New Books Network: Anna Zeide on "US History in 15 Foods"

Podcast Host: Brian Hamilton
Guest: Dr. Anna Zeide
Date: December 31, 2025
Episode Theme: How American history can be told—and understood—through fifteen carefully selected foods.

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Brian Hamilton speaks with Dr. Anna Zeide, Associate Professor of History and Founding Director of the Food Studies Program at Virginia Tech. Dr. Zeide discusses her latest book, US History in 15 Foods (Bloomsbury, 2023), the inaugural volume in Bloomsbury’s "History in 15" series. Together, they delve into how each food selection serves as a lens for major eras and themes in US history. The conversation highlights not just food’s role in the American story but also the evolving methods and questions of food history itself.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The "History in 15" Series: Purpose and Design

[02:45]

• The series aims for broad appeal—academics, undergrads, and the general public.
• Each book covers 15 key themes, aligning with a 15-week semester structure.
• Chapters are intentionally concise (approx. 12–14 pages each) to be accessible for coursework and casual readers.

Quote:
"They're intended to be kind of a crossover academic and public-oriented books... taking big themes and sort of breaking them down into digestible chunks."
—Dr. Anna Zeide [02:45]

Selecting the 15 Foods: Criteria and Challenges

[04:38]

• Zeide avoided "classic" American foods (e.g., apple pie, hot dogs).
• Chose foods that embody pivotal historical moments rather than nostalgic symbols.
• Aimed for a balance across eras, with a particular focus on the rapid changes of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Quote:
"They're not kind of classic foods... Instead, I tried to think of foods that really embodied a particular moment in American history as much as being a food history book."
—Dr. Anna Zeide [04:42]

Case Studies in Food History

Graham Bread & Sylvester Graham: Antebellum Reform

[07:58]

• Sylvester Graham’s dietary reform is often dismissed in mainstream history, but Zeide takes him seriously as a voice against industrialized food.
• Graham bread (unbolted whole wheat) stood in opposition to processed white flour, symbolizing anxiety about rapid sociotechnological change.

Quote:
"What it was about whole wheat flour...what it was that those abstentions represented to him about the increasingly fast pace that he was noticing about the country."
—Dr. Anna Zeide [09:28]

Jell-O: The Progressive Era, Domestic Science, and Industry

[12:13]

• Jell-O serves as a touchstone for discussing both the new industrial food system (meatpacking byproducts) and the rise of domestic science/home economics as drivers of consumer culture.
• The marketing of Jell-O demonstrates early advertising’s power in shaping taste and gender roles.

Quote:
"It tells the story both of why Jell-O and its...ingredient, gelatin, which comes from animal parts...and then how Jell-O becomes this company that really works hand in hand with the rising domestic science movement..."
—Dr. Anna Zeide [13:17]

Green Bean Casserole: Suburbia, Gender, and the Cold War

[15:05]

• Originated in the Campbell Soup test kitchen; symbolizes postwar suburban domesticity.
• Served as Cold War “propaganda”—showing off technological and domestic superiority of American capitalism.

Quote:
"Green bean casserole is invented in the...home economics kitchens of Campbell Soup Company...these tools and technologies and advances...were definitely used very strategically in the kind of ideological fight of the Cold War to say, you know, American superiority..."
—Dr. Anna Zeide [17:07]

Tofu: Counterculture to Mainstream

[19:13]

• Tofu's mainstream rise postdates the 1960s, but the era’s countercultural food politics set the stage.
• A small network of activists, cooperatives, and ethnic communities helped tofu gain a foothold.
• Reveals intersections among environmentalism, immigration, and shifting dietary mores.

Quote:
"The platform that was laid by the alignment of food and politics and countercultural movements before tofu's rise is what enabled it to become so popular."
—Dr. Anna Zeide [19:32]

Chicken Nuggets and McDonald’s: The Reagan Era’s Food Values

[22:41]

• Chicken nuggets introduced by McDonald's in the 1980s became an emblem of Reagan-era deregulation, industrial food production, and changing labor dynamics.
• Health narratives promoted chicken consumption, even as its processed forms negated those benefits.

