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    Devoured: From Chicken Wings to Kale Smoothies -- How What We Eat Defines Who We Are
    Devoured: From Chicken Wings to Kale Smoothies -- How What We Eat Defines Who We Are
    Devoured: From Chicken Wings to Kale Smoothies -- How What We Eat Defines Who We Are
    Audiobook12 hours

    Devoured: From Chicken Wings to Kale Smoothies -- How What We Eat Defines Who We Are

    Written by Sophie Egan

    Narrated by Ann Richardson

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    A provocative look at how and what Americans eat and why—a flavorful blend of The Omnivore’s 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 program director Sophie Egan takes readers on an eye-opening journey through the American food psyche, examining the connections between the values that define our national character—work, freedom, and progress—and 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 America’s cuisine so great.

    Egan raises a host of intriguing questions: Why does McDonald’s have 107 items on its menu? Why are breakfast sandwiches, protein bars, and gluten-free 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; from the American obsession with “having it our way” to the surge of Starbucks, Chipotle, and other chains individualizing the eating experience; from high culture—artisan and organic and what exactly “natural” means—to low culture—the sale of 100 million Taco Bell Doritos Locos Tacos in ten weeks. She also looks at how America’s cuisine—like the nation itself—has been shaped by diverse influences from across the globe.

    Devoured weaves together insights from the fields of psychology, anthropology, food science, and behavioral economics as well as myriad examples from daily life to create a powerful and unique look at food in America.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMay 3, 2016
    ISBN9780062471024
    Author

    Sophie Egan

    Sophie Egan is the Director of Health and Sustainability Leadership and Editorial Director at The Culinary Institute of America. Based in San Francisco, Sophie is a contributor to The New York Times' Well blog, and has written about food and health for Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bon Appétit, WIRED, and Sunset magazine, where she worked on The Sunset Cookbook and The One-Block Feast book. She holds a master of public health from the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on health and social behavior, and a bachelor of arts with honors in history from Stanford University. In 2016, she was named one of the UC Global Food Initiative’s 30 Under 30.

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    3.5/5

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    • 4/5
      As a "fence sitter" (want to be healthy but don't have the time to figure out how), I found Devoured to be an interesting read. Eating habits are linked to American work culture where putting in time proves self-worth. No time to sit & eat leads to convenience foods. Other parts of the world think the opposite: "You're working late? Oh, you must be slow." Americans consider themselves unique and customizing our eating experiences is now expected. This book gives the reader lots of unique catch phrases and in-depth discussions such as Snackfest, Sad Desk Lunch, Paradox of Choice, Cheffing, Great Protein Myth, GA Brunch Bill, Blue Zones, lifehacking, critter labels, green guilt, and dip season. Devoured discusses packaging flip-the-switch power words: low-fat, natural, gluten-free, 100-calorie pack, and air-popped. You'll gain loads of trivia, such as there are 42,214 items in the average American supermarket (mostly "edible food-like substances). Super Bowl Sunday marks the end of the "eating season" in America. One cup of Kellogg's Honey Smacks has more sugar than a Hostess Twinkie. And then there's Stunt Food - new products with shock value. Have you heard about DEWITOS - Dorito flavored Mountain Dew?! No, me either. The Author, Sophie Egan, gives us 12 simple words: "Work less and savor more. Make it real and stir the pot."