Serious Reads: The American Way of Eating, by Tracie McMillan

Seriouseats.com • Aug. 5, 2012

It’s common knowledge that our food industry is dependent upon the cheap labor of scores of workers in all kinds of service jobs. But the stories of these workers are often untold. Even in a time when talk about food—what to eat, how to eat it, and where to get the best stuff—is pervasive in all forms of media, undocumented, underpaid workers are left out of the conversation. Continue reading “Serious Reads: The American Way of Eating, by Tracie McMillan”

The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table

Digging Deep • June 27, 2012

In a nutshell: informational, engaging, and enlightening – 5 out of 5 shovels

Several months ago, I kept seeing blurbs and reviews about the latest piece of food journalism to hit the shelves. Tracie McMillian’s book made quite a splash for its humble approach and complexly recriminating analysis of the American food system (even getting the attention of Rush Limbaugh, who called her “overeducated” and derided the critique of a corporate-controlled food system implicit in the section about working in a Walmart produce department). Continue reading “The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table”

Looking For a Happier Meal: Two Worthy Books on Food Workers

Righting Food • June 6, 2012

How much do we actually know about the people responsible for growing our food? Workers in the food system are often invisible to food consumers, toiling in obscurity for low wages and little respect. They occasionally rise to the level of consumer consciousness, for example with fair-trade-certified goods, though even then the focus is more on small farmers than on waged workers. Food workers also appear from time to time in prominent union campaigns or in news articles exposing bad practices in specific areas. Continue reading “Looking For a Happier Meal: Two Worthy Books on Food Workers”

Cook’s Tour of Our Food Industry

The Progressive Populist • May 15, 2012

When journalist Tracie McMillan decided to go undercover for a look at our food supply chain, she likely didn’t expect to be sidelined by tennis elbow. Turns out when you’re cutting garlic all day long there’s a high risk of epicondylitis, which cut short one of the many jobs McMillan took on to trace the paths food takes between farm and table. Continue reading “Cook’s Tour of Our Food Industry”