Three Squares

July 8, 2013
Why do we eat a large dinner at night instead of a mid-day meal followed by siesta as our European counterparts do? How did our custom of consuming orange juice and cold cereal become an American staple? These questions of “how, when, and why” of the distinctly American custom of consuming food is the subject of Carroll’s newest book. By tracing the history of sustenance throughout the history of the nation, from the earliest settlers to today, Carroll makes the argument that perhaps “our knives and forks may prove to be cultural tools more powerful than we have yet dared to dream.” Despite a well-researched and well-presented history of the concepts of the four main meal categories, “dinner, lunch, breakfast, and snack,” the book reads more as an exercise in tracing what has passed without persuasive data for what will occur in the future. There is definitely more that went into how and why Americans consume their food the way they do, as Carroll demonstrates. However, by adding a conclusion that fails to take into account the modern age, with globalization and an America with a larger focus on uniqueness/authenticity in its food market, the conclusion that there is one specifically American way of eating does not feel satisfactory.

July 1, 2013
An information-packed history of American eating habits. "We live in a food environment shaped by culture and history," writes Carroll in her first book, a heavily researched and wide-ranging history of American meals and snacking that takes us from colonial times to the present day. She begins with the "messy" simple meals of the early colonists and Native Americans, followed by the rise of more formal habits and dishes. Later chapters concentrate on the stories behind individual meals. Carroll discusses the transgressive status of snacking in relation to the sacred and patriotic family dinner; the invention of the fast and often cold lunch; and the evolution of breakfast from a simple meal to an indigestible meat-based feast to a lighter spread formed by modern marketing and convenience foods. She discusses home cooking, street food, restaurants, foreign influences, domestic management, kitchen technologies and utensils, the servant problem, and the roles of housewives, health reformers, nutrition scientists and marketers. She ends with a survey of the commonly described dysfunctions and trends of our current food culture, relating them to the past and encouraging a better awareness of our history so that we may make more conscious choices for ourselves. The rich variety of stories and information about the contents, structure, setting and meaning of American meals can be a little overwhelming, and general readers may want to take this book in small bites. On the other hand, there are many anecdotes to enliven the text, and much genuinely original and intriguing information throughout, from the cultivated fasting skills of Native Americans to the tidal wave of new snack foods flooding American life today. A dense but enjoyable history of American food culture.

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August 1, 2013
This history of American eating habits exposes how both native and foreign influences combined to shape popular folkways and attitudes about feeding ourselves over the course of the day. The first settlers had little choice but to eat much the same as Native Americans. With passing generations, colonists more and more adapted Britain's familiar fare, including pudding and afternoon tea. Following revolutions on both sides of the North Atlantic, French ideas came to define the expected elements of a proper meal. Foods appeared on tables in courses, and words such as soup, dessert, and even picnic entered common English vocabulary. The greatest transformations of American mealtimes followed the Industrial Revolution's regularizing of the workday, kitchen mechanization, and the rise of industrial food processing. The evening meal became the day's most important since workers lacked time to return home in the middle of the day. Carroll also contributes to contemporary debates over family meals and snacking.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)