hate the Foods We Hate, I didn’t quite realize the range in picky eating. I had often referred to myself as a picky eater, the kind of person that only likes good food. Of course I qualified the word good by saying things like healthy, local, organic, or even just tasty. In Stephanie Lucianovic’s book she attempts to determine why kids, and “finicky eating” adults, decide not to eat foods based on looks, taste or feel. Why do we have strong aversions to certain foods and, while we’re at it, what is succotash?
Simpler than I imagined, succotash is a mixture of sautéed lima beans, tomatoes and corn. It actually sounded pretty good, but I’m not twelve. Lucianovic grew up as one of those “three more bites and you’re done” kind of kids. She tells us she complained about things touching on her plate, steered clear of any food with a skin and more, subsisting on a narrow list of approved items from the four food groups. Just the cherry from the fruit cup please. Lucianovic had ways to manage the bad foods on her plate; she had places to hide them (try the books in the living room) and physical techniques to swallow them (deep breaths and lots of water). She was a food vanishing magician.
In addition to sharing her own funny stories, like when she was forced to eat “squishy and maple-syruped and gross” squash before she could leave the table, Lucianovic interviews friends and colleagues who were also picky. Like her chef friend Julie, who wouldn’t eat anything that she thought was “’wet,’ like a condiment,” or her friend Jeff, who “has a complex relationship with tomatoes”:
Chunks of tomatoes, like in salsa, are fine, but a quarter of a tomato is too much. What about slices of tomatoes? “I won’t eat them sliced,” Jeff tells me. “In fact, I just pulled one out of my hamburger and threw it out the window on my way home this morning.”
As a compliment to the storytelling, Lucianovic does her best to give a nod to scientific research, both the at-home and in-lab kind. Purchasing a chemistry kit from an online lab supply store to determine if she’s a supertaster or an undertaster, Lucianovic finds out she’s neither. Disappointed with her results, she turns to Dr. Danielle Reed, from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, “the worlds only interdependent, non-profit scientific institute dedicated to research on the senses of taste and smell,” and procures an invite to spend time at their lab, or, as she calls it: DNA Camp. Once there, Lucianovic learns about TAS2r38, one of twenty-five bitter taste receptor genes we inherit, one from each of our parents. And this is where taste gets more complicated. And more interesting.
In addition to TAS2r38, Lucianovic learns about a newly discovered sixth taste. Not just five. Six. Until recently, we learn, our concept of taste was built on sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Adding to that list, scientists discovered a sixth taste, called calcium/mineral, which a scientist at the lab said tasted, to him, like fat-free milk. This sixth sense piqued my interest, but didn’t get me any closer to the why’s of picky.
The author does provide some very plausible reasons kids are picky: they reject on visual alone; they reject based on family tension at the dinner table; they can’t stand the texture of the food; they have some level of OCD; they have an over eager gag reflex. So here’s my dilemma: How does a non-scientist explain why people eat what they eat and is it at all possible to explain without being anecdotal?
Suffering Succotash: A Picky Eater’s Quest to Understand Why We Hate the Foods We Hate is a unique spin on a serious problem. Both on the kid level, how do you get them to eat their vegetables? And on the adult level, how do you manage telling people you have specific needs? The book is cute, but too light and flip for this picky eater, who wanted an Aha moment along with her small yield, heirloom lima beans from California.
Review originally published on The Inquisitive Eater:
http://inquisitiveeater.com/2012/08/1...
Simpler than I imagined, succotash is a mixture of sautéed lima beans, tomatoes and corn. It actually sounded pretty good, but I’m not twelve. Lucianovic grew up as one of those “three more bites and you’re done” kind of kids. She tells us she complained about things touching on her plate, steered clear of any food with a skin and more, subsisting on a narrow list of approved items from the four food groups. Just the cherry from the fruit cup please. Lucianovic had ways to manage the bad foods on her plate; she had places to hide them (try the books in the living room) and physical techniques to swallow them (deep breaths and lots of water). She was a food vanishing magician.
In addition to sharing her own funny stories, like when she was forced to eat “squishy and maple-syruped and gross” squash before she could leave the table, Lucianovic interviews friends and colleagues who were also picky. Like her chef friend Julie, who wouldn’t eat anything that she thought was “’wet,’ like a condiment,” or her friend Jeff, who “has a complex relationship with tomatoes”:
Chunks of tomatoes, like in salsa, are fine, but a quarter of a tomato is too much. What about slices of tomatoes? “I won’t eat them sliced,” Jeff tells me. “In fact, I just pulled one out of my hamburger and threw it out the window on my way home this morning.”
