Eatdrink #65 May/June 2017

The LOCAL Food & Drink Magazine
calls it, could be the saving grace for communal
eating, even though it is one big extravagant
meal replacing two separate ones.
Egan also writes about “the democratization
of wine” that started with the boom in
cheap vino at Trader Joe’s in 1967. Since then,
marketing ploys have succeeded in spreading
wine’s appeal outside of its clichéd cliques,
with tactics such as using cute animals on
wine labels that have nothing to do with
the product (critter labelling), using artistic
Americans love the Super
“ Bowl because some of them
like football, most of them
like day drinking, and all of
them like feasting.
”
— Sophie Egan
license in the naming of wines (Bad-Ass Cabernet),
and using unconventional containers
(tin cans and Tetra Paks).
Fast food chains are expert in drawing in
crowds by developing “stunt foods.” These
stunt foods, such as Taco Bell’s tremendously
popular Doritos Loco Taco, provide shock
value even though they are “nutritional train
wrecks” — an unhealthy backlash compared
to the diet trends Egan discusses in chapters
entitled “Diet Evangelism” and “The Selling of
Absence” (i.e., low-fat, gluten-free, non-GMO,
reduced calories). Egan writes: “As a people,
we are health seeking on the one hand, while
indulgence seeking on the other” and she finds
no answers to the juxtaposition of fad diets
with expanding fast food menus. Nothing
defines these contradictions more than the
feeding frenzy that is Super Bowl Sunday,
as crowds gather around “snackadiums”
before, during, and after the big game. Egan’s
perspective is that “Americans love the Super
Bowl because some of them like football, most
of them like day drinking, and all of them like
feasting.” And because we all like feasting, this
book is a very interesting look at how trends,
marketing, and modern life influence our
tastes and eating habits.
DARIN COOK is a freelance writer based in Chatham
who keeps himself well-read and well-fed by visiting the
bookstores and restaurants of London.
Experience the
World of Tea
Light & Healthy Menu
Afternoon Tea • Flight Nights
268 Piccadilly Street (beside Oxford Book Store)
519-601-TEAS (8327) • www.tealoungelondon.com
SUN-MON 11am-4pm • TUES-THURS 10am-6pm • FRI & SAT 10am-9pm
June 2-4, 2017
WINGHAM, ON
www.alicemunrofestival.ca
THE STORYTELLERS
michael ONDAATJE jane URQUHART
kyo MACLEAR lee MARACLE
cherie DIMALINE falen JOHNSON
marni JACKSON paul THOMPSON
merilyn SIMONDS brian d. JOHNSON
•
arturo PEREZ TORRES eva CROCKER
•
aviva ARMOUR-OSTROFF
scott MCKOWEN rachel THOMPSON
•
photo by: Janet Hull ah