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

by Leon H. Rappoport

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 professor Leon Rappoport treats the dinner table like the therapist’s couch, asking us to lie back and spill our guts. Tracing our culinary customs from the Stone Age to the microwave, from the raw to the nuked, How We Eat illuminates our complex and often contradictory eating habits. Along the way, we meet with the hugely successful Fanny Farmer and Betty Crocker, encounter a murder case in which a Twinkie was suspect number one, learn about the table manners of cannibals, and, ultimately, that perhaps we truly are what we eat.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Psychology, Sociology, Health

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

Reviews

[Maggie Gately]

I read this for school! Pretty good. I just do not have a lot to say about it here because I had to write a paper on it. Maggie approved!

[Paetyn]

In this text, “How We Eat: Appetite, Culture, and the Psychology of Food” I learned a lot of information on different subjects. I think that it was very interesting to learn about some of the cultures that different foods arise from and the psychology of food. This book was incredibly interesting and informational. I don’t believe that this book covered the questions I had on my topic, which is, “How does the way you eat affect your mood?”. I wish that this book would’ve gone more in depth on what certain foods make you feel different emotions or moods and would have answered the few other questions I have left. Although this book was not quite exactly what I was looking for, it was definitely worth the money!

[Denice]

I really enjoyed learning more about something that is often overlooked.

[Selena Pigoni]

Interesting. I'm surprised there isn't more on the psychology of why we eat what we eat.

The writing was friendly enough, though my attention waned at times. Over all, though, it was pretty good.

[Melissa H.]

Bag this book & read anything by Michael Pollan instead.