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A review by greenwillow77
Stuffed: A History of Good Food and Hard Times in Britain by Pen Vogler
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
The historical (both political & social) content of this book is fascinating, written in an accessible & thoroughly researched & footnoted text, studded with recipes to lighten the mixture. There are topics which feel like they could withstand more depth, but as it stands each chapter is a digestible portion with plenty of background to start a more curious reader off into further reading.
Where this book falls down is commenting on the food system in the UK today, where it diverges into less of the parallel with history the author seems to want & more into a mash note to Dr. Chris Van Tulleken, author of ‘Ultra Processed People’ (who is pull quoted twice on the cover, & referenced in the first 5 pages). The normally abundant referencing & footnoting falls off, & ‘studies have shown’ appears, fudging into a mention of UPF diets adding 500 calories a day to people’s intake (according to whom?); a side swipe at Dr. Joshua Woolwich (author of ‘Food Isn’t Medicine’, & campaigner against social media diet disinformation) is a particularly low point, as is hailing Jamie Oliver for his turkey twizzler campaign, but glossing over his association with Shell in producing his range of mass produced, UPF including, Deli to go range. Obesity is larded into alcoholism & poor nutritional choice as a social ill burdening the NHS, & the chapter on Sugar (with abundant reference to its causing diabetes) is a challenging read.
While there are some excellent points made- food is expensive, its mass produced, food deserts are limiting choice to shelf stable & long life food, poverty is a root cause of malnourishment & community projects help combat it- the lack of reference to, say, the campaign to ban certain additives or Eric Schlosser’s ‘Fast Food Nation’, or even David Kessler’s ‘The End of Overeating’, along with social media stratifying how & what we eat more than ever, leaves a yawning gap & a comparison to the (as of writing) poorly defined UPF & the food adulteration laws of the 19th & 20th century, which stopped food containing *actual poisons* such as heavy metals & their salts.
At one point the author mentions a quote which (paraphrasing) amounts to ‘you can find any study or expert to support your point of view.’ You can indeed, & even more so now. When reading this fascinating book, I was struck time & again by how many of these uncriticised points of view slipped into an otherwise decent, interesting text.
Where this book falls down is commenting on the food system in the UK today, where it diverges into less of the parallel with history the author seems to want & more into a mash note to Dr. Chris Van Tulleken, author of ‘Ultra Processed People’ (who is pull quoted twice on the cover, & referenced in the first 5 pages). The normally abundant referencing & footnoting falls off, & ‘studies have shown’ appears, fudging into a mention of UPF diets adding 500 calories a day to people’s intake (according to whom?); a side swipe at Dr. Joshua Woolwich (author of ‘Food Isn’t Medicine’, & campaigner against social media diet disinformation) is a particularly low point, as is hailing Jamie Oliver for his turkey twizzler campaign, but glossing over his association with Shell in producing his range of mass produced, UPF including, Deli to go range. Obesity is larded into alcoholism & poor nutritional choice as a social ill burdening the NHS, & the chapter on Sugar (with abundant reference to its causing diabetes) is a challenging read.
While there are some excellent points made- food is expensive, its mass produced, food deserts are limiting choice to shelf stable & long life food, poverty is a root cause of malnourishment & community projects help combat it- the lack of reference to, say, the campaign to ban certain additives or Eric Schlosser’s ‘Fast Food Nation’, or even David Kessler’s ‘The End of Overeating’, along with social media stratifying how & what we eat more than ever, leaves a yawning gap & a comparison to the (as of writing) poorly defined UPF & the food adulteration laws of the 19th & 20th century, which stopped food containing *actual poisons* such as heavy metals & their salts.
At one point the author mentions a quote which (paraphrasing) amounts to ‘you can find any study or expert to support your point of view.’ You can indeed, & even more so now. When reading this fascinating book, I was struck time & again by how many of these uncriticised points of view slipped into an otherwise decent, interesting text.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia