A history, guidebook, and cookbook showcasing the chocolate chip cookie! Wyman tells the true story of the cookie's invention; provides a state-by-state survey of bakeries and restaurants known for their chocolate chip cookie creations; and provides recipes for sour cream, pudding, kosher, vegan, and gluten-free cookies, as well as tips for taking your recipe to the next level.
Eating junk food and fast food is a great all-American passion. American kids and grownups love their candy bars, Big Macs and supersized fries, Doritos, Twinkies, and Good Humor ice cream bars. The disastrous health effects from the enormous appetite for these processed fat- and sugar-loaded foods are well publicized now. This was particularly dramatically evidenced by Super Size Me (2004), filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's 30-day all-McDonald's diet in which his liver suffered the same poisoning as if he had been on an extended alcohol binge. Through increased globalization, American popular food culture is being increasingly emulated elsewhere in the world, such as China, with the potential for similar disastrous consequences. This A-to-Z reference is the first to focus on the junk food and fast food phenomena from a multitude of angles in addition to health and diet concerns. More than 250 essay entries objectively explore the scope of the topics to illuminate the American way through products, corporations and entrepreneurs, social history, popular culture, organizations, issues, politics, commercialism and consumerism, and much more. Interest in these topics is high. This informative and fascinating work, with entries on current controversies such as mad cow disease and factory farming, the food pyramid, movie tie-ins, and marketing to children, will be highly useful for reports, research, and browsing. It takes readers behind the scenes, examining the significance of such things as uniforms, training, packaging, and franchising. Readers of every age will also enjoy the nostalgia factor, learning about the background of iconic drive-ins, the story behind the mascots, facts about their favorite candy bar, and collectables. Each entry ends with suggested reading. Besides an introduction, a timeline, glossary, bibliography, resource guide, and photos enhance the text. Sample entries: A&W Root Beer; Advertising; Automobiles; Ben & Jerry's; Burger King; Carhops; Center for Science in the Public Interest; Christmas; Cola Wars; Employment; Fair Food; Fast Food Nation; Hershey, Milton; Hollywood; Injury; Krispy Kreme; Lobbying; Nabisco; Obesity; PepsiCo; Salt; Soda Fountain; Teen Hangouts; Vegetarianism; White Castle; Yum! Brands, Inc.
This fascinating and revealing work examines the incredible power of junk food and fast food—how nostalgic we are about them, the influence of the companies that manufacture or sell them, and their alarming effect on our country's state of health. In the last half century, junk food and fast food have come to play an extremely important role in American economic, historical, cultural, and social life. Today, they have a major influence on what Americans eat—and how healthy we are (or aren't). Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat tells the intriguing, fun, and incredible stories behind the successes of these commercial food products and documents the numerous health-related, environmental, cultural, and politico-economic issues associated with them. With more than 700 alphabetically arranged entries, this two-volume encyclopedia contains enough listings to allow readers to research a wide range of fascinating topics. The author treats the massive amount of subject material within this reference title in a fair and balanced manner. A secondary focus of this encyclopedia is to chart the spread of some American fast food chains and commercially produced junk foods internationally.
A fascinating survey of American food trends that highlights the key inventions, brands, restaurant chains, and individuals that shaped the American diet and palate in the 20th century. In the United States today, how and what we eat—with all of its myriad ethnic varieties and endless choices—is firmly entrenched in every part of our culture. The American diet underwent constant evolution throughout the 20th century, starting from the meat-and-potatoes fare of the early-20th century and maturing into a culture that embraced the cuisines of immigrant populations, fast-food chains, health fads, and emerging gourmet tastes. Societal changes moved women out of the kitchen and into the workforce, spawning the invention of convenience foods and time-saving kitchen appliances. American Food by the Decades is an entertaining chronological survey of food trends in the United States during the 20th century. The book is organized by decades to illustrate how changes in society directly influenced dietary and dining habits as they emerged over the last 100 years. Detailed encyclopedic entries provide fascinating glimpses into history by telling the true stories behind the foods, restaurants, grocery stores, and cooking trends of the previous century.
