Description
Book SynopsisFrom whiskey in the American Revolution to Spam in WWII, food reveals a great deal about the society in which it exists. Selecting 15 foods that represent key moments in the history of the United States, this book takes readers from before European colonization to the present, narrating major turning points along the way, with food as a guide.
US History in 15 Foods takes everyday items like wheat bread, peanuts, and chicken nuggets, and shows the part they played in the making of America. What did the British colonists think about the corn they observed Indigenous people growing? How are oranges connected to Roosevelt''s New Deal? And what can green bean casserole tell us about gender roles in the mid-20th century? Weaving food into colonialism, globalization, racism, economic depression, environmental change and more, Anna Zeide shows how America has evolved through the food it eats.
Trade ReviewZeide takes readers on a fascinating tour of American foodways, from the pre-contact era to the present. As she tells the story of fifteen iconic foods and dishes, she traces the key political, social, and economic trends that defined the nation. Food history, this book persuasively shows, is U.S. history. -- Julia Irwin, University of South Florida, USA
Anna Zeide has made a convincing case that these fifteen foods can indeed be used to tell the complicated story of a nation. With lively prose and compelling examples, she has written a book with the potential to transform the way readers appreciate the significance of everyday ingredients. -- Jennifer Wallach, University of North Texas, USA
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US History in 15 Foods] is well written and enjoyable to read. ... Zeide brings out the exploitative and destructive nature of the modern food system, shedding light on the negative impacts on people and the environment. * H-Net Reviews *
Table of Contents1. Pemmican: Food in the Not-So-New World 2. Corn: Colonization and Settlement, 1500-1750 3. Whiskey: Eating and Drinking in a New Nation, 1750-1800 4. Graham Bread: Early Nineteenth-Century Diet and Reform 5. Potlikker: Food and Slavery in the Antebellum South 6. Peanuts: The Civil War, Reconstruction, and After 7. Jell-O: Industrialization in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 8. Spaghetti: Immigration and Consumerism in the 1910s and 1920s 9. Oranges: Food and Agriculture in the Great Depression 10. Spam: Eating in the Second World War 11. Green Bean Casserole: Postwar Foodways 12. Tofu: Food in the Counterculture and Protest Era, 1950-75 13. Chicken Nuggets: Cheap Food and Politics in the 1970 and 1980s 14. Big Mac: McDonaldization and Its Discontents, 1990-2008 15. Korean Tacos: Immigration, Social Media, and America Today Epilogue Bibliography Index
