Essay: Review of A Square Meal – A Culinary History of the Great Depression

Husband and wife Jane Ziegelman and Andrew Coe are both authors with backgrounds in culinary history. A Square Meal is the couple’s first meal together. Ziegelman is the director of the Tenement Museum’s culinary center, while Coe is described as an “independent scholar specializing in culinary history” (bookreporter.com). A square meal was published a little over two years ago on August 16, 2016.
Ziegelman and Coe write with clear syntax that is easy to understand. Ziegelman and Coe are also very clear and upfront with the message they are conveying. The book is written in a thematic style, however, there are also scholarly undertones.
“A square meal” is a play on words, alluding to President Roosevelt’s Square Deal. This meant that all stakeholders would get a fair share of the deal. At the same time, this “deal” was a plan to conserve natural resources, place limits on trust corporations, and protect customers. Roosevelt thought that his plan would pull the U.S. out of the decline that was normal in the ups and downs of the business cycle. However, this decline was like no other.
The authors identify four causes of the depression. The first cause is the most well known, The Stock Market Crash of 1929. By December of 1929, just a couple months after the original crash, investors lost a combined $40 billion. Since many had bought on margin or borrowed the money, banks and brokers started to run out of money, which Zeigelman and Coe identify as cause two. Banks started to fail as they ran out of money. Deposits were not insured, so depositors simply lost their money. The end of war sounds like great news. However, economically it means that less was being purchased, causing less to be produced, therefore many were laid off from work, which is the third cause. The last cause mentioned in the book is the economic policy towards Europe. The Hawley-Smoot tariff act was created with the intention that American companies would be purchased from rather than outsiders. Instead, foreign governments started to get angry with American and decided to stop purchasing from U.S. manufacturers, further hindering progression forward.
Canned food was nothing new. It originated from the Napoleonic War days in France. An innovation contest promised 12,000 francs to the man who could find a way to cost-effectively store and preserve substantial quantities of food. Nicolas Appert realized that food prepared in jars and sealed airtight would not spoil. What was not known is that if the food was sealed, microbes could not spoil the food. It wouldn’t be until half a century later that Louis Pasteur would be able to explain the phenomenon. Fitting in with the pattern of U.S. History, manufacturers started to add dies and preservatives, which were attributed to illness and death. Ziegelman and Coe argue, “The 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act was instrumental in cleaning u the industry and restoring confidence in consumers”(Ziegelman/Coe 257).
It is not mentioned often, but during the depression, the government took an active role in educating Americans about food and health. The authors explain, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) started a five-day-a-week show in 1926 hosted by ‘Aunt Sammy,’ who would answer homemakers’ questions; the character’s name was presumably a reference to a female version of ‘Uncle Sam’”(Ziegelman/Coe 29). A “food education” campaign started during the war but was amped during the depression to further teach Americans about conservation and nutrition.
After a background on the great depression, Ziegelman and Coe’s book becomes a literal culinary history of the first fifty years of the 20th Century, introducing us to dishes modified to meet depression-time budgets.  However, they discuss not only the foods of the depression, but also the change in the way food was made. They give an example of how President Franklin D. Roosevelt had, “a taste for fancy Fifth Avenue foods like pâté de foie gras and Maryland Terrapin soup” (Ziegelman/Coe 123). However, once he became president, he chose a much more humble meal. They explain, “His menu that day was more humble: deviled eggs in tomato sauce, mashed potatoes and, for dessert, prune pudding” (Ziegelman/Coe 123).  Many sacrifices like this were made by middle and lower class Americans, but not by choice, and on a much more drastic scale.
The major theme of this book, as odd as it is, boils down to the depression affected the way Americans ate. Readers are heavily distracted from the theme with information about the Great Depression. It is as if the authors wrote the book assuming the reader would have no knowledge of the Great Depression, which makes the books theme weak. It is also evident that the authors have a clear bias favoring President Hoover, describing him as, “A brilliant mining engineer” (Ziegelman/Coe 2), and crediting him with much more praise than most books do.
The book is very positive in that it does not point out any negatives of how the depression should have been prevented. For example, the administration at the time of the time should have realized that the war was ending and prepared for demobilization as they did with World War II. The Coe and Ziegeman stop at explaining what occurred. The authors are not critical enough of the leadership of America in this era.
Martin Rubin, a writer of the Washington Times who has done numerous book reviews states, “[A Square Meal] is also a highly informative look at American culinary culture throughout our nation’s history” (washingtontimes.com). Rubin is correct in the fact that the book is highly informative, but he is wrong when he adds “at American culinary culture”. The book was lacking in the culinary part, which was the premise of the book. However, later in his review, Rubin explains, “I was struck by how much more telling this book’s title was than its subtitle…it affirms is the centrality of that square meal to American society and the remarkable thing about how our culture dealt with — and survived — the Great Depression … ensuring that so many ate so well when things were so bad” (washingtontimes.com). Rubin hits the nail on the head with this statement. The title of the book is more than appropriate, but the subtitle does not have a strong presence in the book.
Steven Kurutz, author, and New York Times special reporter highly praises A Square Meal. However, he argues, “I think A Square Meal is better read as an account of the psychological and political effects of the Great Depression” (newyorktimes.com). Kurutz is one hundred percent correct. While the book is sprinkled with recipes here and there and does discuss the culinary history of America, as said before, it does not do a satisfying job in pointing out the culinary effects of the depression. It does a better job of explaining the physiological and political effects.
This book is great for someone who is interested in learning information about the depression that is not in every United States history textbook. However, if one was actually reading with the intention of learning American Culinary History, it’s not the best choice.