The global health crisis has been debated in political arenas, written about in best-selling manifestos, and exposed in Oscar-nominated documentaries. Yet, despite all the media attention, there are few studies that look seriously at its underlying cause – the rise of the industrial diet.

The Industrial Diet chronicles the long-term developments that transformed food into edible commodities that far too often fail to nourish us. Tracing the industrial diet’s history from its roots in the nineteenth century through to present-day globalism, Anthony Winson looks at the role of technology, population growth, and political and economic factors in the constitution and transformation of mass dietary regimes and provides new evidence linking broad-based dietary changes with negative health effects. With its focus on the degradation of food and the emergent struggle for healthful eating, this book encourages us to reflect on the state of our food environments and create realistic and innovative strategies that can lead to a healthier future.

Anthony Winson and Belinda Leach are professors in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Guelph.

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