The New York Times Best-Selling Author and James Beard Award Winner, Mark Kurlansky, is a fervent lover of the food from his New England Childhood - “Chowda,” Clam Bakes, Johnny Cakes, and Fried Foods From The Sea. I learned this and much more when I spoke with Mark Kurlansky about his most recent book “THE FOOD OF A YOUNGER LAND – A portrait of American food – before the national highway system, before chain restaurants, and before frozen food, when the nation’s food was seasonal, regional, and traditional – from the lost WPA files.”
The book’s concept is similar to a number of his past Anthropological Books on the Topic of Food (Such as Cod, Salt, The Last Fish Tale, and The Big Oyster), except instead of dissecting a specific Culinary Industry, he provides a detailed report as to how people ate throughout America – 70 years ago.
The reports comes by way of the forgotten articles from the Federal Writer’s Project: A New Deal Initiative under the WPA that, in the late 1930′s, offered struggling authors the opportunity to travel throughout the country chronicling local eating habits, traditions, food myths and culinary events for a project called America Eats. America Eats was abandoned at the start of World War II – and only now has come to life through Kurlansky’s unearthing, editing, and publishing of these articles under the guise of The Food of a Younger Land. The result: A stunning vision of an America that was once and no longer is based solely in seasonal, local, and traditional eating habits.
The book is surprisingly poignant and timely as America (and the world) traverses its way through the largest Depression since The Great Depression. The book reminds us of how far removed our eating habits have come since the 1930′s – and perhaps how we should strive to bring local and seasonal back into our daily diet.
It’s a wonderful book (Highly Recommended) from a bright and passionate author on the subject of American Food History.
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