As a compliment to the storytelling, Lucianovic does her best to give a nod to scientific research, both the at-home and in-lab kind. Purchasing a chemistry kit from an online lab supply store to determine if she’s a supertaster or an undertaster, Lucianovic finds out she’s neither. Disappointed with her results, she turns to Dr. Danielle Reed, from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, “the worlds only interdependent, non-profit scientific institute dedicated to research on the senses of taste and smell,” and procures an invite to spend time at their lab, or, as she calls it: DNA Camp. Once there, Lucianovic learns about TAS2r38, one of twenty-five bitter taste receptor genes we inherit, one from each of our parents. And this is where taste gets more complicated. And more interesting.
In addition to TAS2r38, Lucianovic learns about a newly discovered sixth taste. Not just five. Six. Until recently, we learn, our concept of taste was built on sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Adding to that list, scientists discovered a sixth taste, called calcium/mineral, which a scientist at the lab said tasted, to him, like fat-free milk. This sixth sense piqued my interest, but didn’t get me any closer to the why’s of picky.
The author does provide some very plausible reasons kids are picky: they reject on visual alone; they reject based on family tension at the dinner table; they can’t stand the texture of the food; they have some level of OCD; they have an over eager gag reflex. So here’s my dilemma: How does a non-scientist explain why people eat what they eat and is it at all possible to explain without being anecdotal?
Suffering Succotash: A Picky Eater’s Quest to Understand Why We Hate the Foods We Hate is a unique spin on a serious problem. Both on the kid level, how do you get them to eat their vegetables? And on the adult level, how do you manage telling people you have specific needs? The book is cute, but too light and flip for this picky eater, who wanted an Aha moment along with her small yield, heirloom lima beans from California.
Review originally published on The Inquisitive Eater:
http://inquisitiveeater.com/2012/08/1...
August 13, 2012
Reading this was an eye opening experience for me. I already knew that the government and corporations had a lot to do with how food is marketed, but I didn't realize how involved they were until now.
Scientists, politicians, the government, corporations and even past/present President's of the United States have a huge part in how food is viewed in this country. And it's all comes down to one thing: MONEY
Food fads were created in the last 100 years or so, and are still going strong. During the early 1900's yogurt was hailed as a wonder product, followed up by vitamins. Pasteurized milk and citrus fruits were pushed on the public as "protective foods". More recently (we're still in it) a low-fat craze in order to combat heart disease. The link between fat and heart disease has recently (2009) been debunked, but mainstream society for the most part still believes it, because the food corporations and the government want you to believe it. The American Heart Association charges companies vast sums of money to use their seal of approval on food products (like sugary cereals) so that they are benefiting. And the food companies benefit because people want to buy products with the AHA's endorsement. The drug companies are making millions on their cholesterol lowering drugs. This isn't pure science at work or corporations wanting to do what is right for people.
Vitamin E was a big thing for a while, and now we're told that it's not safe in large amounts. Right now we're in the midst of a gluten-free and a Vitamin D craze.
The interesting thing about all of these fads and the so called "proven" outcomes of scientific studies is that there is always money involved. Studies haven't been properly done with control groups and scientists make things up. If a scientist says it's so, then food companies jump on board (so that they can profit), the government pushes it, the drug companies come up with some way to make money from it and the public believes it.
This book is well researched and documented. It's a fairly quick read with 159 small pages. It reinforces my belief that we need to get back to foods how nature intended them - raw dairy products, grass fed beef, free range eggs, organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains - and stop letting big corporations and the government tell us what is safe and healthy. Anyone with a brain will realize that a sugary cereal isn't good for them just because the AHA has their seal on it.
The topics covered in this book:
Discovery of Germs
Raw Milk
"Autointoxication" & Yogurt
Beef & Bacteria
Food additives & Preservatives
Vitamins
Natural Foods versus Processed Foods
Saturated Fats
Chlosterol
Heart Disease
Scientists, politicians, the government, corporations and even past/present President's of the United States have a huge part in how food is viewed in this country. And it's all comes down to one thing: MONEY
Food fads were created in the last 100 years or so, and are still going strong. During the early 1900's yogurt was hailed as a wonder product, followed up by vitamins. Pasteurized milk and citrus fruits were pushed on the public as "protective foods". More recently (we're still in it) a low-fat craze in order to combat heart disease. The link between fat and heart disease has recently (2009) been debunked, but mainstream society for the most part still believes it, because the food corporations and the government want you to believe it. The American Heart Association charges companies vast sums of money to use their seal of approval on food products (like sugary cereals) so that they are benefiting. And the food companies benefit because people want to buy products with the AHA's endorsement. The drug companies are making millions on their cholesterol lowering drugs. This isn't pure science at work or corporations wanting to do what is right for people.
Vitamin E was a big thing for a while, and now we're told that it's not safe in large amounts. Right now we're in the midst of a gluten-free and a Vitamin D craze.
