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How did white bread, once an icon of American progress, become "white
trash"? In this lively history of bakers, dietary crusaders, and
social reformers, Aaron Bobrow-Strain shows us that what we think about
the humble, puffy loaf says a lot about who we are and what we want our
society to look like. As Bobrow-Strain traces the story of bread, from
the first factory loaf to the latest gourmet pain au levain, he shows
how efforts to champion "good food" reflect dreams of a better
society—even as they reinforce stark social hierarchies.
The history of America's one-hundred-year-long love-hate relationship
with white bread reveals a lot about contemporary efforts to change the
way we eat. Today, the alternative food movement favors foods deemed ethical
and environmentally correct to eat, and fluffy industrial loaves are about
as far from slow, local, and organic as you can get. Still, the beliefs
of early twentieth-century food experts and diet gurus, that getting people
to eat a certain food could restore the nation's decaying physical, moral,
and social fabric, will sound surprisingly familiar. Given that open disdain
for "unhealthy" eaters and discrimination on the basis of eating
habits grow increasingly acceptable, White
Bread is a timely and important examination of what we talk about
when we talk about food.
"This terrific book does for the humble loaf what Mark Kurlansky
does for cod. Yes, it's a social history that is better than sliced bread."—Raj
Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved
Any reader who cherishes bread and all the issues it touches as a powerful
social and aspirational metaphor will love this book.”—Peter
Reinhart, baker and author of Artisan Breads Everyday
"Both an epic, often funny history of the industrial loaf and a
wise commentary on today's polarized food politics. Tear into it."—Susanne
Freidberg, author of Fresh: A Perishable History
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