“Although Red Zinger never became our national drink, food and eating changed in America as a result of the social revolution of the 1960s. According to Warren Belasco, there was political ferment at the dinner table as well as in the streets. In this lively and intelligent mixture of narrative history and cultural analysis, Belasco argues that middle-class America eats differently today than in the 1950s because of the way the counterculture raised the national consciousness about food.”
The Nation

“Now comes an examination of… the sweeping change in American eating habits ushered in by hippiedom in rebellion against middle-class America… Appetite for Change tells show the food industry co-opted the health-food craze, discussing such hip capitalists as the founder of Celestial Seasonings teas ; the rise of health-food cookbooks ; how ethnic cuisine came to enjoy new popularity ; and how watchdog agencies like the FDA served, arguably, more often as sleeping dogs than as vigilant ones.”
Publishers Weekly

In this engaging inquiry, originally published in 1989 and now updated for the twenty-first century, Warren J. Belasco considers the rise of the “countercuisine” in the 1960s, the subsequent success of mainstream businesses in turning granola, herbal tea, and other “revolutionary” foodstuffs into profitable products ; the popularity of vegetarian and vegan diets ; and the increasing availability of organic foods.

Warren J. Belasco is Professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the author of Meals to Corne : A History of the Future of Food and Americans on the Road : From Autocamp to Motel and the coeditor of Food Nations : Selling Taste in Consumer Societies.