The image of the family gathered at the table for the evening meal is a durable American tradition. Only it’s a myth. On today’s show, a food historian describes how most families ate for most of American history.
Plus, researchers at Cornell offer tips on how to navigate the all you can eat buffet without gaining a pound.
Then, we move from food to booze: hard drinking writers, like Ernest Hemingway and John Cheever fortified the myth of the alcohol-soaked genius. An author who explores why writers drink, and dispels any myths about booze as muse.
Listen to the full show and click Read more for individual segments.
When Did Three Square Meals Become The Norm?
- Abigail Carroll is a food historian and author of Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal, which explores the history of America’s eating from the Colonial era to the present.
- You can read an excerpt from the book here.
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When Did Three Square Meals Become The Norm?
Putting Healthy Food First at the Buffet
- Dr. Andrew Hanks is a researcher for the Cornell Food and Brand Lab. He published a study about how putting healthy foods first at the buffet reinforces healthy eating. “How Food Order in Buffet Lines Biases Food Selection.”
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Putting Healthy Food First at the Buffet
Saying Goodbye to Food
- In 2003, as one of WYNC’s radio rookies, Samr "Rocky" Tayeh first told listeners about his struggle with obesity. A lot changed for Rocky since he first went on the air. At the age of 19, as a freshman in college, he made a bold decision: to undergo weight loss surgery.
- You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
Trip To Echo Spring
- Olivia Laing traveled across the U.S. to follow the paths of six famous literary alcoholics, two of whom ended up suicides, the others dead by middle age. Her book is called The Trip to Echo Spring and is now available in paperback.
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Trip To Echo Spring
