Offering a sweeping social history of food and eating in America, Harvey Levenstein explores the economic, political, and cultural factors that have shaped the American diet from 1930 to the present. He begins with the Great Depression, describing the breadlines, slim-down diets, and the waveof "vitamania" which swept the nation before World War II, and goes on to discuss wartime food rationing and the attempts of Margaret Mead and other social scientists to change American eating habits. He examines the postwar "Golden Age of American Food Processing," led by Duncan Hines and otherindustry leaders, and the disillusionment of the 1960s, when Americans rediscovered hunger and attacked food processors for denutrifying the food supply. Finally he discusses our contemporary eating habits--the national obsession with dieting, cholesterolphobia, "natural" foods, demographics offast-food chains, and the expanding role of food processors as a source of nutritional information. Both colorful and informative, this chronicle of American eating habits offers a window for viewing a land blessed with an abundance of food and a national diet marked by stark contrast andparadox.

Harvey Levenstein's profile page

About the Author: Harvey A. Levenstein is Professor of History at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

"A fascinating account of the economic, political and cultural factors that have been brought to bear on the way Americans have eaten from 1930 to the present."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Levenstein does a great job of weaving together social, economic, and political struggles over eating and dieting in modern America. This book is very well researched, and fascinating to read."--James T. Patterson, Brown University

"Lively, entertaining....Well-written and thoroughly researched, this overview gathers together information that many health and food enthusiasts will find interesting and enlightening."--Library Journal

"With intellectual gusto and uncommon equanimity, Harvey Levenstein has done a remarkable job describing what food has meant in America for the last sixty years. His scrupulous account of all the cultural beliefs and biases that flavor how it is manufactures, marketed, cooked, eaten, exalted,damned, and denied transforms this gastronomic history into a tale of epic proportions. If a society is what it eats, Paradox of Plenty is a revealing portrait of a nation that loves and loathes itself, and has good cause to do both."--Jane and Michael Stern

"Levenstein's lively history of the production, marketing, and consumption of food in America from 1930 until today should fascinate all those who read as well as eat....From a rich variety of sources, Levenstein piles on our plate a wealth of intriguing culinary details....A reader...will beinformed and impressed with his account of the centrality of food not only to life but also to our entire culture, from the haunts of the homeless to the White House."--James Harvey Young, Emory University

"Levenstein's examples and anecdotes of folly and worse, and his debunking of experts and authorities from Margaret Mead on, make lively reading."--Kirkus Reviews

"A sweeping overview of modern America's gustatory habits.... The breadth of Levenstein's reporting and analysis is impressive."--San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"Smoothly written and full of information."--Publishers Weekly