Elizabeth David in England as a cookbook author was incredibly influential in this. Alice Waters of the famous shape Anis in California is a follower of Elizabeth David. You begin to get slow food in Italy reacting against fast food that's a slightly more complicated situation. What they're all trying to do is to find some alternative to this small republican or culinary modernist culinary philosophy.
Rachel Laudan, visiting scholar at the University of Texas and author of Cuisine and Empire, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the history of food. Topics covered include the importance of grain, the spread of various styles of cooking, why French cooking has elite status, and the reach of McDonald's. The conversation concludes with a discussion of the appeal of local food and other recent food passions.