Title: The early American table : food and society in the new world /
Authors: Eden, Trudy.
Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press,
Year: 2008
Subjects: Food habits Social aspects United States.; United States Social life and customs
Abstract: An exploration in the history of biopolitics, The Early American Table offers a unique study of the ways in which English colonists in North America incorporated the "you are what you eat" philosophy into their conception of themselves and their proper place in society. Eden aptly demonstrates that ideas about the body-ideas that may seem irrelevant or even laughable today-not only guided day-to-day personal behavior but also influenced society and politics.
Contents: pt 1. The individual golden mean. -- The humoral body -- The humoral society -- Secure people and societies -- Insecurity and the common kettle -- pt 2. The social golden mean. -- The mechanical body -- American icons -- Which golden mean? -- A mechanical society -- The yeoman farmer.