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

Tracie McMillan

Feb 2012 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

The New York Times bestselling work of undercover journalism in the tradition of Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed that fully investigates our food system to explain what keeps Americans from eating well—and what we can do about it.

When award-winning (and working-class) journalist Tracie McMillan saw foodies swooning over $9 organic tomatoes, she couldn’t help but wonder: What about the rest of us? Why do working Americans eat the way we do? And what can we do to change it? To find out, McMillan went undercover in three jobs that feed America, living and eating off her wages in each. Reporting from California fields, a Walmart produce aisle outside of Detroit, and the kitchen of a New York City Applebee’s, McMillan examines the reality of our country’s food industry in this “clear and essential” (The Boston Globe) work of reportage. Chronicling her own experience and that of the Mexican garlic crews, Midwestern produce managers, and Caribbean line cooks with whom she works, McMillan goes beyond the food on her plate to explore the national priorities that put it there.

Fearlessly reported and beautifully written, The American Way of Eating goes beyond statistics and culture wars to deliver a book that is fiercely honest, strikingly intelligent, and compulsively readable. In making the simple case that—city or country, rich or poor—everyone wants good food, McMillan guarantees that talking about dinner will never be the same again.

Ratings and reviews

This book is one of many texts that have been coming out about the problems with the American food system. This book approaches the matter from a very different angle though. Instead of a thesis and a long piece defending said thesis Tracie McMillan instead takes her journalistic perspective and walks into the task of holding several jobs entrenched deeply within the American food system over the course of a year's time. There are really two things that would cause me to recommend this book. The first is that Tracie avoids the snobbery common to so many texts on this subject. There is no fawning at the altar of organic localvore eating. There is suggestion that everyone should eat a certain way. She takes a hard look at the realities of trying to just get the basic nutrients we need to get through our lives in a realistic manner. The second is that the book humanizes segments of the population who are all but invisible. Aside from the food subject matter (which I am passionate about) I think people should read this as a view into what it means to be an illegal immigrant in our country, and what would happen to America if we really did close our borders.

I first learned of this book quite by chance, when seeing the author appear on the Rachel Maddow Show after Rush Limbaugh's bizarre, unprovoked attack on her. I downloaded and read a sample chapter on my cell phone, and was so intrigued that I immediately purchased the full book so I could continue reading. This book presents engaging and thought-provoking research into the current state of food production and distribution in America. I loved the stories about living in very different communities - in California, Michigan, and New York - and working in unfamiliar, physically demanding environments. I also especially appreciated the very thorough annotations and extended acknowledgements section. Tracie McMillan really put her heart and soul into this work. Anyone who enjoyed Nickel and Dimed would probably enjoy reading this book as well.

About the author

A working-class transplant from rural Michigan, Brooklyn-based writer Tracie McMillan has written about food and class for a variety of publications including, The New York Times; O, The Oprah Magazine; Harper’s Magazine; Saveur; and Slate. After putting herself through New York University, she began reporting and from 2001 to 2005 she was the managing editor of the award-winning magazine City Limits. There, she won recognition from organizations ranging from the James Beard Foundation to World Hunger Year. Follow her at TracieMcMillan.com or @TMMcMillan.