Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America, Revised Edition (California Studies in Food and Culture)
Smoothly written and full of information, this ambitious history sometimes emphasizes detail at the expense of overarching themes. Levenstein ( Revolution at the Table ) begins with the Great Depression, moving chronologically and alternating between discussions of government policies for hunger-relief and the development of culinary tastes. The author resurrects much valuable material: how thiamine was promoted as the "morale vitamin during WW II"; how Italian-Americans, virtually alone among immigrants, resisted Americanization of their cuisine; how the 1950s were the "Golden Age for American food chemistry"; how the barbecue boom of the 1960s was the first step to men sharing cooking responsibilities; how Mexican food boomed not in the American Southwest but in New York City. Levenstein's discussion of the "plenty" is richer than his account of the "paradox"; a study of poverty food programs could have made a separate book. Photos not seen by PW.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.