""Six Women Who Shaped What Americans Eat" tells the story of how food choice in modern America has been influenced by culture, industrial abundance, and health narratives. Mart reflects on the careers of six women to illustrate the varied and overlapping influences on food choice. Each of these women had a substantial impact on American cuisine, attitudes toward food, and what people chose to eat. They highlighted the politics of food, the pleasure of food, the connection between food and health, and the environmental harm of poor food choices. Part one of the book discusses the bounties of the modern American food system and covers Hazel Stiebeling, Poppy Cannon, and Julia Child. Stiebeling was a chemist and government nutritionist beginning in the 1930s and shaped dietary guidelines and school lunches that affected generations of Americans. Cannon, a best-selling cookbook author and newspaper columnist, gained fame in the 1950s by preaching the wonders of processed food. Child, another cookbook author and television personality starting in the 1960s, celebrated French cuisine and made it accessible to American cooks (and palates). Part two examines the hidden costs of abundance and covers Frances Moore Lappé, Marion Nestle, and Alice Waters. Lappé was an author and activist concerned with the environmental impact of food in the late 20th century and who is credited with bringing vegetarianism into the mainstream. Nestle was an academic nutritionist, government consultant, and author who decried the undue influence of food corporations. Waters, a celebrity chef, restauranteur, and food activist, became a symbol of alternative food movements in the 21st century"-- Provided by publisher.