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- Title
Lisa Haushofer, Wonder Foods: The Science and Commerce of Nutrition, Oakland: University of California Press, 2023, ISBN: 9780520390409, 270 pp.
- Authors
Bishop, Joseph
- Abstract
In the book "Wonder Foods: The Science and Commerce of Nutrition" by Lisa Haushofer, the author explores the history of food products designed to appeal to the public's increasing reverence for science and the commercial market's control over food and nutrition science. Haushofer examines the links between wonder foods and Western industrialized countries' commitment to capitalism, resource extraction, and white supremacy. The book also delves into the connections between the modern diet, settler colonialism, race betterment programs, and the neglected nutritional contributions of Indigenous people. Through transnational comparisons of the United States and England, Haushofer provides insights into each nation's nutrition science and imperial ambition. The book discusses various food inventions, such as condensed milk, meat biscuits, and cereal flakes, and their impact on military expansion, waste reduction, and race betterment. It also explores the divergent consumer trajectories of yeast products in the 1910s, catering to wealthy consumers in prosperous countries and serving as a cheap dietary supplement for poorer consumers in the Global South. Overall, "Wonder Foods" offers a comprehensive and well-researched exploration of the commodification of the modern diet and its entanglement with industrial capitalism and imperial expansion.
- Subjects
NUTRITION; FOOD science; UNIVERSITY of California Press; HISTORY of science; HISTORY of food; BUSINESSPEOPLE
- Publication
Journal of the History of Biology, 2023, Vol 56, Issue 4, p747
- ISSN
0022-5010
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10739-023-09756-2