An Economist Gets Lunch by Tyler Cowen

Admittedly I am not and will likely will never be classified as a foodie. In fact I am so far removed from foodies that I did not even know that the term existed. However this deficiency of mine in no way impaired my enjoyment of Tyler Cowen’s new book An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies. Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University and the author of Discover Your Inner Economist and Create Your Own Economy: The Path to Prosperity in a Disordered World; apparently he also appreciates a good meal!

The book covers a wide range of topics from how to find the best (and most affordable) places at which to dine to the past and future of agriculture. It is very clear that Cowen has a strong appetite for his work and based on extensive research, including traveling to and dining at locations all over the world, has created an essential guide for foodies and an interesting read for the rest of us.

Cowen begins by describing his theories on how food in the United States has become so bad, which was news to me. He explains how three major events from the twentieth century contributed to the decline in US food. The first of these was prohibition, which, because good restaurants made most of their profits from overcharging on drinks, caused many high end restaurants to close. It was also interesting to learn in certain establishments food was given away for free, so at least in the past there were such things as a “free lunch”.

Next was World War II, which ushered in the era of prepared food which was packaged for long distance transport, whether that be across the ocean to our troops or within the United States. Ironically it seems that European countries more impacted by the war’s destruction were forced to grow and prepare food locally due to the devastated infrastructures, while people in the United States became complacent with eating meals packaged several thousand miles away.

The third event in the triangle of decline in US food was the mass popularity of the television. The novelty of watching the new invention of television meant less time to both prepare and eat meals. An interesting history indeed!

The next sections provide numerous tips for finding good, cheap food in both grocery stores and restaurants. The review of Chinese grocery stores has motivated me to find a local establishment and make a plan to visit. Cowen also explains why foodies should avoid the trendy new place on the corner where everyone is having a good time.

Among the others chapter, Cowen covers in detail are; barbecue, Asian food, Mexican food and includes an encyclopedia for finding great food anywhere.  I did learn a lot from these chapters including why the best French food is not found in the major cities in France and why it is so hard to find open air barbecue pits, but when you do you have found a real treat!

In my opinion the most important section is the one on the needed agricultural revolution. In this section, Cowen discusses Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Although there is a lot of resistance to GMOs they have already had a big impact in increasing crop yield cheaply without any ill effects. They can help poor countries, such as in Africa, grow more crops that they desperately need to feed themselves. Unfortunately European restrictions to GMOs are holding back agricultural progress in these countries that are desperately in need of food and money. Although many environmentalists are against GMOs they actually aid the planet by requiring less water and fertilizer while producing a higher yield. In addition GMOs are being used to develop grasses for cattle grazing which will reduce methane releases that will benefit the environment.

Cowen then examines some of the macros realities of the decisions to eat local foods. Before we decide to divert resources to growing and eating more local foods we need to understand all of the costs and impacts to these decisions. In some cases, as Cowen points out, we may be wasting more resources such as water by trying to produce crops locally which are more efficiently grown in other regions and transported.

The book concludes with some tips on cooking at home and how to save on cooking equipment, along with an explanation of why buying some frozen fruits will actually be fresher than the fresh or non-frozen fruits. Great stuff indeed!

Cowen has written a very well researched and entertaining book that crosses The Food Network with The Economist which results in a good read in which you will enjoy sinking your teeth.