Seize Your Copy Devoured: From Chicken Wings To Kale Smoothies--How What We Eat Defines Who We Are Depicted By Sophie Egan Distributed In Booklet

Devoured the author poses some interesting questions about food culture and consumption in the U, S. . I liked that the book makes us think about our food in different ways, I wish that the it didn't seem so intense, I get the authors point, which is eat more whole foods, real meals and spend time cooking it, I do that for the most part and still felt that it wasn't enough, The overall tone of the book is judgmental which won't really get anyone to change their eating habits if they're feeling judged for their behavior, It's an interesting piece of

work from a sociological and psychological perspective, I think Devoured would be a good read for someone who doesn't know much about healthy eating, In all fairness I only read half of the book, since I had to return it to the library, So my opinion could have changed if I had read the entire book, I basically do not know how her editor let certain language pass, rather it should be titled "Food Diaries of a High School Blogger", Don't get my wrong she is clearly well read/versed in the subject matter, and I learned something from it, but language is everything, and it just felt odd, A provocative look at how and what Americans eat and whya flavorful blend of The Omnivores Dilemma, Salt Sugar Fat, and Freakonomics that reveals how the way we live shapes the way we eat

Food writer and Culinary Institute of America director Sophie Egan takes readers on an eyeopening journey through the American food psyche, examining the connections between the values that define our national characterwork, freedom, and progressand our eating habits, the good and the bad.
Egan explores why these values make for such an unstable, and often unhealthy, food culture and, paradoxically, why they also make Americas cuisine so great,

Egan raises a host of intriguing questions: Why does McDonalds haveitems on its menu Why are breakfast sandwiches, protein bars, and glutenfree anything so popular Will bland, soulless meal replacements like Soylent revolutionize our definition of a meal The search for answers takes her across the culinary landscape, from the prioritization of convenience over health to the unintended consequences of “perks” like free meals for employees the American obsession with “having it our way” to the surge of Starbucks, Chipotle, and other chains individualizing the eating experience from high cultureartisan and organic and what exactly “natural” meansto low culturethe sale ofmillion Taco Bell Doritos Locos Tacos in ten weeks.
She also looks at how Americas cuisinelike the nation itselfhas been shaped by diverse influences from across the globe,

Forked weaves together insights from the fields of psychology, anthropology, food science, and behavior economics as well as myriad examples from daily life to create a powerful and unique look at food in America.
Sophie Egan's Devoured: How What We Eat Defines Who We Are probes the mores of American food culture to find out what unites and divides us, Egan argues that food mirrors the American mindset, reflecting our common habits, tendencies, and livelihoods, There are several themes she seems to develop throughout the book, including the impact of the overbearing work culture on our food choices, how individualism and the need for selfexpression colors our eating choices, and how social functions like the Super Bowl and holidays drive food sales.


Each chapter explores a different chunk of American food culture, from our growing dependence on cheese and spaghetti, to the "democratization" of wine through the production of cheaper brand names, and food entrepreneurism and innovation at fast casual establishments like the Doritos Locos Taco at Taco Bell.
There is a bit of disjointedness to the book, as Egan has a difficult time connecting the chapters to validate her thesis, In fact, there doesn't seem to be a thesis outside of "we are defined by the food we eat, " Perhaps this book could have been strengthened if the subtitle had been flipped from "how what we eat defines who we are" to "who we are defines what and how we eat.
" The causation is flipped to the more apt expression of how our overlapping traits as Americans determines what we pick off the shelves and what we order at our restaurants.
From there, she could have weaved the narrative of how American culture imbues in its citizens a spirit of individualism and curiosity, and how that, for example, contributes to our demand for convenience and portable snacks in lieu of breakfast, the proliferation of foreign foods and restaurants in American towns and cities, and the popularity of "cheffing" or adding items not stated on the menu to your order.
Not only would the thesis have been clearer, but the narrative would have been tighter and the chapters more related,

Egan's writing style is pisspoor, It goes from stable prose to chatty digressions marked by unhandy and cheesy attempts at humor and wit, The tone is mostly chatty and casual, perhaps too much, This could have been a more interesting read had the subject been given a tad bit more gravitas, Combined with an incoherent thesis and disjointed elaborations of different facets of American cuisine and food culture, Egan's unwieldy writing pattern yields a book that is remarkably unexceptional and short of its potential.
Information you can find in news articles and other places, Discussions of food, nutrition, diet and health are nothing new, Author Egan proposes to take us through how what we eat has shaped us who we are and how our diets have been changed due to our work habits, the advancements of technology, the demands on our time, etc.

 
Honestly, the book was very boring and quite disappointing, A lot of the information can be found elsewhere, gleaned from articles and thinkpieces about our eating habits and culinary trends, I agree that the book seems very disjointed, Sometimes it's a lively, interesting read about this particular topic and then sometimes it seems very dry and tedious, It's clear the author had a lot to say and did a lot of research for it, But it doesn't quite hit the mark,
 
For some reason, I had been under the impression the book would talk more about the various foods, Like, what do chicken wings say about us Why is it such a popular food at times like the Super Bowl I suppose I had been thinking this would be more of a microhistory looking at particular foods like chicken wings their origins, their popularity, etc.
rather than looking at concepts like how our jobs affect how we eat,
 
It sounded like an interesting book but ultimately I was still left hungry, Library borrow but you can honestly read up on what she talks about if you follow Food/Nutrition sites/blogs/social media, etc, Sophie has studied eating behavior and this book is such an interesting insight, Sophie reveals the deeper meaning behind our food choices, From our prioritizing of convenience over health to the ways food at work affects our happiness, I had a wonderful conversation with Sophie on my podcast Inside Ideas, You can listen to Episodehere: sitelink be/mwmEYOTDU

Or follow any of the links below:
sitelink innovatorsmag. com/howto
sitelink com/insideideas/sophi Fascinating! It's no secret I find the subject of food interesting but this comprehensive exploration of American food culture exceeded my expectations, To use a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad pun I devoured it! Author Sophie Egan discusses in depth how and why we eat the way we do here in the twentyfirst century United States of America.
From the sad desk lunch to family dinners to our reliance on convenience foods our habits are NOT in line with those of our ancestors, She also tackles how wine gained popularity much of the credit goes to none other than Joe Coulombe aka "Trader Joe" and his famous, or infamous, "Two Buck Chuck" false shortages in the days prior to the iconic American Super Bowl holiday anyone remember the cries of lack of chicken wings or avocados and the popularity of "absence" foods, that is those lacking fat, carbs, sodium, etc.
And, pleasing to my proud Italian roots are you reading this Dad why Italian American food has had such a significant impact on our society and why it has been so eagerly embraced by the majority of those with working taste buds pasta, pizza, cheese, bread duh! I was so throughly impressed with the research, quality of writing, and downtoearth humor I was able to overlook her status as a millennial and simply savor this engaging read.
An interesting book, but not one that I could really relate to, not being American,

Some of the statistics were very interesting,

Probably be of more interest to American readers, The subtitle "How What We Eat Defines Who We Are" isn't entirely fitting or indicative of what this book is actually about, which focuses on American food culture, I had the thought while reading that if Michael Pollan and Mary Roach were smashed together into a book baby, you'd get Devoured, It's definitely an enjoyable read for anyone interested in American food culture, .