How We Eat: Appetite, Culture, and the Psychology of Food

by Leon H. Rappoport

Book Overview

An informative look at the history of eating that's a tasty combo of fact and fun We enjoy watching celebrity chefs on TV, but so few of us choose to cook at home. The gourmet health food industry is soaring, yet a longtime love affair with fast food endures. Food and eating habits -- good and bad -- have shaped cultures, accounted for behaviors, and created a sense of individual as well as cultural identity... but how? And why? Social psychology...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550225634
• ISBN13: 9781550225631
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: ECW Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.4" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A Feast for the Mind

An excellent read for anyone who eats food. You will gain a greater understanding of the complex relationship you have with food. The author has a wide background and has done extensive work in many fields. But hey, this is not a dry read. Wise humor peppers the pages making this book deliciously entertaining, insightful and helpful. I devoured it and would recommend it for gift giving, your summer vacation or weekend at the beach. Dr Tim

Interesting exploration of an under-researched topic

This book is both thought-provoking and entertaining. As the author argues, despite the large role that food plays in our lives, there appears to be no unifying framework that can explain eating behavior. Despite the complexity, the author does a nice job of blending theory, empirical findings, history, and personal anecdotes. In the end, more questions are raised than are answered- a characteristic of a topic worth exploring.

Food for Broad Minds

Well researched, culture-inclusive and fun to read, not just a dry text. A feast for the mind, and well timed as we are more and more, world wide, becoming mindless consumers of copious quantities of munchies, whether in elite settings or otherwise.