The State of American Food
Well, the big publishers are betting on this topic. This month Alfred A. Knopf is releasing Robert Paarlberg’s Resetting the Table: Straight Talk about the Food We Grow and Eat while Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are going with Mark Bittman’s Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food from Sustainable to Suicidal.
I blurbed the first so I will just quote that here.
“Robert Paarlberg’s Resetting the Table is a fresh, deeply researched, and courageous study of the unprecedented challenge of ensuring a healthy diet. Paarlberg demolished currently popular solutions such as local, organic, and microscale enterprises, while taking on commercial farmers, food companies, and supermarkets for turning a blind eye to problem in the food supply. In doing so, he provides much needed context for all those concerned with bringing the food system into line with human needs.”
So, I really like Paarlberg’s book. I like the lack of waffle, the careful formulation of his claims, the lifetime of knowledge of farming systems around the world, the abundant up-to-date references, the effort to understand points of view other than his own, and the recognition that modern food systems are so complex that change is going to be a slog, not a matter of waving a magic wand.
On Bittman’s book, I will reserve judgement until I have seen it hoping against hope that an immersion in history has deepened his understanding of the state of American food.
Thanks for the heads up. I look forward to reading both books.
Happy New Year, Rachel, glad to see your blog post! These two look like crunchy reads.
I have read both books thanks to your recommendations. I will post a review of their take on Big Ag next week and one on their views on Big Food the following week. I continue to enjoy your posts.
I read and enjoy your blog regularly. Very helpful indeed.
Thank you. I am honored. I have such a high regard for your writing. This week I will comment on the Bittman and Paarlberg approach to Big Ag. Next week I will take on their critique of Big Food.