A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)
James Beard Foundation Book Award Winner
From the author of the acclaimed 97 Orchard and her husband, a culinary historian, an in-depth exploration of the greatest food crisis the nation has ever faced—the Great Depression—and how it transformed America’s culinary culture.
The decade-long Great Depression, a period of shifts in the country’s political and social landscape, forever changed the way America eats. Before 1929, America’s relationship with food was defined by abundance. But the collapse of the economy, in both urban and rural America, left a quarter of all Americans out of work and undernourished—shattering long-held assumptions about the limitlessness of the national larder.
In 1933, as women struggled to feed their families, President Roosevelt reversed long-standing biases toward government-sponsored “food charity.” For the first time in American history, the federal government assumed, for a while, responsibility for feeding its citizens. The effects were widespread. Championed by Eleanor Roosevelt, “home economists” who had long fought to bring science into the kitchen rose to national stature.
Tapping into America’s long-standing ambivalence toward culinary enjoyment, they imposed their vision of a sturdy, utilitarian cuisine on the American dinner table. Through the Bureau of Home Economics, these women led a sweeping campaign to instill dietary recommendations, the forerunners of today’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
At the same time, rising food conglomerates introduced packaged and processed foods that gave rise to a new American cuisine based on speed and convenience. This movement toward a homogenized national cuisine sparked a revival of American regional cooking. In the ensuing decades, the tension between local traditions and culinary science has defined our national cuisine—a battle that continues today.
A Square Meal examines the impact of economic contraction and environmental disaster on how Americans ate then—and the lessons and insights those experiences may hold for us today.
A Square Meal features 25 black-and-white photographs.
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Jane Ziegelman. (2016). A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression. HarperCollins.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Jane Ziegelman. 2016. A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression. HarperCollins.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Jane Ziegelman, A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression. HarperCollins, 2016.
MLA Citation (style guide)Jane Ziegelman. A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression. HarperCollins, 2016.
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James Beard Foundation Book Award Winner
From the author of the acclaimed 97 Orchard and her husband, a culinary historian, an in-depth exploration of the greatest food crisis the nation has ever faced—the Great Depression—and how it transformed America’s culinary culture.
The decade-long Great Depression, a period of shifts in the country’s political and social landscape, forever changed the way America eats. Before 1929, America’s relationship with food was defined by abundance. But the collapse of the economy, in both urban and rural America, left a quarter of all Americans out of work and undernourished—shattering long-held assumptions about the limitlessness of the national larder.
In 1933, as women struggled to feed their families, President Roosevelt reversed long-standing biases toward government-sponsored “food charity.” For the first time in American history, the federal government assumed, for a while, responsibility for feeding its citizens. The effects were widespread. Championed by Eleanor Roosevelt, “home economists” who had long fought to bring science into the kitchen rose to national stature.
Tapping into America’s long-standing ambivalence toward culinary enjoyment, they imposed their vision of a sturdy, utilitarian cuisine on the American dinner table. Through the Bureau of Home Economics, these women led a sweeping campaign to instill dietary recommendations, the forerunners of today’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
At the same time, rising food conglomerates introduced packaged and processed foods that gave rise to a new American cuisine based on speed and convenience. This movement toward a homogenized national cuisine sparked a revival of American regional cooking. In the ensuing decades, the tension between local traditions and culinary science has defined our national cuisine—a battle that continues today.
A Square Meal examines the impact of economic contraction and environmental disaster on how Americans ate then—and the lessons and insights those experiences may hold for us today.
A Square Meal features 25 black-and-white photographs.