The interesting thing about all of these fads and the so called "proven" outcomes of scientific studies is that there is always money involved. Studies haven't been properly done with control groups and scientists make things up. If a scientist says it's so, then food companies jump on board (so that they can profit), the government pushes it, the drug companies come up with some way to make money from it and the public believes it.
This book is well researched and documented. It's a fairly quick read with 159 small pages. It reinforces my belief that we need to get back to foods how nature intended them - raw dairy products, grass fed beef, free range eggs, organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains - and stop letting big corporations and the government tell us what is safe and healthy. Anyone with a brain will realize that a sugary cereal isn't good for them just because the AHA has their seal on it.
The topics covered in this book:
Discovery of Germs
Raw Milk
"Autointoxication" & Yogurt
Beef & Bacteria
Food additives & Preservatives
Vitamins
Natural Foods versus Processed Foods
Saturated Fats
Chlosterol
Heart Disease
November 20, 2013
Fascinating look at food scares in America throughout history. Great read for anyone who rolls their eyes every time there is a news story breathlessly telling everyone what to eat. Even better read if you feel the need to listen to all of that conflicting advice. Delves into the history of both non-profit & government organizations like the American Heart Association & the FDA. Talks about the role that competition for funding (often from big companies) & politics plays in scientific research & discusses fear mongering journalism as well. At the end of the day good science takes many years & it may just turn out that nutrition ends up being too complicated to ever deliver specific recommendations for everyone. A sample quote.
"I also try to bear in mind how often moralism, rather than science, underlies food fears. Calls for self-denial inevitably tap into the Puritan streak that still runs deep in American Culture. Left wing exposures of the dangers in the food supply often emerge from a worldview that sees the nefarious machinations of big business at the root of all that is wrong with America. Right-wingers tend to ignore the role of socioeconomic factors in health outcomes & seem to gain some dark satisfaction from blaming ill health on morally weak individuals' poor food choices."
"I also try to bear in mind how often moralism, rather than science, underlies food fears. Calls for self-denial inevitably tap into the Puritan streak that still runs deep in American Culture. Left wing exposures of the dangers in the food supply often emerge from a worldview that sees the nefarious machinations of big business at the root of all that is wrong with America. Right-wingers tend to ignore the role of socioeconomic factors in health outcomes & seem to gain some dark satisfaction from blaming ill health on morally weak individuals' poor food choices."
August 26, 2015
This book is a very sensible look into the social, scientific, commercial, and political factors that drive and influence America's food trends and fads and the final section, entitled "Coda," is a common sense approach to navigating new nutritional guidelines, media reports and medical advice regarding diet and disease. I especially appreciated his reminder that many of these fads (all debunked) have caused the victims of disease to be blamed for their suffering/death and while it may be true that some people do, in fact, eat and drink their ways into physical harm it is very unkind to paint with a broad brush and accuse cancer victims of "doing this to themselves" because they ate boxed cereals as children, or because they put butter on their broccoli. Though the book never mentions the Weston A. Price Foundation, it made me appreciate their approach, which in a nut shell is: if people have been eating a food healthfully for generations and centuries (butter, fat, meat, grain, etc.) then it is probably safe to continue to do so today. Otherwise know as: Just Eat Real Food
November 17, 2012
This covers a lot of the same historical ground as Swindled by Bee Wilson, but it also goes a bit more in depth about the current fat vs. sugar controversies in nutrition and epidemiology. Most importantly, I loved Levenstein's summing up of what history has taught him about food - that social determinants probably have a much greater impact on health than individual choices, and that we should be skeptical of all the nutritional flavours-of-the-week that we encounter, and encounter them we will. He asserts that people should be conservative in making drastic changes in their diets based on headlines, and should be cautious about denying themselves food they like in response to scare stories or superfood claims. A man after my own heart.
April 23, 2014
I expected this book to be a lot more about body image, diets like veganism and gluten-free, and just the general anorexia/obesity phenomena of American eating habits. It turned out to be more of a comprehensive study of fear mongering about food through the media and institutions about everything from pathogens to cholesterol, who benefited from it, the dubious scientific claims behind it, and the interesting ways that American consumers have navigated these crazes at different points in history. It was kind like a refresher course on American policy as seen though food, with a lot of time dedicated to the FDA, NIH, AHA, industry lobbying interests and the different presidents who have weighed in.
September 21, 2013
If read improperly, this can come off as a corporate debunking of every health warning that "Big Food" doesn't like, which is not really the point. It really is more of a history of food scares, the inadequate science or information behind them, the propaganda used for them, and the constant rethinking new information causes. The coda says it best: "Eat a wide variety of foods, don't eat too much,m and eat relatively more fruits and vegetables. This is a variation on the older advice that its all right everything in moderation."
