Sophie Eagan

In a flavorful blend of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Salt Sugar Fat, and Freakonomics—food writer and program director at The Culinary Institute of America Sophie Egan reveals how, what, and why Americans eat. In DEVOURED: From Chicken Wings to Kale Smoothies—How What We Eat Defines Who We Are (William Morrow, HC, on-sale May 3, 2016, ISBN: 9780062390981, $28.99), Sophie Egan takes readers on an eye-opening journey through the American food psyche, examining the connections between the values that define our national character—work, freedom, and progress—and our eating habits, the good and the bad. Egan explores why these values make for such an unstable, and often unhealthy, food culture and, paradoxically, why they also make America’s cuisine so great. • Why does McDonald’s have 107 items on its menu? • Why are breakfast sandwiches, protein bars, and gluten-free anything so popular? The search for answers to these intriguing questions and many more takes Egan across the culinary landscape. She explores: • The prioritization of convenience over health Fact: 63 percent of Americans believe skipping breakfast is unhealthy—yet only 26 percent eat it daily. • The American obsession with “having it our way” Fact: Starbucks offers 87,000 possible drink combinations. • Why we buy foods on the basis of what they lack such as gluten, GMOs, fat, etc. Fact: “Gluten-free” is a $10 billion industry. 1% of Americans actually have celiac disease, and 6% actually have a gluten sensitivity, but 33% try to avoid gluten. • The country’s love of new, innovative food products and stunt foods Fact: Taco Bell sold 100 million Doritos Locos Tacos in an unprecedented ten weeks. • The diverse influences from across the world that have shaped American cuisine Fact: Two thirds of Americans now eat a greater variety of global cuisines than they did just five years ago. • Will bland, soulless meal replacements like Soylent revolutionize our definition of a meal? • And more including the psychology of waiting in line, diet evangelism, and the democratization of wine. DEVOURED weaves together insights from the fields of psychology, anthropology, food science, and behavioral economics as well as myriad examples from daily life to create a powerful and unique look at food in America. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sophie Egan is the director of programs and culinary nutrition for the Strategic Initiatives Group at The Culinary Institute of America. Based in San Francisco, Egan is a contributor to The New York Times' Well blog, and has written about food and health for KQED, WIRED, and Sunset magazine, where she worked on The Sunset Cookbook and The One-Block Feast book. She holds a master of public health from University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on health and social behavior, and a bachelor of arts with honors in history from Stanford University.