A review by imbricata
American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America by Michelle Obama

4.0

My main critique with this book, which talks a lot about how poorly our kids eat and the health problems that follow, is that it omits one of the most significant reasons American children eat so badly: the overwhelming success of junk food and other companies marketing it to them. I've read so many books lately that seem to lay the responsibility on the parents not preparing healthy meals without mentioning that those same parents are up against companies that spend billions of dollars to encourage their children to do otherwise. This has been a theme with a lot of foodie books that I've read lately, and it's begun to really frustrate me. I can understand that Michelle Obama was probably looking to avoid losing the message of the book under what would certainly be corporate backlash if she went more in depth about their role in the crisis. Still, I can't help but be disappointed that this very important factor is not discussed.