Analysis Of The Lost Art Of Feed Kids By Jeannie Marshall

Jeannie Marshall’s book, The Lost Art of Feeding Kids: What Italy Taught Me about Why Children Need Real Food, follows the story of her food journey, as well as an exploration of the food industry, while living in Rome. Marshall is originally from Canada but made the move to Rome with her husband as a young couple. As their family expanded with the birth of their son, Nico, Marshall switches gears and analyzes how the industrial food culture targets young parents and children into thinking that processed foods are worth eating and giving to their children, forming poor habits. Marshall saw how processed and packaged foods were quickly replacing the healthy, and home-cooked meals that most Italians were used to. To understand this food culture,

Unlike children, with her knowledge and research, Marshall was able to see right through the commercials and other advertisements for kid’s food products. Instead of seeing a fun ad for a cereal that almost all children ate, she saw the sugar, and the future flaw’s in children’s eating habits. According to Marshall, “The food manufacturers need to persuade parents to trust them. But they have an even greater need to influence the tastes of children very early on so that their sense of taste will lead them to these foods their entire lives, and food products will become their food culture” (page 64). She felt it was her duty to protect her son from this as much as she could, so that she would be able to teach him the right way to eat, and so that their traditional way of eating would not be lost in his

In historical records, eating well and eating well was traditionally only available to the wealthy, because they could afford it. The poor on the other hand, had very poor nutrition, and would eat a lot of starches such as rice, bread, and polenta. The poor would typically receive the leftover pieces of meat or other food products that the rich did not want. Once the economy began to flourish, it allowed for more opportunity and access to a broader variety of foods. This is when the Italian people had a rediscovery of local and traditional foods and meals. At the same time, food began to play a larger role in society and the