A review by eososray
The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image, and Guilt in America by Virginia Sole-Smith
3.0
I liked parts of this book. She is obviously passionate about her daughters eating disorder, which was not actually a super interesting part of the book for me.
The section on the super picky eaters that now have a disorder definition (ARFID) interested me the most. Probably because I could at least relate to this. All the annoying parts of being a person who only likes certain foods were totally accurate. It gets frustrating having to explain yourself all the time and lots of time it's just easier to refuse the invitation than have to explain, again. So, anyone who doesn't understand being picky, just stop trying to get your friend or family to eat something they don't want, especially if they are adults. Their choice, none of your business. That said, it was extremely obvious that the author did not understand these people at all, she did her best to be non-judgemental but definitely didn't really get it.
The rest of the book covered topics like food deserts, body image, & obesity, but I've read about these subjects elsewhere in more depth, so none of them were as interesting to me, though the writing was well done.
The section on the super picky eaters that now have a disorder definition (ARFID) interested me the most. Probably because I could at least relate to this. All the annoying parts of being a person who only likes certain foods were totally accurate. It gets frustrating having to explain yourself all the time and lots of time it's just easier to refuse the invitation than have to explain, again. So, anyone who doesn't understand being picky, just stop trying to get your friend or family to eat something they don't want, especially if they are adults. Their choice, none of your business. That said, it was extremely obvious that the author did not understand these people at all, she did her best to be non-judgemental but definitely didn't really get it.
The rest of the book covered topics like food deserts, body image, & obesity, but I've read about these subjects elsewhere in more depth, so none of them were as interesting to me, though the writing was well done.