The American Way of Eating

Some interesting facts-

• In 2007, the five biggest grocery chains alone sold more than half of the produce in America.
• Groceries (that is to say, food products) make up more than half of Walmart’s sales
• One out of every $4 Americans spend on fresh produce ends up at Walmart
• And (perhaps most importantly), Walmart’s supercenters and club stores sell 22 percent of all groceries in America.*

So where did I find all of this?  Here’s a picture of the book that’s ruining my life-  I sat down in the dc to read it yesterday and didn’t get up again for almost three hours, polisci reading and internship applications totally forgotten.

Tracie McMillan wanted to explore the way Americans eat- as a journalist in New York writing about poverty in the city, she began to ask questions about the American food system after covering a basic cooking skills class for teenagers.  Why was good, inexpensive food hard to come by in impoverished areas?  Why was it so difficult to eat well on a budget?  How is our agriculture thriving while our diets suffer?

She set out to see the story of American food and how Americans eat firsthand, from harvesting alongside migrant workers in the fields of California’s Central Valley to working in the produce section of a Detroit Walmart and in the kitchen of a New York City Applebees.  For anyone who wants a brief overview of the state of food in America, this book is awesome- McMillan is an excellent writer who’s really done her homework.  Cool stuff!

Oh, and the cherry on top?  Rush Limbaugh can’t stand her.

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*These tidbits are from pages 118, 104, 104, and 150 of The American Way of Eating, respectively.