Episode 153: Invention of the American Meal

This week on A Taste of the Past, Abigail Carroll joins host Linda Pelaccio via phone for a discussion on the American meal. Abigail Carroll is the author of Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal, where she upends the popular understanding of our most cherished mealtime traditions, revealing that our eating habits have never been stable—far from it, in fact. Whether we’re pouring ourselves a bowl of cereal, grabbing a quick sandwich, or congregating for a family dinner, our mealtime habits are living artifacts of our collective history—and represent only the latest stage in the evolution of the American meal. Tune-in for a historical context on how the dinner table became an evening ritual, and how this has caused with the rise of processed foods and snacking, associated problems as well. This program has been sponsored by Fairway Market. Thanks to The California Honeydrops for today’s music.

“We’re talking about food in our society almost more than ever, and all these foods trends. But I don’t see people talk about how we eat – the social context of food, the family meal, and the value of that.” [22:15]

— Abigail Carroll on A Taste of the Past

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.