Fast Food Nation: What The All-American Meal is Doing to the World (43 page)

Food: A Culinary History
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), edited by Jean-Louis Flandrin and Massimo Montanari, traces the cultural and technological changes in food preparation from prehistoric campfires to the kitchens at McDonald’s. A good account of the history of American food processing can be found in John M. Connor and William A. Schiek,
Food Processing: An Industrial Powerhouse in Transition
(New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997). Harvey Levenstein’s
Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1993) has a fine chapter on the implications of postwar advances in food processing. For consolidation in the food processing industry and its effects on American farmers, I learned a great deal from the following sources: Charles R. Handy and Alden C. Manchester, “Structure and Performance of the Food System Beyond the Farm Gate,” Commodities Economics Division White Paper, USDA Economic Research Service, April 1990; Alden C. Manchester, “The Transformation of U.S. Food Marketing,” in
Food and Agricultural Markets: The Quiet Revolution
, edited by Lyle P. Schertz and Lynn M. Daff (Washington, D.C.: National Planning Association, 1994);
Concentration in Agriculture, A Report of the USDA Advisory Committee on Agricultural Concentration
(Washington, D.C.: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, June 1996);
A Time to Act: Report of the USDA National Commission on Small Farms
(Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture, 1998); and William Heffernan, “Consolidation in the Food and Agriculture System,” Report to the National Farmers Union, February 5, 1999. A telephone interview, extending for hours, with J. R. Simplot provided much information on the details of his life and the origins of the potato industry in Idaho. Simplot was blunt, charismatic, entertaining, and seemingly tireless. Fred Zerza, the vice president for public and government relations at the J. R. Simplot Company, helped confirm the accuracy of Simplot’s remarks. I also relied on “Origins of the J. R. Simplot Company,” J. R. Simplot Company, 1997; and James W. Davis,
Aristocrat in Burlap: A History of the Potato in Idaho
(Boise: Idaho Potato Commission, 1992). Paul Patterson, an extension professor of agricultural economics at the University of Idaho, graciously explained to me how potatoes are grown, processed, and sold today. Bert Moulton, at the Potato Growers of Idaho, gave me a sense of the challenges that farmers in his state must now confront. I am grateful to Ben Strand, at the Simplot Food Group, and Bud Mandeville, at Lamb Weston, for giving me tours of their french fry facilities.

The reference books on flavor technology were a pleasure to read; they reminded me of medieval texts on the black arts. Among the works I consulted were
Fenaroli’s Handbook of Flavor Ingredients
, vol. 2 (Ann Arbor, Mich.: CRC Press, 1995); Henry B. Heath,
Source Book of Flavors
(Westport, Conn.: Avi Publishing, 1981); Martin S. Peterson and Arnold H. Johnson,
Encyclopedia of Food Science
(Westport, Conn.: Avi Publishing, 1978); Y. H. Hui,
Encyclopedia of Food Science and Technology
,
v
ol. 2 (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1992); Carl W. Hall, A. W. Farrall, and A. L. Rippen,
Encyclopedia of Food Engineering
(Westport, Conn.: Avi Publishing, 1986);
Flavor Science: Sensible Principles and Techniques
, edited by Terry E. Acree and Roy Teranishi (Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Scoiety, 1993);
Biotechnology for Improved Foods and Flavors
, edited by Gary R. Takeoka, Roy Teranishi, Patrick J. Williams, and Akio
Kobayashi (Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society, 1995);
Flavor Analysis: Developments in Isolation and Characterization
, edited by Cynthia J. Mussinan and Michael J. Novello (Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society, 1998). I found many useful articles on the flavor industry in journals such as
Food Product Design, Food Engineering, Food Processing, Food Manufacture, Chemistry and Industry, Chemical Market Reporter
, and
Soap-Cosmetics-Chemical Specialties
(now published as
Soap & Cosmetics
). A good overview of the flavor business can be found in
Industry and Trade Summary: Flavor and Fragrance Materials
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. International Trade Commission, USITC Publication 3162, March 1999). Ellen Ruppel Shell wrote a fine article on the work of flavorists more than a decade ago: “Chemists Whip Up a Tasty Mess of Artificial Flavors,”
Smithsonian
, May 1986. Terry Acree, a professor of food science technology at Cornell University, was a wonderful resource on the subjects of smell, taste, flavor, and the flavor industry. Bob Bauer, executive director of the National Association of Fruits, Flavors, and Syrups, outlined when and where the flavor industry settled in New Jersey. At International Flavors & Fragrances, I am grateful to Nancy Ciancaglini, Diane Mora, and Brian Grainger, who patiently answered many questions. The flavorists at other firms whom I interviewed shall remain anonymous.

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113
“gold dust”:
Interview with J. R. Simplot.

“the Golden Age of Food Processing”:
Levenstein’s chapter on the postwar era is entitled “The Golden Age of Food Processing: Miracle Whip
Über Alles
,” in Levenstein,
Paradox of Plenty
, pp. 104–18.

114
“Potato salad from a package!”:
Quoted ibid.

tableside microwave ovens:
Cited ibid., p. 128.

Although Thomas Jefferson had brought the Parisian recipe:
See “The French Fries,” a chapter in Elizabeth Rozin’s
The Primal Cheeseburger
(New York: Penguin Books, 1994), pp. 133–52.

“That’s a helluva thing”:
Simplot interview.

“
The french fry [was]… almost sacrosanct
”: Kroc,
Grinding It Out
, p. 10.

