CJ

Academic discourse on food meets everyday history

Revisado: 04-20-22

It’s clear that Freedman is trained as a scholar, the first chapter certainly reads like an academic defense of a position that the listener might have already bought into (that food and its impact on people and culture is worth thoughtful research and questioning). If I were Freedman’s editor, I might have asked him who is the intended audience here. (Which is why I just can’t give it 5/5 on its “story.” The true narrative nature of this history happens later!). There were moments in the opening where it oddly reminded me of reading “In Defense of Poesy,” but the rest of the book makes up for some initial “Ivory Tower” leanings.

The main chapters of the book cover areas like social class, religion, taste, gender, race, and the environmental impact of ever-evolving agricultural techniques.

Why Food Matters offers a great survey of how wide food’s cultural impact has been. Freedman touches on ancient Judeo-Christian context and Scripture references to the connection of medieval feasts and spices with eventual colonialism to how exactly salads were seen as unmanly (looking at you, 19thC cult of domesticity!) to the nitty-gritty of how enslaved people developed famous American cuisine by referencing the work of Michael Twitty.

If you’re a fan of authors like Bee Wilson, this book would probably be a great fit. If you love seeing how our cooking and dining habits of today find their sources in history, this is definitely worth a listen.

Just maybe skip past that first chapter or so if you’re already on board with the premise!

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