Quote:
"The form that most chicken quickly got turned into is this further processed form...heavily breaded and deep fried...negates quite a lot of its healthfulness."
—Dr. Anna Zeide [23:12]

Korean Tacos: Fusion Cuisine and the Obama-Era Foodie Movement

[26:39]

• The food truck Kogi popularized Korean tacos, becoming a symbol for multiculturalism, youthful optimism, and the power of social media in the early Obama years.
• Despite initial inclusivity, the new food movement’s gains were unevenly distributed, and much co-opted by larger industry players.

Quote:
"There was this clear connection between this Obama era season of hope, the sense of change, a next chapter for America, where we were headed, and this new food, ethnic fusion food..."
—Dr. Anna Zeide [27:00]

Food and Historical Continuity

[29:29]

• Hamilton asks whether food offers a more tangible or enduring link to the past compared to other cultural practices.
• Zeide recounts her classroom “historical cooking lab,” noting how ingredients and preparations remain familiar even as broader food systems change.
• Food thus provides both continuity and a reminder of cultural transformation.

Quote:
"We can't really smell the past. We can't taste the past...[but] the ingredients were ones I could easily go find at the grocery store today. The recipes themselves still felt quite legible..."
—Dr. Anna Zeide [30:40]

Looking Ahead: The Next Food(s) of History

[32:39]

• Speculation about the future: cultured meats, edible insects, and ongoing globalization will shape the next chapter in American food history.
• Zeide reflects on how past food adoption processes (e.g., canned food, tofu) offer clues for interpreting contemporary trends.

Quote:
"I do think that thinking about alternative proteins, whether it's insects or cultured meats, is such an important and lively conversation at this moment..."
—Dr. Anna Zeide [33:28]

Zeide’s Next Projects

[35:34]

• Working on a history of food waste, including phenomena like dumpster diving and the movement Food Not Bombs.
• Branching into interdisciplinary research, connecting historical knowledge with contemporary social science and ecological projects.

Notable Quotes & Moments (Chronological Highlights)

• Series Purpose:
  "Taking big themes...breaking them down into digestible chunks." —Zeide [02:45]

• On Selection:
  "They're not classic foods...Instead, I tried to think of foods that really embodied a particular moment in American history..." —Zeide [04:42]

• Graham Bread:
  "It seems very clear that [Graham] tells us a lot about the moment and in particular about the changing technologies of food production..." —Zeide [10:35]

• Jell-O’s Industrial Roots:
  "Jell-O becomes this company that really works in hand in hand with the rising domestic science movement..." —Zeide [13:17]

• Cold War Green Bean Casserole:
  "All of these tools and technologies...were definitely used very strategically in the kind of ideological fight of the Cold War..." —Zeide [17:07]

• Tofu and Counterculture:
  "The foundation that was laid by the alignment of food and politics and countercultural movements before tofu's rise is what enabled it to become so popular." —Zeide [19:32]

• Chicken Nugget Industrialization:
  "What lay beneath the incredible rise of popularity and cheapness of chicken was these reductions in regulations for labor and environmental protections that very much characterized the Reagan era..." —Zeide [23:41]

• Korean Taco & Food Movements:
  "How many people were left out of those movements, how entrenched so many of the processes...how much more conversations about justice, I think, are central to conversations about food..." —Zeide [28:30]

• Connecting Past and Present Through Food:
  "We have photographs...we can't really smell the past. We can't taste the past..." —Zeide [30:39]

Important Segment Timestamps

• [02:45] — Purpose of the "History in 15" series
• [04:38] — The challenge and logic of selecting foods
• [07:58] — The significance of Sylvester Graham
• [12:13] — Jell-O and the Progressive Era
• [15:05] — Green bean casserole, family, and the Cold War
• [19:13] — Tofu and countercultural food movements
• [22:41] — Chicken nuggets and 1980s food trends
• [26:39] — Korean tacos, Obama-era optimism, and contemporary foodies
• [29:29] — Food as a medium for historical continuity
• [32:39] — The food of the future: predictions
• [35:34] — Zeide’s upcoming food waste and public scholarship projects

Conclusion

Dr. Anna Zeide’s US History in 15 Foods provides a unique, engaging way to revisit and reinterpret major trends in American history. This conversation demonstrates not only the value of food as a historical lens but also the dynamism of food studies as a field—balancing nostalgia, contemporary relevance, and critical inquiry into the present and future of eating in America.

Host’s closing words:
"The book again is US History in 15 Foods. It's out now from Bloomsbury Academic. Its author is and my guest has been Dr. Ana Zadeh. Ana, thank you so much for your time and for this book." [37:26]