Book Review: Salt Sugar Fat

Michael Moss' Salt Sugar Fat is a broad-reaching overview of the processed food industry, it's history, leading players, tactics and business models, and most of all, the dependence of the industry on salt, sugar and fat to maximize revenue and profit.

There's plenty in here to open your eyes as a consumer of these products. Hopefully that helps to curb some bad eating habits. Like learning about the negatives of consuming cocaine might prevent you from taking it... only with oreos :-)

For me, I found it most interesting to think about at the high level. Viewed at the macro level and over the long term, it raised interesting questions and showed some successful (and not) examples of how people are tackling them. How does an industry avoid the "local maxima" that may be detrimental to it and it's consumers in the long term? When is giving consumers what they believe they want something you should NOT do? How do you take the high road when your competitors are not? To what degree is industry stewardship YOUR role as a company or as an individual? All interesting food for thought that I believe are applicable to the tech and games industries as well. But that's the subject of another post for another time.

In any case, really good read if either of the above interests you.

Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us

Book Review: The American Way of Eating

I rather enjoyed The American Way of Eating though it's one of those books that you find yourself partly wishing you hadn't read. Ignorance is bliss, etc.

The author, Tracie McMillan, spent a year "undercover" (I place it in quotes because she was sometimes honest about what she was up to, other times not) working in America's food chain. The book chronicles her time spent working in crop fields in California, in a Walmart produce department in Detroit, and at an Applebee's in Brooklyn.

Through all of these, she covers three elements: the role each plays in our food distribution system and how it has evolved over time, the people she meets and how they live and work, and her own attempt to survive on minimum wage (or less).

There are also some 'side trip' portions where she examines food stamp programs to encourage produce consumption, urban community gardens, etc.

Through these, the book is sort of a mash-up of Nickel and Dimed, and Fast Food Nation. Like both of those, it's both an engaging read and strong social commentary. I learned a lot and the book will affect how I look at food and how I choose to consume it.

Consider reading it, it's an important book.

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

Book Review: The Art of Living According to Joe Beef

Attending Montreal Game Summit recently, I had dinner with a number of developer friends, including Trapdoor's Ken Schachter who - among other skills - may be the best restaurant-connected industry figure.

Ken hooked us up with dinner at Joe Beef, which was a not-to-be-missed experience not for the faint-of-heart or faint-of-wallet. I won't go into the details here, but suffice it to say that I couldn't encounter the Foie Gras Double-Down and *not* order it. Oof. My arteries!

Anyhow, perhaps as a gesture of how we gushed over the food, or more likely how much we paid for it, we left with copies of the restaurant's book, The Art of Living According to Joe Beef: A Cookbook of Sorts.

I went through the book over the weekend, and rather enjoyed it. I haven't cooked anything out of it, and I should note that most of the dishes aren't easy fare to tackle though I'll likely try my hand at a few. However, the recipe portions only make up a fraction of the book. There are also a really interesting series of pieces on the history of food in Montreal, backgrounders on different wines and liquors, a guide to interesting train journeys around Canada, and even guides on building your own smoker and building an urban garden.

Makes a fun coffee table if you are looking for something different, and if you like to cook and aren't worried about heart failure, then by all means pick it up.

The Art of Living According to Joe Beef: A Cookbook of Sorts