To this I would add, whenever possible know the sources of your food and the processes by which it gets to you.
With all this in mind, the book is worth your time.
To this I would add, whenever possible know the sources of your food and the processes by which it gets to you.
With all this in mind, the book is worth your time.
June 23, 2014
This slim, little book is loaded with more eye-opening information than I could possibly have ever hoped for. Harvey Levenstein does a wonderful job of tracing many of the most outrageous food scares and dietary claims back to their respective sources, and these sources are more often than not: assumptions, presumptions, quackery, deception, profiteering, and even outright bullshit. Levenstein's writing appeals to me because he doesn't (for the most part) pass judgment, he simply states the facts and in doing so unfurls some stories that are stranger than science fiction. The origins of some of the more well known food-related fears, here unveiled, will make you alternately scratch your head and exclaim, "WTF?" Wild stuff, and definitely a worthwhile read.
April 25, 2012
As a self-proclaimed food studies dork, I own Levenstein's two previous volumes on food history in America and was excited for his newest book, Fear of Food. It's a petite work, featuring a selection of food history stories that are loosely related to present food issues.
While it's nice that they're now in one volume, the stories of oscillating American fears of specific foods and nutrients have been told elsewhere and in a similar way. I was hoping for something new. My favorite parts were his introduction and conclusion. I wish he'd woven more thematic analysis of the overall American way of eating throughout the individual chapters.
While it's nice that they're now in one volume, the stories of oscillating American fears of specific foods and nutrients have been told elsewhere and in a similar way. I was hoping for something new. My favorite parts were his introduction and conclusion. I wish he'd woven more thematic analysis of the overall American way of eating throughout the individual chapters.
July 11, 2013
A tiny book (a good chunk of it is taken up with footnotes,) but an incredibly well researched one on the history of food scared in the United States. It really is an eye-opener to see how the agendas of individuals as well as corporations have influenced our food policy.
The last chapter, on "lipophobia" is particularly relevant, as I remember when it was considered unsafe to eat more than 3 eggs a week, and I also remember when my mom switched my brother and I from whole milk to lowfat, because our doctor warned her that our cholesterol was so high from drinking milk, that we would have heart attacks in our 20s.
Book is a little dry and academic, but altogether a great read.
The last chapter, on "lipophobia" is particularly relevant, as I remember when it was considered unsafe to eat more than 3 eggs a week, and I also remember when my mom switched my brother and I from whole milk to lowfat, because our doctor warned her that our cholesterol was so high from drinking milk, that we would have heart attacks in our 20s.
Book is a little dry and academic, but altogether a great read.
November 2, 2016
borrowed from library, 1 Feb. 2014
an uneven book--I often am not sure if author is approving, critical, being cynical, traditional or iconoclastic. I am pretty sure the author is all those things at various points and assumes we can figure it out.
write more
from the library computer:
Contents:
Introduction -- Germophobia -- Milk: "the most valuable and dangerous food" -- Autointoxication & its discontents -- Bacteria & beef -- "Lucrezia Borgias in the kitchen" -- Vitamania & its deficiencies -- "Hidden hunger" stalks the land -- Natural foods in Shangri-la -- Lipophobia -- Creating a national eating disorder.
an uneven book--I often am not sure if author is approving, critical, being cynical, traditional or iconoclastic. I am pretty sure the author is all those things at various points and assumes we can figure it out.
write more
from the library computer:
Contents:
Introduction -- Germophobia -- Milk: "the most valuable and dangerous food" -- Autointoxication & its discontents -- Bacteria & beef -- "Lucrezia Borgias in the kitchen" -- Vitamania & its deficiencies -- "Hidden hunger" stalks the land -- Natural foods in Shangri-la -- Lipophobia -- Creating a national eating disorder.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2014
The story of a hundred years or more of complete bullshit in the information Americans have been given about what to eat. It is stunning how virtually everything we hear, whether from the family doc, supposedly pro-health non-profit organizations, and of course from the brainless media, is in fact the latest trendy enthusiasm, bought and paid for by commercial interests. Particularly good on debunking the nonsense about the alleged dangers of dietary fat.
May 8, 2013
Eh on my book club list , I'd never pick it up. Its textbook style information on why folks in the us get their information on food and how it's processed and prepared and how that leads to miss information and food scares. Bizarre how people believe what the press says and howvexpert opinion is trotted out . Do people really believe that? What about critical thought ?
Want to read
August 19, 2013KOBOBOOKS
Reviewed by The Guardian (16 Aug 2013)
Reviewed by The Guardian (16 Aug 2013)
September 18, 2014
A history of food phobias from the late 19th Century to the present. Informative, and the three and a half page coda at the end gives a short and excellent guide to examining claims that certain foods are good or bad for you.
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