Two prominent American cookbooks that have been around for generations are The Fannie Farmer Cookbook and The Joy of Cooking by Rombauer and Becker. Americans are highly conscious of nutrition. Vitamin manufacturers and health food stores thrive. Popular magazines and newspapers treat nutrition as major news. Americans are also concerned about the fat and cholesterol content of their food and its relationship to heart disease, the number one killer.
Weight loss is another American obsession, particularly among women.
America is a rich country, and a fat one. One diet book after another shakes up the best-seller lists. Specialized books such as Thin Thighs in Thirty Days sell millions of copies. The diet industry, which includes special diet plans, foods, and weight loss centers, is a large one. The American struggle to diet or exercise away excess weight is never-ending.