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lindzee's review against another edition
3.0
Three novela-length books would have worked better. By the time I got to the end, I just wanted to know what she learned and she never got there.
ejdecoster's review against another edition
3.0
Really in the 3.5 range. I had some of the same concerns about this book as I did about [b:Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America|1869|Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting By in America|Barbara Ehrenreich|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1312044755s/1869.jpg|1840613], in terms of ethics, but it was overall a very interesting look into the current American food system.
devoeas's review against another edition
4.0
The reporting and message, all fantastic. She goes in and leaves with a little bias as someone could.
The writing was a little uneven - unfortunately, a lot of, sometimes, qualifiers, as if, she was, intimately, unsure of presenting, in a way, solid conclusions. These also created some run-on sentences. She was also a little repetitive - sometimes evidence or points were repeated across chapters, even sometimes in sentences that came after each other (the same point, just reworded). The overuse of asterisks is also a little distracting, as a lot of the "footnotes" could just be included in the text.
But I can get through that for the great reporting, the human stories, the history mixed with present. Shows us where our food comes from at every level, without telling us what to eat or what not to eat - just presenting it, and letting us decide how much we want to be involved in the system.
The writing was a little uneven - unfortunately, a lot of, sometimes, qualifiers, as if, she was, intimately, unsure of presenting, in a way, solid conclusions. These also created some run-on sentences. She was also a little repetitive - sometimes evidence or points were repeated across chapters, even sometimes in sentences that came after each other (the same point, just reworded). The overuse of asterisks is also a little distracting, as a lot of the "footnotes" could just be included in the text.
But I can get through that for the great reporting, the human stories, the history mixed with present. Shows us where our food comes from at every level, without telling us what to eat or what not to eat - just presenting it, and letting us decide how much we want to be involved in the system.
m_fhowe's review against another edition
3.0
Starts off strong but kind of hits a rut half way through. Interesting content and definitely worth reading.
maureen_celeste's review against another edition
5.0
The reason that I have never gone to Applebees again. . . . . And, it was intersting to learn about fruit and vegetables in supermarkets, especially heads of iceberg lettuce.
drotherm's review against another edition
4.0
I agree with the many reviews about how frustrating the authors privilege is, how this is in no way an accurate depiction of life at any of the jobs that she worked, and how unreasonable it was that she allowed people substantially worse off than her to give her free things because they believed her false claims of poverty. But, beyond being an interesting read, I liked this book because to me it’s a story of the kind and generous people she encountered and the necessity of community. I think she also does a good job of emphasizing the absurdity of the idea that only rich people care about the food that they eat. Anyways, I was late in reading this but I enjoyed it and found it educational.
nicoled0485's review against another edition
2.0
Ok, yes. I agree with the author's points. But tell me something new! Underpaid farm laborers pick my veggies. Working in a restaurant kitchen sucks. So does retail. So what now? What are we supposed to do about it? My way of eating (The American Way of Eating?) seems almost like any other bad habit, such as smoking. I eat prepared food and the cheapest options because that's what I have the time and money to do. I know it's wrong, but I'd be hard pressed to do anything about it. The author outlined problems we already knew we have, but offered few real solutions.
kathopreads's review against another edition
3.0
Some good informative bits sprinkled throughout and on the whole interesting, but as others have echoed the author just rubbed me the wrong way at times.
liz_rachel's review against another edition
3.0
This was a mixed bag for me. McMillan is an excellent writer but her observations, particularly about field workers in California earlier in the book, come across as out of touch and insensitive. The author has no problem exploiting other people if it means she can write a good story, and this leads to a lot of uncomfortable descriptions of how McMillan takes advantage of the resources of those who have much less than she does.
I know that this book is a little dated now, but I still expected more self awareness from a James Beard finalist. I did learn a lot about food production distribution in America, which is where all three of my stars are coming from, but I think an even more successful book could have been written by, I don't know, being a journalist and actually asking people about how they live instead of playing a condescending game of make-believe with the people you are claiming to advocate for.
I know that this book is a little dated now, but I still expected more self awareness from a James Beard finalist. I did learn a lot about food production distribution in America, which is where all three of my stars are coming from, but I think an even more successful book could have been written by, I don't know, being a journalist and actually asking people about how they live instead of playing a condescending game of make-believe with the people you are claiming to advocate for.