Bowen Sarah - Pressure cooker: why home cooking wont solve our problems and what we can do about it

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Sarah Bowen, Joslyn Brenton, and Sinikka Elliott 2019

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bowen, Sarah, 1978 author. | Brenton, Joslyn, author. | Elliott,

Sinikka, author.

Title: Pressure cooker : why home cooking wont solve our problems and what

we can do about it / Sarah Bowen, Joslyn Brenton, and Sinikka Elliott.

Description: New York, NY, United States of America : Oxford University

Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018008311 | ISBN 9780190663292 (hard cover) | ISBN

9780190663322 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Grocery shoppingCross cultural studies. | Dinners and

diningCross-cultural studies. | CookingCross-cultural studies. | Food

securityCross-cultural studies. | EqualityCross-cultural studies. |

HomemakersInterviews.

Classification: LCC TX356.B66 2019 | DDC 641.5/4dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/20180083119780190663292

Authorship of the book is listed alphabetically as a testament to the process we followed in writing it. None of us took the lead, and the book represents a melding of our voices and expertise into one. In fact, by the end, it was difficult to identify even a single sentence written solely by one of us. We share equal credit, and take equal responsibility, for the books content.

We hold great admiration for the women and families who contributed to this research by sharing their stories and allowing us to conduct observations with them. We owe them a tremendous debt for giving us such intimate access to their lives. Much of the research for this book was funded by a grant from the US Department of Agriculture for a participatory outreach and research project, Voices into Action. We are grateful to all of the people who have been part of Voices into Action over the span of the project. Annie Hardison-Moody was central to developing the vision for Voices into Action and seeing it through.

The book would not have been possible without the dedication of the graduate students and research staff who recruited participants and conducted interviews and observations over the course of the study: Erinn Brooks, Gloria Cardona, Ashley Coleman, Daniela Garca-Grandn, Helen Herrera, Cassandra Johnson, Tashara Leak, Lillian MacNell, Blake Martin, Josephine Ngo McKelvy, Mari Kate Mycek, Emilia Cordero Oceguera, Rachel Powell, Kathryn Rosenbaum, Chaniqua Simpson, and Casey Strange. Many other research assistants and staff members helped with data collection, data entry, coding, and other aspects of the research: Alecia Anderson, Janine Baldino, Aysha Bodenhamer, Shaqueeta Brantley, Allyson Corbo, Angel Cruz, Madeleine Eldrige, Kim Eshleman, Lauren Frey, Ariel Fugate, Doretta Gaudreau, Courtney Gold, Scott Grether, Dayne Hamrick, Micaela Hayes, Kellie Leavitt, Patricia Parker, Marissa Sheldon, and Amanda Wyant.

We also thank the large network of community mentors, extension staff, and community partners who contributed to the participatory outreach aspects of Voices into Action: Zandra Alford, Mary Jane Bartlett, Alvin Bean, John Blevins, Dara Bloom, Gina Dean, Frances Harrington, Rene Hein, Demetrius Hunter, Susan Jakes, Lorelei Jones, Kristin Larson, Crystal McIver, Tremika Middleton, John OSullivan, Tawanna Petty, Kelley Richardson, Vidya Sanka, Lonnie Sessoms, Debbie Stephenson, and Lisa Valdivia, as well as students in the Food and Society class at North Carolina State University in spring 2012 and spring 2014 and students in the public health program at Campbell University in spring 2014.

Interviews with middle-class mothers were conducted by Joslyn Brenton for her dissertation, which was partially funded by a Doctoral Dissertation Completion grant from the Graduate School at North Carolina State University. The College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Sociology Graduate Student Association, and the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University provided crucial administrative support and small grants to fund aspects of this research. North Carolina State University, Ithaca College, and the University of British Columbia provided us with time off from teaching to focus on the book. Our colleagues and friends at North Carolina State University, the University of British Columbia, Ithaca College, and the University of Gothenburg provided encouragement and support as we wrote the book.

Thanks to Arlene Stein and Jodi OBrien at Contexts magazine for their assistance with the article that inspired this book. Matt Shipman wrote a press release about that article, and the attention it received convinced us we needed to write a book. Anne-Marie Slaughter and Liz Mundy at New America invited us to present our initial findings for the book at the 2014 Homemaker Mystique event in Washington, DC.

Our editor at Oxford University Press, James Cook, championed the book from the beginning. We are grateful for his stewardship, advice, and willingness to share his own kitchen stories with us. Several reviewers provided constructive feedback along the way that pushed us to reorganize the book and better articulate its focus. We also acknowledge the following friends and colleagues for their insightful conversations about the book, as well as their generosity in reading parts (and in some cases, all) of the manuscript and sharing their feedback: Katherine Cohen-Filipic, Kathryn DeMaster, Sarita Gaytn, Max Garrone, Patrick Grzanka, Eleanor Henderson, Kate Kallal, Emily Mann, Vrushali Patil, Jyoti Puri, Stephen Sweet, and Alicia Swords.

We dedicate the book to all the home cooks whose work is too often invisible and underappreciated, and to our families, who sustained us as we wrote the book. For inspiration, encouragement, and much needed distraction during the books writing, Sinikka Elliott thanks Patrick, Zak, Jude, Joshua, Aubrey, and Karine. In memory of Victoria, who hated cooking, and Dinah, who loved it. Joslyn Brenton thanks Peter for feeding our family delicious meals and for his support while writing the book, and Quinn and Clara, who cheered her on, and whose dinner table antics have helped her to appreciate the work of feeding young children! She also thanks her parents and sisters for their encouragement. Sarah Bowen is thankful to Mark for being a great partner and for all the late-night conversations about this book, and to Simon and Anna, her favorite dinner companions. She also thanks her dad, grandma, sisters, and the Wirt family for their support. This book is in memory of her mom.