David Sax’s newest report on the wondrous
world of food explores the rise and decline of food trends that captivate the
media, doctors and dieticians, food producers, and, most importantly, our
appetites. Sax introduces his book with a discussion of our recent obsession
with cupcakes and appropriately ends with just a few quick notes on the affects
of food on our health, which would be hard to completely avoid in a nonfiction
text devoted entirely to food itself. While most current food-centered books
focus heavily on the dangers of bacon to our waistlines or the health benefits
of chia seeds, Sax makes it clear that his book aims to look at food without
creating guilt or gently pushing the reader towards a “healthier” lifestyle
because he simply avoids, for the most part, making any association between
food trends and obesity.
And what a relief. The ultramodern
approach of speaking about what we eat and not providing some kind of diet counseling
lets the reader focus solely on the topic at hand and allows them to appreciate
Sax’s careful and detailed study of society’s fascination with food and why we
eat what we eat. The book is divided into three parts, the first of which
describes the four types of trends, including the “sexy” trend like the aforementioned cupcakes that spiked our interest because of their visual appeal
and the fact that popular female characters on TV enjoyed them, too. The
influences of the farmer, the chef, and the many self-proclaimed nutritionists are
likewise examined in Part I, and Sax’s personal interactions with each
participant in this sequence lend credibility to his analysis.
In Part II of The Tastemakers, the
author studies the most intriguing aspect of food trends, which is how they
come to be, so naturally and seamlessly, a part of our lives. Sax challenges
the notion that there’s no formula to the rise of a food trend by unveiling the
setting of the corporate food company board room where mass data collected on
consumers’ interactions with food is meticulously considered before the company
in question develops a new product. A food-themed Oscars event and the
subsequent appraisals from critics alongside devious marketing ploys that can
turn an ordinary red apple into a Prince are also influential in the admittance
of food to the “cool table” where we ravenously devour the next big thing as
though we’ll never see it again (ahem, the cronut).
In some cases, Sax points out that we
might in fact not be able to buy our new, favourite treat forever as Part III
of the text discusses the demise of food trends like fondue, whose specialty
utensils now collect dust in many pantries and cupboards. The politics of food
trends are another interesting aspect of Part III as Sax throws himself into
the war-torn world of food trucks and municipal legislation that threatens
their existence.
The
Tastemakers succeeds because its
language is clear while its ideas are compelling, in the sense that Sax helps
us understand why we like what we like without relying on complex psychological
analyses or newfound theories about the effects of the leptin hormone on our desire
to eat. Yes, we love food, but we’re also prone to marketing strategies and
pretty labels and GMO Free accreditations. The human diet is conceived both
from our bodily needs and the society around us that directs our appetites
based on our history of interests.
This book is not a call for change to your
lifestyle or to the way food is made. It is however a well-written and
hard-to-put-down study about delicious, innovative, and sometimes healthful things
at your grocery store or on the street corner or in that new café that you and
everyone else wants to put in their mouths. The
Tastemakers is absolutely worth reading, and considering.
Alicja
Grzadkowska is finishing up her final semester at the University of Guelph
before moving on to study Journalism at Ryerson in the fall. Her bookshelf is
stacked with yet-to-read fiction titles, which hasn't stopped her from
regularly adding to her collection. Traveling to big cities across North
America is another one of her obsessions, and one which she hopes to indulge in
again this summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment