Hippie Food: How Back-to-the-Landers, Longhairs, and Revolutionaries Changed the Way We Eat

The book opens with asking why alfalfa sprouts became so emblematic, and obliquely explains how they spread by describing the confluence of health nuts seeking a better climate, and Hollywood stars exploring vegetarianism, and media spreading word. Reading about the mid-century rebellion against industrial food gave me context for why there was an Adele Davis book and blackstrap molasses in the house where I grew up. It was interesting to revisit the work of Frances Moore Lappe and the Book of Tofu by William Shurtleff. I learned how important it was that Lundgren Farms made quality brown rice available to food co-ops.

When the book described the days when "health food" stores had more vitamins and pills in them than food, I would have liked to connect further back to Kellogg. Towards the end, as whole grains and organic foods become more widely available, you're left with the impression that everyone eats this way. I'm just glad that because of the history described, I can talk about how mostly I cook Chinese style, no one thinks I'm a weirdo.

Obviously I had to listen to this book.  They should have just titled it "A Book for Heather."This is a history of the health food and vegetarian food movements in the U.S.  It starts with briefly talking about health food people like the Kelloggs and Dr. Graham at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century.  It then segues into the macrobiotic movement which came to the U.S. from Japan.  The bulk of the book focuses on the post-WW II push back to the marketing of processed convenience food.




What I really learned from this book:

White Folks Can't Cook

The hippie/back-to-the-land movement was overwhelmingly white.  That's briefly addressed but not explored deeply.  A lot of these people seemed to come from a background where they didn't learn to cook without convenience foods.  So when they tried to cook whole food ingredients, they pretty much failed.  Spices?  What are they?
 

That's how vegetarian food got a reputation for being bland and boring.  It only started to get good when they started stealing ideas from other cultures.  Japanese influences came in through macrobiotics.  This gets linked to politics because of the 1965 immigration reform that allowed more immigrants from non-European countries. Those people opened restaurants and suddenly people realized that you don't need to eat food with the texture and taste of tree bark.  If the movement was inclusive from the start, hippie food might not have had such a bad reputation.I loved hearing about how all sorts of foods that we consider staples now came to the United States.  Again this is presented from a white, middle class perspective.  It talks about starting tofu production in the States but I'm sure there were people in Asian communities who were doing this before white people adopted it and started mass production.  The same can go for different spices and/or vegetables that I'm sure were in use in black or Latinx communities.  That's my major criticism of this book.I would get excited whenever some of my favorites where mentioned.  Diet for a Small Planet!  (Yes, her made up theory of the necessity of "complete proteins" has been repeatedly debunked.  Can we let that die now? Please? Asking for all vegetarians who get asked about it ALL THE TIME.)  The Moosewood Cookbooks!  Those were some of the first I read.Read this one if you love food history as it relates to personal ethics and politics.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story