- reviews
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- source: Mimi Sheraton, food critic, journalist, and author of 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die
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"This revealing and perceptive book recalls the Depression through the food history of that dismal era. Intriguing recipes of that period's most popular dishes help tell the story." — Mimi Sheraton, food critic, journalist, and author of 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die
"An engaging social history... The vivid recreation of American eating at a historical crossroads is engrossing." — Publishers Weekly
"This engaging social history, served up with period recipes, shows just how much the Great Depression fundamentally altered the way Americans shop, cook and eat." — Pamela Paul, New York Times Book Review
"[An] engaging and often moving cultural history... [An] eloquent work of historical summation." — New York Times Book Review
"The Great Depression has long been elusive in the history of American food and cooking: we've seen snapshots but never a full portrait. Now, with the deep, thoughtful research and lively writing for which they they're both known, Andrew Coe and Jane Ziegelman at last open up this era." — Laura Shapiro, author of Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America
"The authors give a fresh slant to the familiar but complicated history of one of America's most difficult eras... A highly readable, illuminating look at the many ramifications of feeding the hungry in hard times." — Kirkus Reviews
"one of those rare books which deliver more than they promise." — Washington Times
- premium: True
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May 30, 2016
This absorbing history explores what American’s ate—and, even more, didn’t eat—during the Great Depression, an economic upheaval that devastated agriculture and food budgets. Husband-and-wife food historians Coe (Chop Suey) and Ziegelman (97 Orchard) revisit an era when dire poverty and widespread hunger prompted a raft of food innovations. As bread lines lengthened, political leaders vacillated over the provisioning of food to destitute families while dodging accusations of fostering dependency and laziness. Welfare supports such as food stamps and the school lunch program inaugurated the enduring bureaucratization of food. The period also witnessed a sea change in how Americans thought about food, shifting the focus from taste and abundance to nutrition as scientists and home economists sought to prescribe adequately nutritious diets from the cheapest possible foods—after Eleanor Roosevelt adopted a scientifically engineered economy menu devised at Cornell University, the White House was generally thought to serve the worst fare in Washington—and new convenience inventions such as frozen vegetables revolutionized cooking. Coe and Ziegelman have written an engaging social history illustrated throughout with historically authentic recipes. Even if the period cuisine doesn’t make the reader’s mouth water, the vivid recreation of American eating at a historical crossroads is engrossing. Photos. Agent: Jason Yarn, Jason Yarn Literary.
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June 15, 2016
A history of the struggle to put food on American tables during the Great Depression."Food, like language, is always in motion, propelled by the same events that fill our history books," write culinary experts Coe (Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States, 2009) and Ziegelman (97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement, 2010). By using food as a unifying theme, the authors give a fresh slant to the familiar but complicated history of one of America's most difficult eras. They deftly connect food to science, technology, and commerce as well as political, cultural, and social movements, assembling a thought-provoking mix of personal stories, statistics, and historical events. After the 1929 crash, President Herbert Hoover claimed "business was on sound footing" while New York City breadlines served 85,000 meals per day to the destitute from all levels of society. A domino effect of unemployment and hunger spread across the nation, exacerbated by droughts and floods. "The poor and how they should be treated," and who is "deserving" and "undeserving" in the hierarchy of food distribution were questions that were part of a national conversation that resonates today. The fear that providing food for the hungry would destroy any incentive to work hindered relief efforts as presidents Hoover and Roosevelt approached the juggernaut of feeding a nation from opposite ends of the political spectrum. As jobs and farms dried up, people were on the move looking for work and sustenance. Menus, recipes, and first-person accounts of folks struggling to get a meal put readers at the heart of the crisis. Among the heroes was an army of professional women from the Bureau of Home Economics who sallied forth armed with budgetary and nutritional advice, determined to educate masses of women on cooking methods, low-cost balanced diets, gardening, and new kitchen technology. Their efforts influenced the culinary arts for decades to come. A highly readable, illuminating look at the many ramifications of feeding the hungry in hard times.COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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June 15, 2016
Accomplished culinary historians Ziegelman (97 Orchard) and Coe (Chop Suey) team up to create a highly digestible food history of the Great Depression. The book begins with the abundance of U.S. provisions before the Depression: those high-calorie, traditional meat and pie meals baked on the farm. The 1930s, however, ushered in a new era of rationing, breadlines, and bare-bones meals. This account reveals the kinds of dishes people prepared. Many recipes are provided throughout. The diverse historical narrative details not only the kitchen table but also the wider politics and social dynamics of the period. It further traces the emerging nutritional studies that guided many New Deal operations. Particularly illuminating are the portions relating to the sudden growth of breadlines in 1930, and the ways in which many folks scraped together just enough flour and milk to survive the hard times. Excerpts from primary documents give readers a sense of the various and rich voices from the Depression. VERDICT This thought-provoking work concerning the most important commodity during America's greatest economic crises will have wide appeal.--Jeffrey Meyer, Mt. Pleasant P.L., IA
Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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James Beard Foundation Book Award Winner
From the author of the acclaimed 97 Orchard and her husband, a culinary historian, an in-depth exploration of the greatest food crisis the nation has ever faced—the Great Depression—and how it transformed America’s culinary culture.
The decade-long Great Depression, a period of shifts in the country’s political and social landscape, forever changed the way America eats. Before 1929, America’s relationship with food was defined by abundance. But the collapse of the economy, in both urban and rural America, left a quarter of all Americans out of work and undernourished—shattering long-held assumptions about the limitlessness of the national larder.
In 1933, as women struggled to feed their families, President Roosevelt reversed long-standing biases toward government-sponsored “food charity.” For the first time in American history, the federal government...
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