How the Other Half Eats

The Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America

By: Priya Fielding-Singh PhD

Narrated by: Priya Fielding-Singh PhD, York Whitaker

A “deeply empathetic” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) and “eye-opening” (Kirkus Review ) look at dietary differences along class lines, revealing that lack of access to healthy food is far from the primary driver of nutritional inequality in America.

Inequality in America manifests in many ways, but perhaps nowhere more than in how we eat. From her years of field research, sociologist and ethnographer Priya Fielding-Singh brings us into the kitchens of dozens of families from varied educational, economic, and ethnoracial backgrounds to explore how - and why - we eat the way we do. We get to know four families intimately: the Bakers, a Black family living below the federal poverty line; the Williamses, a working-class white family just above it; the Ortegas, a middle-class Latinx family; and the Cains, an affluent white family.

Whether it's worrying about how far pantry provisions can stretch or whether there's enough time to get dinner on the table before soccer practice, all families have unique experiences that reveal their particular dietary constraints and challenges. By diving into the nuances of these families’ lives, Fielding-Singh lays bare the limits of efforts narrowly focused on improving families’ food access. Instead, she reveals how being rich or poor in America impacts something even more fundamental than the food families can afford: these experiences impact the very meaning of food itself.

Packed with lyrical storytelling and groundbreaking research, as well as Fielding-Singh’s personal experiences with food as a biracial, South Asian American woman, How the Other Half Eats illuminates exactly how inequality starts on the dinner plate. Once you’ve taken a seat at tables across America, you’ll never think about class, food, and public health the same way again.

©2021 Priya Fielding-Singh, PhD (P)2021 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

"How the Other Half Eats is a must-read for anyone who has ever wondered why Americans don’t eat more healthfully. Fielding-Singh achieved something remarkable in gaining the trust of families who then let her observe their daily food choices. Her book is a thoughtful, riveting, compassionate, and utterly compelling account of why eating healthfully is so difficult, especially for the poor. What's more, she offers a superb example of why on-the-ground field research is invaluable for gaining a deep and nuanced understanding of the ways that our industry-driven and highly inequitable food environment affects real people on a daily basis."—Marion Nestle, author of Let’s Ask Marion

"Deeply empathetic… [a] devastating portrait of ‘the scarcity, uncertainty, and anxiety that permeates so much of the American dietary experience.’”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Bold, eye-opening, and deeply moving, How the Other Half Eats is a must-read for anyone concerned about the well-being of American families. Fielding-Singh powerfully shows how sweeping, systemic inequities find their way onto our dinner plates and impact our health and wellness. This compassionate and captivating book resonated with me as a physician caring for my patients and as a mother striving to do right by my children."—Dr. Leana Wen, author of Lifelines

Excellent book but problematic narrator

This is an excellent and well-researched book, but the narrator has some sort of speech impediment. Maybe a new retainer or something? The speech impediment does get progressively better as the audio goes on, but it was sort of like nails on a chalkboard to me. Once I heard it I couldn't un-hear it, and I found myself periodically cringing at sentences heavy with "s", "sh", and "ch" sounds. If you're interested in the book, I HIGHLY recommend it, but would suggest reading it rather than listening to it.

It was okay

I read this book in a book study. I’ve been blessed to be able to provide for myself. However, I grew up is some of the same conditions spoken about in the book,
so I can totally relate. But it seemed a little out of touch she could have gotten better data.

Too easy to get lost

Because there are sooo many peoples names that she interviewed and she intertwined between all the people, it was difficult to follow whom she was talking about. She names the mother, their daughters, their spouses, and sometimes other family members to the point that I didn’t know who was who. I would have rather heard mother A daughter A1 daughter A2 and so on just to know whom she was talking about.

Extremely insightful and summed up beautifully in the end

I found this book to be very insightful and weeks later, it still has me feeling seen as a mother. If you don’t have time to read the entire thing, at least read the chapter summing it all up in the end. What policies need to be revisited, how the food industry can and MUST do better by our kids instead of sending them down a path of life long health struggles, how corporations can better support parents, and how we as parents need to stop shaming each other but rather appreciate the struggles we go through despite our differences.

Priya put her heart and soul into this book and it shows.

Great window into the world of others

I thought this book was great, and full of insight into the lives of others. Nice work to the author.

The lisp of the primary reader was a little jarring at first, but eventually I barely noticed it, and I don’t think it greatly diminished my enjoyment of the book overall.

Food For Thought

I was incredibly impressed with the author’s research and conclusions. Food and nutrition is a complicated balancing act for most families, but socioeconomic factors amplify it in ways I never imagined. This book is heavy at times, but throws open the door for meaningful dialogue.

Narrative vs content

An unnecessary narrative of a great research with excelent conclusions making you wonder the great pressure imposed to mothers to feed their children in a healthy way

Dicersity

I appreciate the time the author took in getting to know each person she interviewed. From a human prospective she may not have agreed with some of the things her interviewees did. but she took the time to observe and understand... She met them where they were.

Narration is distracting

I find the subject matter interesting as both a public health professional and also as someone interested in children and nutrition. However, the narration is incredibly distracting. I didn't notice it in the sample but it sounds like the narrator has a lisp or new braces, her voice sounds very wet when making 'ch' or 'th' sounds. Once I noticed it I couldn't focus on much else. It definitely detracts from the subject matter. I recommend you buy the book instead.

Before You Eat …

Learn about how the U. S. Food Industry controls American women’s’ and children’s eating habits and how revisions in the system are needed.