caroparr's review against another edition

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3.0

Not quite as surprising or groundbreaking as it's made out to be. One strength is her own upbringing on Hamburger Helper so she came to the issue of healthy food as a typical American consumer. Her section on Walmart emphasizes how important and groundbreaking the supply chain is when it comes to making food available. She finds over and over again that people at all income levels prefer fresh fruits and vegetables if they can only find them (they're not at the "party store" as convenience stores are known in Detroit) and can afford them.

katrinky's review against another edition

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3.0

Part anecdotal recount of a year spent working undercover at several stops along the U.S. food chain, part numbers-laden analysis of immigrant rights, labor politics, poverty, urban decay and growth and gentrification, and, of course, said food chain, "The American Way of Eating" took me a long time to read because it was like taking an entire class. McMillan is an accessible writer, and has good timing for switching from dry history and stats-quoting to harrowing stories of working the Valentine's Day rush at the Bed-Stuy Applebee's in Creole Brooklyn. Some information that I'll keep in my back pocket, other than the broad sense I have that I am entirely right not to shop at WalMart ever, at all, working in fields is hard work and has racism and xenophobia built right on into the deal, and Applebee's has nary a fresh item between its hallowed walls:
-Citizens of the US catch a lot of flak for having "no food culture," based in large part on the fact that we spend a lower percentage of our incomes on food than, say, the French. But here's the thing: we have to pay for communication, higher education, transportation, and health care with our incomes, too; THE FRENCH DO NOT. So cut us a freaking break.
-WalMart is so fabulously successful mostly because they own their own distribution system, too. The money saved on contracting with, packing, shipping, and selling groceries themselves means they can ask for lower prices that then drive smaller local businesses under.
-Also, WalMart throws away a billion pounds of food away a year.
-Also, their food is never, ever, ever fresh.
-Speaking of which, Applebees straight up LIES about when their food expires. And everything comes out of a plastic bag. The expo person is pulling flakes of melted plastic out of your vegetables until the second they are delivered to your table.
-Detroit is considered such an infamous food desert in large part because most of the massive amount of food that DOES come into the city is shipped out immediately, as in, within twelve hours of arriving at the produce terminal, to the suburbs. It's TRYING not to be a food desert. The urban gardening scene is growing, in more ways than one.
-Sexism: TOTALLY EXISTS IN THE FOOD SYSTEM. WHO KNEW?!


stephanieohdee's review against another edition

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4.0

Better than expected, McMillan manages to consistently recognize and keep her privilege (as a white, educated woman) in check while still putting a spotlight on the extremely disconcerting conditions of the industrial food system (from the farm to the table) and the exploitative working conditions.

zanreads's review against another edition

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5.0

What a book! In the same genre as Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed," Tracie McMillan takes you undercover at America's biggest grocer, America's top chain restaurant, and works alongside the migrant workers in California picking the produce that we eat everday.

The book really make me think and consider every purchase I make with a new appreciation of the difficult lives of the the people that make food available to all of us. A must read!

artemis8's review against another edition

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4.0

Very interesting look at a young woman's experiences working in the fields of California, a Walmart in Detroit, and an Applebee's in Brooklyn. Fair pay, planning a budget, safety practices are all addresses. McMillan's writing style was very easy to follow and her experience in each part of the food chain was fascinating.

jeffthink's review against another edition

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3.0

I read this just as I was starting my job at a company selling online groceries, and it was great timing. Ms. McMillan shares entertaining stories about her experiences in the food industry and has several key insights. It can definitely feel a bit whiny / self righteous in parts, but overall, tells a story that needs to be more widely shared about the effect of the American food system on people and society at large.

lindacbugg's review against another edition

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3.0

As a former Michigander I appreciated the sections dealing with Detroit and the struggles of local residents to find good healthy food and the movement to take back sections of the city with community gardens. The sections on Applebee's will have have you rethinking your choice of a 'special' night out with friends or family at one of the more popular casual dining restaurants that line America's cities and highways.

Very similar in style and idea to 'Nickel and Dimed' by Barbara Ehrenreich but sadly not as good.

Did you know
Walmart is now
the largest
grocer in the
US?

Follow your food
from the field to
your fork.

You'll never look
at supermarket
produce or
eating out the
same way again.

meredithmc's review against another edition

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4.0

very informative and eye-opening. mcmillian certainly did her work! i admired her dedication to the project (unlike another author who wrote about living on minimum wage or less); she did not let herself stray from what was working to accomplish.

4 stars only because it strays at points and can get off-topic at points.

robinsbooks's review against another edition

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3.0

I wasn't totally comfortable with giving this four stars, yet three stars didn't seem like enough for this important topic so consider it a 3.5 star book.

Following how our food is processed from harvesting to grocery store/restaurant is something I've always wondered about but this book didn't totally hold my interest in that regard. Part of it may be that I was hoping for a quick read and it really wasn't as there were footnotes galore (in much smaller print than the regular text which made them difficult to read) and they are rather lengthy and dry.
What I did like was reading about her experiences picking in the California produce fields (grapes, garlic, peaches), working in the produce section of Detroit Wal-Mart (just as I suspected, Wal-Mart produce is always old), and as an expediter (who knew there was such a position?) in an Applebee’s in Brooklyn. There were times I felt she was a bit of a prima donna and I thought the abrupt way she left the first two jobs bordeded a bit on the unethical side, but her job reporting was very interesting and something I always enjoy reading.

Read this is you want lots of details and statistics about our food chain and how well (or not well) Americans eat. If you want another book about the American way of eating, try FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser, and for books on how Americans live on minimum wage, NICKEL AND DIMED by Barbara Ehrenreich.

k_lee_reads_it's review against another edition

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3.0

I've found lots of interesting information and ideas in this book.

My favorite thought is--
"The key to getting people to eat better isn't that they should spend more money, or even that they should spend more time. It's making the actual cooking of a meal into an easy choice, the obvious answer. And that only happens when people are as comfortable and confident in the kitchen as they are taking care of the other endless chores that come with running a modern family-- paying bills, cleaning the house, washing the car. It only happens, in other words, when we can cook well. It doesn't take advanced culinary acumen to know that making a pasta-and-ground beef one-skillet dinner from scratch isn't actually any more difficult than using a box, but it does take education and training."