First published 2012
Tracie McMillan tackles America's eating problem by going undercover in the food industry. She takes jobs on California industrial farms, in a Detroit area Walmart produce section, and at an Applebee's kitchen in New York City. Living on the wages she earns, McMillan discovers what her coworkers can actually afford to buy and prepare for meals. She documents the grueling conditions at each workplace while exploring the economic and political forces that created our current food system. McMillan traces how labor practices, corporate policies, and social structures combine to keep healthy eating out of reach for working Americans. The book reveals why farmer's markets and local food movements remain accessible only to those with money and time, while the majority struggle with poor nutrition despite working in the very system that feeds the nation.
Genres: american, social-issues, non-fiction, 21st-century, food, activism
Vibes: fast-paced, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, undercover
Setting: California, Detroit, New York City, Appalachia
Period: 21st-century
336 pages · Hardcover · Scribner