115
thinly sliced Russet Burbanks in special fryers:
See Love,
Behind the Arches
, p. 123.
about 175 different local suppliers:
Ibid., p. 329.

the typical American ate eighty-one pounds:
The figures on fresh potato and french fry consumption come from the USDA Economic Research Service.

Ninety percent of those fries
: Potato statistics, USDA Economic Research Service.

the most widely sold foodservice item:
Cited in Lisa Bocchino, “Frozen Potato Products,”
ID: The Voice of Foodservice Distribution,
January 1995.

116
bigger than the state of Delaware:
Delaware has about 1.6 million acres of land.
“It’s big and it’s real”:
Simplot interview.

the J. R. Simplot Company supplies the majority:
Interview with Fred Zerza.

117
Simplot, Lamb Weston, and McCain now control:
This is a conservative estimate, based on discussions with a variety of industry sources.

a $70 million advertising campaign:
See Constance L. Hays, “Burger King Campaign Is Promoting New Fries,”
New York Times
, December 11, 1997.

Idaho’s potato output surpassed Maine’s
: Potato Statistics, Economic Research Service, USDA.

117
Since 1980, the tonnage of potatoes grown in Idaho:
Figures for 1980 courtesy of Paul Patterson; 1999 figures from the National Agricultural Statistical Service.

Out of every $1.50 spent:
A large order of fries weighs about one-quarter of a pound. It takes about a half pound of fresh potatoes to make a quarter pound of fries. A typical farm price for fresh processing potatoes is $4 to $5 per hundredweight — or 4 to 5 cents a pound.

It costs about $1,500 an acre:
Interview with Paul Patterson.

118
needs to receive about $5 per hundredweight:
Ibid.

as low as $1.50 per hundredweight:
Ibid.

Idaho has lost about half:
Interview with Bert Moulton.

the amount of land devoted to potatoes
: Idaho Agricultural Statistics Service.

119
roughly 1,100 potato farmers:
Bert Moulton estimates there are between 1,000 and 1,200; Don Gehrhardt, at the Idaho Agricultural Statistics Service, believes there are about 1,100.

120
America’s agricultural economy now resembles:
See Heffernan, “Consolidation in the Food and Agricultural System,” p. 1.

The taste of McDonald’s french fries:
Since the publication of
Fast Food Nation
, the McDonald’s Corporation has been more forthcoming about the ingredients in their fries. For the origins of the new policy, see
pages 278–80
of the Afterword.

James Beard loved McDonald’s fries:
See Elizabeth Mehren, “From Whisks to Molds, James Beard’s Personal Possessions to Be Auctioned,”
Los Angeles Times
, September 12, 1985.

The taste of a fast food fry is largely determined:
See Olivia Wu, “Fats and Oils in a New Light,”
Restaurants and Institutions
, January 15, 1997; and Candy Sagon, “Fry, Fry Again: The Secret of Great French Fries? Frying and more Frying,”
Washington Post
, July 9, 1997.

more saturated beef fat per ounce:
A small McDonald’s hamburger weighed 102 grams and had 3.6 grams of saturated fat; a small order of fries weighed 68 grams and had 5.05 grams of saturated fat. See “Where’s the Fat,”
USA Today
, April 5, 1990; Marian Burros, “The Slimming of Fat Fast Food,”
New York Times
, July 25, 1990; and Michael F. Jacobson and Sarah Fritscher,
The Completely Revised and Updated Fast-Food Guide
(New York: Workman Publishing, 1991).

A look at the ingredients now used:
See “McDonald’s Nutrition Facts,” McDonald’s Corporation, July 1997.

About 90 percent of the money that Americans spend on food:
See “Personal Consumption Expenditures Table, 1999,” Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce.

the area produces about two-thirds of the flavor additives:
Cited in Joyce Jones, “Labs Conjure Up Fragrances and Flavors to Add Allure,”
New York Times
, December 26, 1993.

122
six of the ten best-selling fine perfumes… the smell of Estée Lauder’s Beautiful:
Interview with Nancy Ciancaglini, International Flavors & Fragrances.

The aroma of a food can be responsible:
Cited in Ruth Sambrook, “Do You Smell What I Smell? The Science of Smell and Taste,” Institute of Food Research, March 1999.

123
a rich and full sense of deliciousness:
See Marilynn Larkin, “Truncated Glutamate Receptor Holds Key to the Fifth Primary Taste,”
Lancet
, January 29, 2000; and Andy Coghlan, “In Good Taste,”
New Scientist
, January 29, 2000.

Babies like sweet tastes
: See Julie A. Mennella and Gary K. Beauchamp, “Early Flavor Experiences: When Do They Start?”
Nutrition Today
, September 1994.

like those of the chain’s “heavy users”:
See Jennifer Ordonez, “Hamburger Joints Call Them ‘Heavy Users’ — But Not to Their Faces,”
Wall Street Journal
, January 12, 2000.

124
annual revenues of about $1.4 billion:
Interview with Nancy Ciancaglini.

Approximately ten thousand new processed food products:
Cited in Susan Carroll, “Flavors Market Is Poised for Recovery This Year,”
Chemical Market Report
, July 19, 1999.

And about nine out of every ten… fail:
Cited in Andrew Bary, “Take a Whiff: Why International Flavors & Fragrances Looks Tempting Right Now,”
Barron’s
, July 20, 1998.

125
Its annual revenues have grown almost fifteenfold:
IFF’s sales were about $103 million in 1970 and about $1.4 billion in 1999. The first figure comes from “Company History,” IFF Advertising and Public Relations. The second is cited in Catherine Curan, “Perfume Company Banks on CEO’s Nose for Business,”
Crain’s NY Business
, June 26, 2000.