Spoiled - (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary H) by Anne Mendelson

About the Book

Spoiled is an unflinching and meticulous critique of the glorification of fluid milk and its alleged universal benefits. Anne Mendelson's groundbreaking book chronicles the story of milk from the Stone Age peoples who first domesticated cows, goats, and sheep to today's troubled dairy industry.

Book Synopsis

Why is cows' milk, which few nonwhite people can digest, promoted as a science-backed dietary necessity in countries where the majority of the population is lactose-intolerant? Why are gigantic new dairy farms permitted to deplete the sparse water resources of desert ecosystems? Why do thousands of U.S. dairy farmers every year give up after struggling to recoup production costs against plummeting wholesale prices?

Exploring these questions and many more, Spoiled is an unflinching and meticulous critique of the glorification of fluid milk and its alleged universal benefits. Anne Mendelson's groundbreaking book chronicles the story of milk from the Stone Age peoples who first domesticated cows, goats, and sheep to today's troubled dairy industry. Spoiled shows that drinking fresh milk was rare until Western scientific experts who were unaware of genetic differences in the ability to digest lactose deemed it superior to traditional fermented dairy products. Their flawed beliefs fueled the growth of a massive and environmentally devastating industry that turned milk into a cheap, ubiquitous commodity.

Mendelson's wide-ranging account also examines the consequences of homogenization and refrigeration technologies, the toll that modern farming takes on dairy cows, and changing perceptions of raw milk since the advent of pasteurization. Unraveling the myths and misconceptions that prop up the dairy industry, Spoiled calls for more sustainable, healthful futures in our relationship with milk and the animals that provide it.

Review Quotes

[An] absorbing history.-- "Natural History"

A provocation . . . that urges readers to question fresh milk's hegemonic grip over the American mind.--Mayukh Sen "New Yorker"

Original, compelling, brilliantly written.--Marion Nestle "Food Politics"

A sharply written, wide-ranging, and instructive look at the history of dairy milk.--Natalie Angier "New York Review of Books"

A graceful, gently humorous account of the years of persuasion, breeding, engineering, and politicking required to convince Americans that liquid cow's milk was nature's perfect food. You won't look at those milk bottles in the supermarket in the same way again.--Rachel Laudan, author of Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History

Anne Mendelson does more than take on the many myths surrounding milk. She provides a history of milk in Britain and America, as dense and rich as a good cheese, and details the many controversies swirling in the glass, especially those concerning sanitation: clean dairies, pasteurization, refrigeration, and others. Scientifically detailed and rigorous without being difficult or inaccessible, Spoiled is a major contribution to food history and to the history of industrializing agriculture.--E. N. Anderson, author of Everyone Eats: Understanding Food and Culture

Persuasively challenges readers to consider forms of dairy that are better for animals, the farmers who care for them and the consumers who drink their milk.-- "Washington Post"

The very best food journalism lifts the veil on everyday components of our diet, peeling away accumulated layers of hype, pseudoscience, and ingrained fallacies to reveal the truth. No writer today does this more deftly than Anne Mendelson. Spoiled is the result of scrupulous and unbiased research presented in delightfully readable prose. A masterpiece.--Barry Estabrook, author of Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit

About the Author

Anne Mendelson is a culinary historian and freelance writer specializing in food-related subjects. Her most recent book is Chow Chop Suey: Food and the Chinese American Journey (Columbia, 2016).