Information about the Aspen Ideas Festival is here. I am scheduled for a session, The American Wellness Paradox, currently scheduled from 11:00-11:50 a.m., at the East Lawn Tent. This will be a discussion with senior HHS policy advisor, Calley Means. Here’s the blurb on it: “Americans are spending more than ever on healthcare, supplements, wellness trends, and “clean eating,” yet rates of chronic disease and metabolic illness continue to climb. As skepticism fuels the rise of movements like MAHA, debates over what Americans should eat have become deeply cultural, political, and economic. Two influential voices with sharply different perspectives on nutrition and food science explore how food systems, farming practices, consumer culture, and the wellness industry collided to create one of the defining public health debates of our time.”
Holiday reading: Savoring Gotham
Andrew F. Smith, ed. Savoring Gotham: A Food Lover’s Companion to New York City. Oxford University Press, 2015.
Oxford’s latest food encyclopedia celebrates the food of New York in 570 entries written by 180 foodies. Full disclosure: two entries are mine—menu labeling and soda “ban.” And I also turn up as an entry in the biography section (thanks Judith Weinraub).
The entries cover everything that Andy Smith and his team could think of, in alphabetical order from A&P to Zeppole (following Zagat). The entries cover specific foods and beverages, of course, but also history, politics, biography, museums, restaurants, retailers, publishing, media, holidays, neighborhoods, organizations, and bars.
As you might expect from anything edited by Andy Smith, the entries are written well and easy to read. It’s lavishly illustrated and fun to browse. A small sample from the “C’s” to illustrate the range: Cosmopolitan, Cotton Club, Cream Cheese, Cries of New York, Cronut, Cuban.
Something for everyone. And it’s in paperback and affordable.
