Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat

RR 2012/315 Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat Andrew F. Smith Greenwood Press, an Imprint of ABC-Clio Santa Barbara, CA 2012 ISBN 978 0 313 39394 5 URL: www.abc-clio.com/product.aspx?isbn = 9780313393936 Last visited April 2012 Contact publisher for pricing information Also available as a 2 vol. printed set (ISBN 978 0 313 39393 6 £166 $189)

Keywords Electronic media, Encyclopedias, Fast foods

Review DOI 10.1108/09504121211271086

Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat, by Andrew F. Smith is exactly what it sets out to be, an encyclopedic account of the fast and junk food industries. Smith, a food historian, proclaims in the preface that he has "had a love affair with fast food" since childhood. He is the author of several books on food and food culture including The Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food (Smith, 2006) (RR 2007/142) and teaches food studies at the New School University. The introduction to the encyclopedia, which covers the history of food and food culture in the US and the evolution of fast and junk foods, the influence of industrialization, war and social changes on American food production and habits, is fascinating.

The encyclopedia covers a wide variety of junk and fast food related topics including people, companies and products. While no criteria or explanation of items included was given, the coverage is fairly comprehensive and timely, including entries on such varied subjects as...