Devoured

How do the values that define our national character—work, freedom and progress—shape our eating habits, the good and the bad? This is the question that Sophie Egan, food writer and Culinary Institute of America program director, addresses in her provocative, eye-opening book, Devoured. In Devoured, Egan holds a mirror up to daily life, revealing the deeper meaning behind our food choices: from the prioritization of convenience over health to the ways food at work affects our happiness; from the American obsession with “having it our way” at Starbucks, Chipotle and other chains that individualize the eating experience to the fascinating dynamic between highbrow food culture—artisan this and small-batch that—and the lowbrow, such as Taco Bell’s sale of 100 million Doritos Locos Tacos in just ten weeks. She also looks at how America’s cuisine has been shaped by diverse influences from across the globe. Everybody eats—making it an activity ripe for examining our beliefs and motivations, our needs and desires. In Devoured, Sophie Egan weaves together insights from the fields of psychology, anthropology, food science, marketing and behavioural economics and takes us from the workplace to the home kitchen, from the grocery aisles to fast-food counters, zeroing in on our relationships with meals and snacks, food labels and marketing stunts. Devoured is not only enormously entertaining; it’s also an insightful commentary about who Americans are today.