Michelle Stacey

I reread this this past week for the third or fourth time. I'd forgotten how much of the story wasn't actually about Mollie and found myself regretting the choice not a long ways in. But, I chose this for Nonfiction November and felt like I wanted to finish.

The story is fun at first but gets a little dry in the middle. Like the author states at the almost end --- there's not a lot on record about this story. Maybe not the best choice for a full length book as it contains lots of of filler: biographical details about minor players, lots of repetition, tons of historical bits that, while interesting, have nothing to do with Mollie.

Still I'm glad I read it and I will keep it for my permanent collection as reference.… (meer)

An interesting book-length essay on the politics of food science and culture in the United States. Stacy looks at the weird ways Americans are altering their diets in order to measure up to some imagined nutritional ideal. She interviews several scientists, chefs and food writers who claim that the result is a pathological and cultural fear of food that brings about the very problems that these altered diets were meant to avoid. Along the way, the book pauses to talk with the inventor of Olestra, the fat substitute that failed abysmally in the marketplace, and with the head of the nation's leading vegetarian advocacy group. This is a good companion volume to the last few chapters of Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking, and a necessary waystation for anyone contemplating a radical change in diet.… (meer)

Consumed is a look at American attitudes towards food, mostly beginning in the 19th century. Instead of thinking of food as a necessary pleasure, people loaded it with considerable ideological freight. Indeed, some authorities then and now argued that food should not be a pleasure: it should be solely regarded as a necessary fuel and chosen purely on its nutritional value, not any aesthetic qualities. People are often guided by reports in the media of studies that may be flawed or inconclusive. This has resulted in a society of people who are anxious, but ill-informed. Some react by severe abstemiousness, seeming to assume that if moderation is good, then complete denial is better. Others react by swinging wildly between denial and indulgence. Others make decidedly odd choices and trade offs, as shown by Michelle Stacey's discussions with a chef who struggles to give people what they think they want, but knows that they are making dubious choices. It obviously distresses him to see taste sacrificed, especially for minor tradeoffs in fat and calorie reduction. Stacey asks if it is really makes sense to buy no-fat yogurt, when low-fat yogurt is so much better and only contain three grams of fat.

Stacy argues that American should look to Europeans as a model for dealing with food. Food should be regarded as both a necessity and a pleasure: dining is one of the arts of civilization. She believes that Americans might actually consume less if they took the time to appreciate their food more. I am not certain about this, but I do agree that food is much more satisfying when one makes the effort to savor it. An ounce of chocolate can almost seem like a whole chocolate bar that was scarted down if I really pay attention to it when I am eating.… (meer)