A review by corvingreene
The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image, and Guilt in America by Virginia Sole-Smith

5.0

What a necessary book! Sole-Smith tackles so many different aspects of food culture in the US, and her multiple points of entry into the issue offer a very nuanced picture of the topic, from infant feeding to eating disorders. I loved how she was able to make what could have been a dry topic come alive and read as engaging as a novel. I have a lot of thoughts on this book, and it definitely requires a trigger warning if you are someone dealing with food and weight issues yourself, but I appreciated Sole-Smith's overwhelmingly body positive and intuitive eating approach to the topic, and I highly recommend this book! It would be a great one to teach, as it's easier to read than some more scientific texts, and I can see it also functioning as a good example for students of how to incorporate research and interviews into their own texts.